Welding is still widely used in piping projects despite its serious downsides. Hot work is time-consuming, hazardous, and costly. It produces toxic fumes, sparks, and high heat that threaten worker safety and the environment. Welding projects require costly permits, fire watch personnel, ventilation systems, and extended downtime, causing budgets and schedules to balloon.
As safety standards rise and environmental concerns grow, non-welded solutions like the Tube-Mac Pyplok® system become the safer, faster, and more eco-friendly alternative. Pyplok® eliminates hot work entirely, reducing risk, improving efficiency, and supporting a cleaner, healthier workplace.
Traditional welding is hazardous to workers and the environment alike. Hot work emits 2.5kg of CO₂ per hour, contributing heavily to air pollution. Toxic fumes produced by welding contain heavy metal particles and harmful chemicals that can cause long-term respiratory and neurological damage to personnel.
Confined spaces provide unique challenges and greater risk. They often have limited entry or exit, making access and emergency rescue difficult. They are not designed for continuous occupancy, being just large enough for workers to enter and perform tasks. When a confined space includes hazards such as toxic atmospheres, materials that could engulf a worker, inward-sloping walls, or other dangers like exposed wiring or heat stress, OSHA classifies it as a “permit-required confined space.”
Welding in such spaces is exceptionally dangerous. Contaminants like smoke, fumes, vapors, and dust can quickly accumulate in breathing zones. Between the high heat generated, the gases used, and the metals worked on, welding is an intense process that produces equally intense byproducts. Chemical and heavy metal particles develop into toxic fumes that affect the entire workspace. As a result, expensive local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems are required and must be regularly maintained to stay compliant with evolving regulations. OSHA and EU-OSHA also enforce strict standards for industries where workers may be exposed to toxic gases like hexavalent chromium, a highly hazardous byproduct of welding materials like stainless steel.
Welding can lead to serious and lasting health issues for workers. Welding fumes can penetrate deep into the lungs and are linked to a range of health issues like chronic bronchitis, and increase the risk of pneumonia. In response, many countries, including Germany, the UK, and Sweden, recommend pneumococcal vaccinations for welders. Exposure to specific metals—such as chromium (VI), nickel, and manganese—can be carcinogenic, allergenic, or toxic to the nervous system. Other harmful byproducts include ozone and nitrogen oxides, which can irritate the lungs and cause pulmonary edema. Carbon monoxide poses asphyxiation and reproductive risks. Coated, painted, or dirty materials can release additional toxins like formaldehyde and isocyanates. Over time, welders may also develop siderosis, or "welder’s lung," a condition recognized as an occupational disease in the EU.
Welding sparks in industrial settings increase the threat of fire, turning a workspace into a high-risk environment for both workers and equipment. Welding requires permits, fire watch personnel, and extensive safety precautions, and the hazards and associated costs often outweigh the benefits.
When assessing fire and explosion risks related to welding, crews need to assess when and where welding is performed, who is conducting the work, and under what conditions they are completing the work. Servicing, test runs, equipment malfunctions, and even unauthorized access can introduce hazards above and beyond the primary welding project.
Welding is especially dangerous when flammable materials are nearby. Hot surfaces, open flames, and welding sputters can easily ignite surrounding materials if proper controls aren’t in place.
While welding has long been the standard for joining metal pipe and tube, it’s no longer the best—or safest—option for many applications. In environments where fire hazards are high, timelines are tight, system shutdowns are costly, air quality is a concern, or welding fumes pose health risks, a non-welded alternative like the Pyplok® Mechanically Attached Fitting System from Tube-Mac® offers clear advantages.
Pyplok® eliminates the need for hot work altogether. Instead of welding, brazing, or threading, it uses a cold-forming process called external radial swaging to permanently compress the fitting onto the pipe. The result is a strong, leak-tight joint without the fire risks, fumes, or downtime associated with welding.
This “cold system” approach makes Pyplok® especially well suited for:
Call us to see if your application is suitable for Pyplok®
Because Pyplok® doesn’t require gas purging, chemical flushing, or hazardous materials disposal, it helps reduce production disruptions and environmental impacts. It also cuts down on inspection time with a simple go/no-go gauge, eliminating the need for costly NDT procedures like X-rays.
From a safety and sustainability perspective, Pyplok® offers a cleaner, faster, and more efficient solution, protecting workers, worksites, and the environment. For many modern operations, it’s not just an alternative to welding, it’s the better choice.
Non-welded fittings are a safer — and superior — alternative to welding. Pyplok® installations have consistently demonstrated greater durability, faster execution, and lower overall costs compared to traditional welded systems. In rigorous testing across industries, Pyplok® outperforms welded joints time and time again.
At a recent pilot installation at the Petrobras site in Comperj, Brazil, Tube-Mac® partnered with Alusa to compare the installation of two identical steam lines: one was completed with traditional welding, the other with Pyplok®’s cold swaging system. The results were clear. The Pyplok® line required significantly fewer man-hours and additional processes to provide the same results. Non-welded processes like the Pyplok® cold swaging system reduce impacts on the environment as well as your company’s downtime and bottom line.
For operations looking to cut downtime, reduce risk, and control costs, Pyplok® is the ideal solution.
Non-welded piping technology eliminates the need for open flames, hazardous fumes, and intensive ventilation systems. With no toxic emissions, workers are not subjected to constant air quality monitoring or PPE requirements, significantly reducing their risk of respiratory damage and injury. Using Pyplok® to join pipe and tube is the more efficient, cost-effective, and eco-friendly option.
