Act Now To Tell CPSC To Rethink Rule For Industrial Engine-Driven Welding Machines
According to the National Association of Manufacturers’ second quarter 2023 Outlook Survey manufacturers are increasingly concerned about the number of regulations handed down by federal agencies. In fact, 65 percent of company leaders reported that if regulatory burdens were reduced, they would purchase more equipment. Nearly half, 46 percent, said they would pay their workers more. Additionally, 63 percent of manufacturers said they now spend more than 2,000 hours complying with federal regulations.
If a recent proposal from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is any indication, regulatory burdens will not ease.
In April, the CPSC issued a draft regulation that, if approved, would mean industrial-type engine-driven welding machines will be regulated as portable generators even though welding machines are materially different in terms of consumer cost and use from the type of portable generators purchased by average consumers to be used in homes.
For this reason, and the other reasons outlined below, MSCI asks its member companies to weigh in with the CPSC at www.regulations.gov (search for docket no. CPSC-2006-0057) by June 22, 2023 in opposition to this rule.
According to the National Electric Manufacturers Association, this draft regulation amounts to a gross overreach by the CPSC. Unlike home generators, engine-driven welders are industrial power sources that fall outside CPSC jurisdiction because they are generally incompatible with home use.
Additionally, complying with the CPSC’s draft regulation would negatively impact industrial productivity. MSCI member companies need a steady supply of these welders in the industrial settings where they work, and the design changes contemplated by the draft rule could have a significant adverse impact on business and productivity. Specifically, moving away from engine drive welding machines with generator capacity could lead to high voltage electrical lines in a construction setting, adding more safety risk the work site.
The engine redesign that would be needed to meet the consumer standard also could take years. Potential shortages in the supply chain would make it difficult to construct and acquire compliant engine-driven welding machines for industrial use, directly affecting how long it will take to complete construction and infrastructure projects important to the U.S. economy.
Engine-driven welding machines also do not pose unreasonable harm to consumers. When used as instructed on industrial worksites, engine-driven welding machines are safe. As industrial power sources, engine-driven welders must follow Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, which adequately reduce the risk of injury, and they are designed, constructed, and certified to industrial standards.
As such, engine-driven welders should not, and in fact, do not fall into the use case the CPSC is intending to address.