Necessary precautions should always be taken while doing any sort of work for safety purposes. If we talk about welding, this process includes a lot of heat, pressure, toxic fumes, light radiations, and harmful dust particles.
They can cause much damage such as small heated particles might get in contact with our eyes and cause eye injuries, there is a danger of skin burn due to intense heat and UV light emission during welding.
It can also cause fire or explosion because of heat and nearby inflammatory products. You must understand the process and precautions of the welding before starting it, as lack or negligence of any sort can cause huge consequences.
Tips:
- Thorough understanding of the manual
It is very important for a person to understand the complete procedure of work before starting it. Manual includes all the safety instructions and procedures to operate the machine. All welding machine manufacturers provide manuals. Don’t compromise on it.
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Wear protective gears
Proper dressing is always very necessary during the welding process. Always wear proper welding boots, helmets, gloves, jackets, flame resistance suits, and respirators.
Welding boots are tough and shockproof they designed to withstand the heat and shocks caused by electric current during welding and also protect your feet from any sort of metal piece and injury.
In order to protect your face and eyes from burning, heat, and other harmful radiations welding helmets are extremely important.
Welding helmets are designed in such a way to cover your whole face for protection against any debris and radiation.
In short, you have to fully dress up for this critical job.
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Safe workplace
Always weld in an open airy place or a place with good ventilation. Remove any extra tools or clutter around the area. Remove any matchbox, lighter, or fire catching instruments.
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Avoid electric shocks
A lot of heat and energy is involved in the welding process and metals are usually the great conductors of electricity and so are humans.
If you don’t take safety measures your chances of getting an electric shock are very high. Try to properly insulate yourself.
Always work on dry ground and make your surrounding dry and clear there should not be any conductive material.
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Avoid Fire
While welding, there are many chances of fire. It is one of the dangerous aspects of welding because the heat involved or generated in the process of welding is enough to ignite the fire in nearby areas.
The chances of fire on metal are very less because it is inflammable but the surrounding should be dealt with care.
It is necessary to keep a fire extinguisher near the welding place or fire buckets in case a fire breaks out, as it can spread very rapidly once it is started.
Also, it is important to know that a fire does not start immediately but it is a slow process but you need to be aware of your surroundings in order to make sure that there is no fire.
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Don’t see the light
Only a second needed to let the welding arc be exposed to the human eye which can experience arc flash and cause painful conditions that cannot be detectable until hours after the exposure.
Till that time, it can cause many serious damages to your eye.
So, in order to be protected from the exposure of arc flash while welding, helmets should be used that comes with the proper fitting of shades to protect the eyes and face of the worker.
Also, the protective glasses can be worn underneath the helmets. To be protected from the arc, install barriers and screens.
Always choose a shade for protection that is perfect for your applications. There are varieties of shades that can protect you from welding arc flash.
Don’t go for the expensive shade by thinking that it will surely protect you rather than think of your application.
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Breathe freely
While welding, there are some hazardous and polluted fumes and smoke. These smokes or fumes are very harmful to you if you inhale them for a long time while working in a tight, confined space.
These fumes may accumulate in front of you and can block the way of breathable oxygen, thus causing hindrance to you for breathing.
Always use an exhaust room for the removal of fumes from the area and to make sure of the clean breathing.
You should use respirators when you are welding. In order to get the right respirator, you should look at your welding’s electrode data sheet that what kind of gases and fumes are coming out.
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Use the right welding set up
Always use the right welding set up to keep safe from the repercussions. Setting the right setup for welding is another main and safety point that every welder will think of it.
An experienced and wise welder will always choose the right posture and position and avoid crouching.
Always use turntables and any other devices to move the workpiece and make sure to keep the fumes away from your face. Also, use special kind of electrodes that makes fewer fumes.
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Avoid excessive currents and long welding
High currents and long arcs can increase the probability of undercut. Undercut usually happens by the wrong technique of welding, wrong electrode handling, and not correct travel speed.
So, never make a hurry in welding because it will be more dangerous and you should take your time to finish the work accurately and smoothly. -
Use of earmuffs or earplugs
The use of earmuffs or earplugs protects your hearing abilities from the excess of outside noise of welding.
They also protect the pieces of metal from going into your ear canal. According to a survey report, there are some workers who work eight hours a day doing welding.
This means that they have to listen to the noise for eight continuous hours. It will surely affect their hearing ability.
So, the need for earplugs or earmuffs is necessary for them to maintain their good physical and hearing ability.
Conclusion
There comes may risks associated with welding but these risks can minimize by doing the necessary safety precautions that will help you save your life.
Many incidents occur due to the carelessness of the worker or the company. So, stop thinking of the thing that the precautions implied after a certain loss of living or property. Just follow all the safety precautions from now on while doing welding because no worker wants to die by the carelessness.