Do Workers Still Need To Wear Respirators While Using Fume Guns?

Before making any final decisions about wearing respirators, plant managers should do air quality tests to study the effectiveness of various solutions. The best fume guns capture up to 95% of weld fumes in many scenarios, which is enough to avoid the need for respirators. However, factors such as welding position, the material type and presence of certain coatings or lubricants may impact capture efficiency.

Implementing fume guns in your facility would be a major step in protecting workers and making the use of personal respirators less necessary. Installing an air filtration solution—source capture, ambient capture or a combination of the two—is the best method of bringing air quality within regulations, while also protecting workers and saving money through energy efficiency.