12 tips for improving welding safety

Welding safety practices and equipment are universally applicable. Welding exposes everyone to similar hazards, whether you’re responsible for safety at a large, welding-intensive manufacturing company, a billion-dollar engineering-construction firm or a small, independent fabricator. Here are 12 tips for improving welding safety in your company, including advice that also improves productivity.

1. Read the book. A welder’s operating manual contains important safety information, as well as informational procedures that maximize the machine’s potential. Make sure everyone who operates the machine is familiar with the manual's contents. If the manual becomes lost or damaged, contact the manufacturer for a replacement. Many manufacturers even provide manuals online. Neither this article, nor any other, should be used as a substitute for the manufacturer’s recommendations.

2. Button up. Any exposed skin is susceptible to the painful and damaging effects of ultraviolet and infrared rays. Further, sparks can catch in open pockets, pant cuffs or down a shirt that isn’t completely buttoned. These sparks can smolder unnoticed while the welder is “under the hood,” causing serious damage. Button shirt collars, cuffs and front pockets to prevent them from catching sparks and be sure to cover all exposed skin. Do not keep matches or butane lighters in your pockets. Avoid wearing cuffed pants because the cuffs also might catch sparks.

3. Wear the proper gear. Neither shorts nor short-sleeved shirts belong in a welding cell. Even a quick tack weld requires the proper safety gear, including a helmet, gloves and appropriate clothing.

    

   The well-dressed welder protects himself from all the potentially harmful effects of arc welding. Proper protection includes: safety glasses, head gear, a welding jacket, an industrial-grade helmet, welding gloves, a leather apron, denim pants without cuffs and leather shoes.

   Wear only flame-resistant clothing, such as denim pants and a shirt made from tightly woven material or a welding jacket. The excuse that welding jackets are too heavy, hot, restricting or cumbersome is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Makers of safety gear now produce lightweight clothing from flame-resistant cloth, pigskin leather and combinations of the two that offer better protection and increased ease of movement.

    

   Gloves, too, have progressed beyond the one-size-fits-all type. They are now available with ergonomically curved fingers and with different designs for specific welding processes. Heavy-duty MIG/Stick gloves, medium-duty MIG gloves and TIG gloves that provide added dexterity and touch are just some of the options available. Remember that gloves are not sufficient to pick up just-welded material. Use pliers to avoid burns.

4. Wear the right shoes. High-top leather shoes or boots provide the best foot protection. Pants legs should go over shoes. Do not wear tennis shoes or cloth shoes that can smolder, causing a burning sensation.

5. Breathe freely. Fumes and smoke emitted during welding pose a health hazard. When welding in confined spaces, toxic fumes may accumulate, or shielding gases might replace breathable air. Use an exhaust hood to remove fumes from the area and ensure enough clean breathing air is available. Some materials specifically require respirators when welding, so consult the manufacturer's welding electrode data sheet, your welding engineer or an industrial safety specialist for proper procedures.

6. Don’t see the light. It takes only a moment of exposure to a welding arc’s rays for unprotected eyes to experience “arc flash,” a painful condition that might not appear until hours after the exposure.

   Welding helmets should be fitted with a proper filter shade to protect the operator’s face and eyes when welding or watching. Note that approved safety glasses with side shields and ear protection should also be worn under the helmet. Install screens or barriers where appropriate to protect others from the arc.

   Pick a lens shade appropriate for your welding application. OSHA offers a guide for choosing the correct lens based on welding criteria. If your weld parameters and materials don’t vary, a fixed-shade lens might be right for you.

7. Use auto-darkening helmets. The sensors on an auto-darkening helmet darken the lens in a fraction of a second. All auto-darkening helmets must meet ANSI standards, the most recent being ANSI Z87.1-2003.

    

   Auto-darkening welding helmets enable Vermeer Co. to more easily adhere to production time goals, and reduce operator fatigue. To encourage use, Vermeer splits the cost 50-50 with the operator, and the operator owns the helmet outright after three years.

   Industrial-grade helmets react at speeds of 1/10,000 to 1/20,000 of a second and have adjustable shades settings of #9 to #13 for welding. Industrial-grade helmets also have adjustable sensitivity (useful for low-amperage welding) and delay controls to adjust how long the lens stays dark after the arc stops.