Page 79 - Occupational Health & Safety, July/August 2019

So, you may ask, why is respiratory protection a challenge if it is inexpensive and easy to fix? Well, for several reasons.
Welders may see adding a respirator to their “normal” set of welding equipment as additional time and maintenance that they aren’t willing to invest in, even if it is required by OSHA. Plus, tight- fitting facepieces require male welders to give up something they may really love—facial hair. We’re not just talking beards, mustach- es, goatees, or any other facial hair style. It also means stubble— anything that can interfere with the skin-to-mask sealing area.
Again, thanks to technological advancements, there is a better solution: powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) with welding helmets designed with comfortable breathing tubes.
Powered air-purifying respiratory is the same basic concept as air-purifying respiratory (APR). The welder is in a contaminated environment equipped with a mask that seals off the face and pro- hibits contaminants from reaching the welder’s lungs by forcing airflow through a filter on a mask. In APR, the worker uses his or her own lung capacity to draw air through the filter. However, PA- PRs add battery operated “blower” units and integrated filters that use a motor to draw air through the filters to deliver clean air to the workers. The advantages to this design are less manual filtering work and more continuous air flow while working.
Advantages of PAPR in Welding
There are several advantages to PAPR. First, the wearer does not need to shave, which can really help with adoption and usage. Sec-
ond, the blower does more than help filter the ambient air. It also provides airflow into the “mask”—which in this case is the welding helmet—and helps keep the welder cool and comfortable. Third, since the blower replaces the worker’s lungs as the source of energy, welders’ energy is used for welding, not working to filter air.
There are many options when it comes to PAPRs designed spe- cifically for welding. Which one an employer chooses has a lot to do with the functionality and worker preference. Many times, safe- ty directors or site managers will opt for worker consensus, price, and functionality. With the rapid changes and improvements made by suppliers, decision makers should look for what makes the most sense to the organization and train their crews on the benefits of the equipment instead of shopping on price or even sticking with old technology because it is “comfortable.”
However, resistance to change is usually driven by lack of edu- cation. It is important for those in charge of safety to always be willing to learn and evolve with the technology. For the company, that can mean increasingly optimized worker productivity and, for the worker, a more comfortable work experience. No matter what, though, at the end of the day, the purpose and goal for all PPE is to ensure every worker, who also has an important life outside of “the job,” returns home safe and sound every day.
Victoria Frank is Senior Product Manager – Respiratory at Hon- eywell. Honeywell wants to ensure welders everywhere recognize all the hazards present in the workplace—not just the ones they can see.
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