This guidance is relevant to any business that uses water-based metalworking fluids (also known as suds, coolants, slurry or soap), including wash fluids. Anyone working with metalworking fluids, or close to where they are being used, may be at risk of exposure and therefore of potentially harmful effects.
All users of metalworking fluids need to be especially aware of the risks of respiratory disease which may arise from exposure to mist, as well as the risk of dermatitis from direct contact with the skin.
Exposure to metalworking fluids can cause:
- irritation of the skin or dermatitis
- rhinitis (runny nose), irritation of the upper respiratory tract, breathing difficulties and occasionally occupational asthma; and
- less commonly MWF may contribute to a more serious, irreversible lung disease called extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA), which can cause increasingly severe breathing difficulties, fever and cough; it can recur whenever the employee is exposed to the metalworking fluid. (See Powertrain)