Welding Area Safety

1. Welding Area Safety Safety Unit Lesson 4

2. Welding Area Safety No work environment is completely free from hazards. Steps need to be taken to minimize and reduce hazardous areas and situations. The first step is recognizing and identifying the hazards that exist. Some hazards can be reduce with simple house keeping procedures, others such as confined spaces need special considerations. Hot work permits and Fire Watches are some other precautions that can limit hazards and liability.

3. House Keeping An important factor in area safety is good house keeping. Work areas should be picked up and swept clean daily. Floors and work benches should be kept free of dirt, scrap metal, oil, and grease. Collections of steel, electrode stubs, cables and hoses are difficult to work around and are easy to trip over. Flammable liquids and materials such as wood scraps, piles of paper and rags should be kept clear of the welding area. Fire extinguisher or a bucket of water should be near by so that small fires can be easily extinguished.

4. Area Safety Whenever welding outside of a dedicated welding booth, portable screens should be used to protect other personnel from the arc or reflected glare and sparks. The most common welding injury is burns to the hands and arms. First-Aid equipment should be kept nearby to treat burns and other injuries. Emergency numbers should be posted in a prominent location.

5. Confined Spaces A confined space refers to a relatively small or restricted space, such as a storage tank, boiler, or pressure vessel. • OSHA Defines a confined space as: • Is large enough and configured so that an employee can enter completely and perform assigned work. • Has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit. • Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. • OSHA defines a permit required confined space as: • Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere. • Contains a material that has the potential to engulf the worker. • Has an internal configuration such that and entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section.

6. Oxygen Levels For safe working in any environment, oxygen levels must range between 19% and 23%. 23.5% and up have an increased fire risk due to easy ignition of flammable materials. Below 19% can cause deterioration of vision, increased breathing, fast heartbeat, poor coordination, fatigue, nausea, unconsciousness, convulsions, and then death.

7. Hot Work Permits Hot work permits are official authorization from the site manager to perform work that may pose a fire hazard. • The permit should include information such as: • The time the work will be performed. • The location of the work area. • The type of work being done. • The name of the person or persons performing the work. • The name or names of the fire watch. • Description of the work. • Precautions that are being taken. • Locations of possible combustible materials. • Contact numbers. • Signature of person authorizing permit.

8. Sample Hot Work Permit

9. Fire Watch A fire watch is a person other than the welder or cutter that constantly scans the work area for fires. Personnel acting as a fire watch should have ready access to fire extinguishers and alarms and know how to use them. Most welding environment fires are caused by the sparks generated by oxy-fuel cutting operations.

10. Lock out and Tag out Another key to area safety is Lock and Tag out procedures. Lock and Tag out procedures are made up of a system of locks and tags that label, secure, and sometimes disable equipment and machinery before performing maintenance or repairs.