Attorney Michael Degan gave a detailed update Oct. 16 on welding fume litigation at the 62nd annual Gases and Welding Distributors Association convention in Orlando, Fla., and said there was much more good news than bad news over the last year.

Degan, an Omaha, Neb.-based counsel to GAWDA members, reviewed both the good and the bad news and, probably because of a lack of time, he left one area out of his talk: The continued need for diligence in protecting workers from the potential for danger.

As with many industrial processes, there are many inherent dangers associated with welding and the exposure to welding fumes is just one of them.

Tort lawyers know that and, in fact, Degan made note of a scary idea that has come recently to light. He said some plaintiffs' lawyers are asking judges to compel the welding industry to provide medical monitoring of welders over the course of several years.

That appears to me to be a put-up job: In absence of evidence that welding fumes cause injury to welders, evidence that would help them to prove the thousands of lawsuits that are outstanding today, these lawyers are asking that welders be monitored for several years to see what evidence might arise that they would use to prove complaints in future lawsuits. And, although Degan didn't address it, I'm willing to bet large sums of my own money that the lawyers asking for such medical monitoring are not volunteering to put up the money to pay for it.

I would find it reprehensible for any judge to impose that on any industry, let alone one that has proven in court 11 out of 12 times that its products do not injure the employees who use them.

On the other hand, getting back to the safety issues, I think it is equally reprehensible for any welding shop to put its employees into harm's way by not giving them the tools they need — including the equipment and training— to keep themselves safe.

There have been danger warnings on the packaging for welding rods since 1967, and it was argued in federal court in Cleveland last summer that welders never see those warnings because welding rods often are distributed to workers already removed from the packaging. The jury didn't believe that for a minute.

However, the warnings have been around for nearly 40 years, saying that welding must be done in well-ventilated, open areas. That's not always possible, but the technology is available today to increase—if not to 100 percent ensure—welders' safety.

If welding hoods and general ventilation systems are not viable—say, in welding an interior seam on the inside of a component for an oilrig or a ship—localized fume arresting carts and welding masks with power ventilation/filtration packs are alternatives.

Everyone in the industry should know about the dangers, and everyone should be involved in taking the steps to limit them. If they don't, they are kicking the door open to lawyers whose interest in safety is merely litigious.