Welding safety Hazards in the Workplace: Safety Tips & Precautions

Last Updated on June 2, 2022 by Luis Ferency

Welding is the most dangerous job. During welding, one can increase exposure to specific hazards, which can bring extreme injuries to the worker. Keeping welding safety precautions can make you safe at work.

Welding Safety Hazards In 2022

The welding operations have been presented with so many hazards in both scenarios. It involves people who are undertaking or participating in the activities and others who are in the vicinity. Hence, one must be aware of hazards and risks during the welding process. Moreover, you must know about the precautions that you should take while protecting yourself.

Today we will talk about all the welding hazards in different places. Moreover, we will discuss all the precautionary measures and safety tips that one must consider in the workspace. Additionally, we will highlight the safety equipment, gears, and clothing to equip with properly.

These are the following welding hazards that a worker might face while performing the welding process.

1. Electric Shock Hazard

While doing an arc welding process, the electrical circuits have been used to create a molten metal pool. Hence, if you are working with welding, you are at a high risk of experiencing an electric shock. Moreover, the electric shock is considered the most serious hazard one can face during welding. This welding process can eventually result in significant fatalities and injuries. These high injuries can either give an individual a direct shock or fall from a height after big shocks.

Though, you are at the high risk of experiencing the secondary electric shocks. You must know that these shocks can be done if you unintentionally touch the part of the electrode circuit and welding at the same time while doing a welding metal.

You will be at high risk if you are working in a sensitive hazardous condition. These dangerous state during welding will include the following:

• During damp conditions
• In the metal structures or metal
• While wearing wet clothes
• Within cramped conditions, you are required to lay down, kneeled, or crouch.

2. Noise Hazards

The most common hazard that people face while performing welding activities includes the high exposure of loud and prolonged noises. Since the noises which are above 85 dB (A) are considered in the booming noise category. Moreover, the sounds such as cutting, flames, and air arc gouging can produce a noise level that touches the level of 100 dB (A) or above. This sound is considered to be the most dangerous level that can profoundly damage the ears. Also, this can result in hearing impairment.

Moreover, immediate or regular exposure to various sounds and noises can cause permanent noise that can induce hearing loss and lead to extreme hearing impairment.

These are the following side effects of hearing loss one can face due to noise-induced:

• One might feel ringing in the ears that are known as tinnitus.
• The effects of occasional dizziness termed as vertigo
• The increase in the heart rate
• Increase of blood pressure

3. An exposure to IR and UV Radiation

While looking at the intense bloom of UV light produced during welding, this severe injury will occur without using the appropriate welding curtains or PPE. This carelessness can result in the pain, and that will lead to a long-lasting condition called arc-eye. Moreover, different factors can affect the severity of flash burn injury. For instance, duration, distance, and penetrating angle. Furthermore, the exposure to arc flashes will lead to long term. This injury can result in cataracts and after an extreme injury can affect the vision loss.

The other form of eyes one might face due to the exposure to IR and UV radiation can be expressed as follows:

• Foreign bodies that enter the eye might include sparks, grit, and dust.
• Particulate gasses and fumes: this form of damage can affect conjunctivitis.

4. Exposure to Gasses and Fumes

While undertaking the activities that can expose the worker with dangerous gasses and fumes could be extremely painful. Gases that include nitrogen oxide, ozone, nickel oxide, carbon monoxide, and chromium can directly enter your body and cause massive damage to the lungs and other respiratory systems. However, depending upon the sensitivity of gasses, concentration of fumes, duration of the exposure can cause resultant into sever damage.

The severity of illness that can be caused due to the welding fumes and gases will include:

• Pneumonia: Due to the regular welding exposure, there is a high chance of producing dangerous gasses and fumes. These gases can then result in the infection of lungs that ultimately lead you to develop pneumonia; however, taking medicines and antibiotics will slightly help them to get recover from the infections. Moreover, extreme stages of the lungs will result in the worker hospitalization. These gases can cause fatalities and illnesses.
• Occupational asthma: gases such as nickel and chromium oxides can produce through stainless steel, and nickel alloy welding will cause asthma.
• Cancer: You will be shocked to hear that internationally all welding fumes considered as ‘carcinogenic.’
• Metal fume fever: while working on welding or some hot work on galvanized metals with high weld fume exposure, it will cause symptoms such as “flu-like.” These symptoms are typically worse during the start of the working week. Mythological recommends that drinking milk before welding can help the workers avoid causing metal fume fever.
• Throat and lung irritation: The most common illness observed among numerous workers includes throat tickling, dryness, coughing, and even light chest. There could be various reasons for such throat and lung irritation. However, gasses and fumes in the workspace are the most prominent reason.  

5. Burns

While welding, the combination of high-temperature welding arcs, molten metal, and UV rays can cause vulnerable to extreme welding burns. These burns will affect the skin or eyes that eventually cause severe damages. These effects will also turn into the extreme quick.

Usually, the burning can occur when the welder thinks. Moreover, the worker thinks not to take precautionary measures due to some quick welds. Hence, this practice considered as bad practice, though, if you follow the outlines of precautions that you can prevent the burn.

Welding Safety Precautions

You can ensure a high level of welding safety by carefully exploring the workspace. Providing the standard is essential by undertaking different welding activities. So, if you ignore the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and safe working practice that you might encounter with severe repercussions that, when becoming severe, can lead to fatalities. Hence, it became imperative to follow the welding safety precautions that can protect the worker at work.

Make sure to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) while working. Your manager or employer has to provide all the necessary welding safety equipment. Hence these welding safety equipment includes:

• Welding helmets with side-shields 
• Fire-resistant clothing
• Welding Boots
• Welding Gloves
• Respirators
• Ear protection

Welding Safety gears – Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing

By keeping in view the basic welding safety in mind. We have sub-categorized each Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) into body parts and elaborate the reason on how this equipment will protect you hazards:

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Go through our site for the best welding accessories by clicking here. Moreover, here you can also have amazing suggestions for choosing the best welding safety equipment or welding safety gear.

To have complete protection from the PPE or welding protective clothing, these are the few don’ts you must follow:

• Rolling up the trouser or sleeves: As rolling up, the clothes can leave susceptible to sparks or molten metal that eventually catch into the folds. Moreover, this can potentially lead to extreme burns. Similarly, tucking up the trouser into your boots while working is not a good thing.
• Remove your helmet while welding: it is always considered a reasonable approach to wear a welding helmet during welding or when in the vicinity of another welder. Moreover, the intensity of radiation that can be produced decreases will further form a welding arc. Hence, the workers who are fewer than 10 meters away can still be susceptible to cause arc-eye. Therefore, wearing the correct PPC or behind the curtains will always be relevant. Even if you are not working or performing any other welding operations.

Receiving the appropriate welding safety pieces of training:

Before initiating any welding work, it is critically essential to have adequate safety training. The training must use and apply safety while you are working. Different types of training courses are available online and in safety training institutes. The most flexible and cost-effective way of having training is through an E-learning course.

Most of the workspace already design mandatory quarterly or yearly training programs for their workers. Hence, this will ensure the guarantee that all the employees have well-familiar with the essential safety measures.

Ensuring the workspace is ventilated well:

Ventilation is the most fundamental factor while inspecting the workspace in terms of safety. Proper ventilation should be a big priority, especially during welding as ventilation won’t let gasses and fumes stay in the workspace. Also, it eliminates the airborne gases and particles from the area you are working in.

Hence the manager or safety inspection team must properly employ the strategies for ventilation that effectively combat all the pollutants being created by the welding process. In addition to ventilation, one might also use respirators if you have susceptible places in your workspace that contain dangerous gases or fumes.

Ensuring the workspace is free from flammable materials:

It is highly recommended to keep all the flammable materials and objects away from places where heating or welding activities such as heating, molting are performed. Doing this removal can help the flammable objects to be protected from fire. Also, avoiding the combustible materials in the vicinity of welding can save you from hazards.

Some tips you must know when using welding protective clothing:

We have listed down the dos and don’ts as tips while using welding protective clothing. These tips include:

Dos

• Wear clothes that are made up of heavyweight, 100% wool, tight woven, or cotton. This clothing can protect from UV radiations, sparks, hot metals, and open flames.
• Make sure your clothes are clean, adequately washed, and do not contain any particles of oil, combustible contaminants, or greases.
• A recommended practice is to wear long-sleeved shirts with buttoned cuffs and also a collar that protects the neck. Moreover, the dark colors will prevent light from reflecting.
• To avoid collecting sparks or keep them covered with flaps or hot metal, make sure you wear tape shirt pockets.
• Pant legs should not have cuffs. Also, these pants must cover the tops of the boots. Cuffs can collect sparks.
• The clothing for work should have repaired all frayed tears, edges, or holes.
• To adequately prevent sparks from entering the boots, try to wear high-top boots fully laced.
• If working under sensitive spark areas, use fire-resistant boot protectors or spats strapped around the boot tops and pant legs, this way, it stops the sparks from bouncing in the head of the boots.
• Make sure to remove all the ignition sources that including butane lighters and matches from pockets. As there is a chance of hot welding sparks to light up the matches or fuel the ignited leaking lighter.
• To protect wrists and forearms, always wear protective sleeves or gauntlet-type cuff leather gloves of similar material. Moreover, if the leather is dry, then it is considered an excellent electrical insulator.
• By using a shield which can help in keeping away any type of spark spray from your clothing.
• It is essential to wear leather aprons to protect your chest and lap from sparks while sitting or standing.
• We recommend wearing a few layers of clothing. These clothing layers will prevent sweating as well as avoid overdressing in cold weather. However, sweaty clothes can eventually cause a rapid loss of heat. Also, never hop for leather welding jackets, as these are not very breathable and can let you sweat more if you are overdressed.
• Wearing a fire-resistant balaclava hood or skull cap under your helmet will surely protect your head from having extreme burns and IR, UV radiation.
• Keep wearing a welder’s face shield that can protect your face from having radiation and also protect it from flying particles.

Don’ts:

• Correctly check and make sure that you do not wear or carry any rings or other jewelry materials.
• The right approach of not to wear clothes that are made from synthetic or any synthetic blends. There is a high chance of burning and producing skin burns or fabric melt due to synthetic fabric.

FAQs

1.      What are the common hazards of welding?

These are the following common welding hazards that a worker might face while performing the welding process.

• Electric Shock Hazard
• Noise Hazards
• An exposure to IR and UV Radiation
• Exposure to Gasses and Fumes
• Burns

2.      What is the most dangerous type of welding?

Welding uses different types of equipment such as electric stick welding or Arc welding. They use gases that include Oxy-acetylene, MIG, and TIG. Hence, the most dangerous type of welding among them is oxy-acetylene.

3.      Why do welders drink milk?

While working on welding or some hot work on galvanized metals that have high weld fume exposure will cause symptoms such as “flu-like“. These symptoms are typically worse during the start of the working week. Mythological, it is recommended that drinking milk before welding can help the workers to avoid causing metal fume fever.

4.      What type of PPE is available when welding?

For you:

• Face and eyes, you must use a welding helmet, goggles, or hand shield.
• Lungs (breathing) you must use respirators
• Exposed skin (excluding hands, feet, and head) you must use clothing and aprons for Fire/Flame resistant
• Ears – hearing you must use Earplugs or muffs
• Hands and Feet you must use Gloves, Boots

5.      What are the critical aspects of safety?

There is numerous aspect of having safety in the workspace. However, here we have highlighted the ten core safety elements in terms of security. These includes:

1. Management commitment to safety
2. Training,
3. Physical environment
4. Safety Equipment
5. Job satisfaction
6. Organizational commitment.
7. Co-worker support.
8. Personal accountability
9. Worker involvement
10. Performance management

6.      What are the five dos you should consider while using welding protective clothing?

1. To avoid collecting sparks or keep them covered with flaps or hot metal, make sure you wear tape shirt pockets.
2. To adequately prevent sparks from entering the boots, try to wear high-top boots fully laced.
3. Make sure to remove all the ignition sources that including butane lighters and matches from pockets. As there is a chance of hot welding sparks to light up the matches or fuel the ignited leaking lighter.
4. It is essential to wear leather aprons to protect your chest and lap from sparks while sitting or standing.
5. Wearing a fire-resistant balaclava hood or skull cap under your helmet will surely protect your head from having extreme burns and IR, and UV radiation.