Page 28 - Occupational Health & Safety, April 2017

WELDING
Welding Safety Best Practices
Welders must be protected from electric shock, welding fumes, fire, and injuries that can be caused by insufficient PPE.
BY JERRY LAWS
The standard refers to a specific eye protection OSHA standard, 1910.133, which contains charts list- ing the minimal shade numbers needed for protecting welders’ vision during various types of welding, and also says welders’ lenses must comply with the ANSI/ ISEA Z87.1 standard, the American National Stan- dard for Occupational and Educational Personal Eye and Face Protection Devices. The standard’s current version is a 2015 edition, and it’s available for purchase at www.safetyequipment.org.
There are several hazards central to welding that must be accounted for in welders’ training, equip- ment, and set-up for a job. These include electric shock, welding fumes, fire, and injuries that can be caused by wearing PPE that is not sufficient to pro- tect against the level of hazard encountered during the task. Most welding equipment has a voltage that presents a risk of electric shock. “The most common type of electric shock is secondary voltage shock from an arc welding circuit, which ranges from 20 to 100 volts. Bear in mind that even a shock of 50 volts or less can be enough to injure or kill an operator, depending on the conditions,” an article OH&S published three years ago pointed out.
Exposure to welding fumes and gases is a primary hazard. Welders must be acquainted with safety data sheets for the welding consumable products they are using, as well as the use of ventilation to ensure ex- posures are minimized. Permissible exposure limits come into play here, limits established by OSHA and the American Conference of Governmental Indus- trial Hygienists. Welders rely on respiratory protec- tion, ventilation, and a variety of products for fume extraction.
Although some studies have estimated a 30-40 percent higher lung cancer risk to long-term welders from exposure to fumes that contain manganese or hexavalent chromium or nickel, two studies published in Cancer Medicine in 2012 by Canadian and British researchers1 did not find an increased risk of lung cancer linked to occupational exposure to gas and/ or arc welding fumes among medium/heavy smokers, but the authors did identify a higher risk due to both gas and arc welding fumes among study participants who had never smoked and among mild smokers, and they concluded the risks are higher among subjects with higher cumulative exposure. (They had investi- gated relationships between occupational exposure to gas and arc welding fumes and the risk of lung cancer among workers in Montreal from multiple industries.)
Fire Safety
Much of the text in the OSHA 1910.252 standard concerns fire prevention. It covers basic precau-
If the president and Congress do agree this year to fund a big federal infrastructure program, it stands to reason that the boost in construction spending puts a spotlight on the safety of the
builders and welders who would be at work on the front lines. They’d be facing some of the same occupa- tional hazards—excessive noise, work at heights and in confined spaces, respiratory hazards, and more.
There are many key protections welders require, starting with eye protection, as called for by OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.252, the welding, cutting, and brazing standard. This standard’s section (b)(2) specifies eye protection that must be provided.
22 Occupational Health & Safety | APRIL 2017
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