Hi, I am an Occupational Health Nurse in a manufacturing environment and new to this bulletin board and actually found my way here in hopes of finding the answers to my questions. I apologize if I am a bit too long winded here and realize that you may have addressed these questions in the past:
1. When performing hot work in our mill I have noticed that the person(s) doing the fire watch never wear protective lenses while cutting or welding activities are going on. This especially bothers me when the welding operator doesn't use a light curtain. When I have approached the person doing fire watch about the need to wear the appropriate eye protection they always tell me that they are not at risk because they know better not to look directly at the hot work or that they done this job for many years,never wore eye protection before, and never suffered any problems . This really bothers me, especially when we are trying to develope a positive safety culture in our mills. I am curious to what are the standard practices for filtered eye protection for the fire watch at other mills or simular operations? What are the risks?
2. Occassionly there is welding or cutting activity where it is impractical to use a light curtain. What are the risks associated with corneal burns or retinal damage for those workers that are in the immediate area not wearing filtered protective lenses? And what is considered a safe distance away from the welding/cutting when eye protection wouldn't be required. I am being told that the further away you are from the source the safer you are. I know this is true for radiation sources but does the same theory apply here?
3. Does anyone know of any reference documents pertaining to these questions? I know that our engineering folks and fire watch will push back if they are told that they need to wear filtered protective lenses.
I'd appreciate any help one may have to offer.
Your question is valid but can be viewed from several perspectives,
The fire watch has very specific duties, these may include safety checks and a lot of movement all around the hot work area, not only prior to welding but also during operations. Darkened lenses may restrict his vision and impair his ability to detect a rogue spark smoldering in a dark corner. Secondly moving about in a shop environment with darkened lenses can be a hazard in itself. Having said that, Its imperative to come to a firm conclusion as to exactly what appropriate eye protection is in your particular situation. Vendors have come up with NUMEROUS new safety shades, Blues, Yellows, and Grays that appear to be much more adaptable to indoor shop environments. Some of these, (Check the blues) actually seem to enhance vision in areas that are not particularly well lit while offering protection.
The most successful approach to getting workers to wear proper safety glasses beside whacking them on the snout with a rolled up copy of the most recent OSHA regs. Is to offer them sporty cool options in eyewear. It really works. So the best advice I can offer is this, discuss your problem with a vendor who is conversant in OSHA and ISO safety language and see if they can offer your firewatchers something that may satisfy you both.
http://uvex.com/home.html <---These guys not only have a variety of good products for the shop, there nifty cool safety glasses are also the only ones I can wear on the racquetball court that don't fog up on me.
Many of the safety wear vendors can give you information showing how well their products filter out UV and IR light. That may help you with your choices. We use polycarbonate lenses in most of our safety glasses which seems to do a good job in protection from arc flashes (as long as the person doesn't stare at the arc). You've been told correctly that usually the firewatch should have clear lenses in order to see sparks and hot spots better.
By all means, anyone in or around areas where the work is going on should have safety glasses. You never know what direction the "bullets" will come from after they bounce around.
In our company, anyone not wearing safety gear in work areas will be sent home for 24 hours with no pay. The 2nd time can lead to being fired. I won't pretend that there aren't some who "forget" to wear glasses once in a while but everyone knows it is mandatory.
Our company has found it cheaper to use a safety program with some training behind it. Insurance is cheaper and some mills will not allow companies with high incident/accident rates to work for them. Also it's the right thing to do.
It sounds like management in your company needs to do a little more research and to stand behind a safety program. And by all means, please be sure to ask the people who have to wear the gear, what works and what doesn't. The idea with safety gear is to protect the people, not "kill" them with it.
Also remember that most people don't like change. But using knowledge, patience, and perseverance can help to gain their cooperation. Discipline should be a last resort.
CHGuilford
In regards to your statement regarding the distance away reducing the chance of burns you are correct. As you double the distance you decrease the exposure by a factor of 4. Getting 3 x closer will expose you 9 x more. So it works both ways.
I have worked in various plants in which all people were prohibited from wearing dark glasses. I've never understood why. If its required then opaque sideshields on clear glasses would be ideal for protecting bystanders and fire watches also.
Being as you are in the welding industry and an occupational health professional, what type of plan/rules does the company you work for have regarding the protection of individuals from the long term health hazards associated with metal fabrication or exposure to various components that are the generated during metal fabrication. Maybe we could get a Safety and Health forum going.
I've always been curious as to why one didn't exist yet there is one called "Wemco" whatever that is. Maybe one of the AWS people that read this forum could make it happen.
http://search.osha-slc.gov
Good day and I praise and appreciate your profession.
Gerald Austin
weldinginspectionsvcs.com
I have just experienced the uncomefortable effects of "arc-eye". As I often qualify welding procedures, I also have a problem regarding eye protection. While qualifying procedures, I need to be close to the welder to take voltage and amperage reading, and often the distance welded as well. This information must then be recorded on a record sheet.
As you can not perform these duties while wearing a standard welding helmet (because then you can not see what you are doing) I am exposed to the welding arc on a regular basis. Obviously one tries to minimize your exposure, but it still happens that you are waiting for the welder to strike the arc (with helmet on, or looking away) when nothing happens. Eventually you turn to see what is happening and WHAM, he strikes the arc.
Are there any of you guys that can give me advice on what the best eye protection is in this situation. I am thinking of purchasing one of those welding helmets that only darkens when exposed to a welding arc. They are rather expensive (especially in South African Rands) so I would like to know if any of you has experience using such a welding helmet while qualifying procedures, before I lay out the money.
Regards
Niekie Jooste
My volt-amp meter goes inline with the welding circuit so I can locate it a few feet from the actual welding. Then I put up some kind of screen (sheet metal, plywood, etc.) to block the flash. It doesn't have to be a large screen to be effective if it's positioned right. I locate my clipboard and whatever else near the meters and make sure I am not encroaching on the welder's elbow room. I can see the reflected flash when welding starts so I know when to start and stop the stopwatch. Also I keep a welding hood nearby so I am ready if I want to see the process. I use a hold point after each pass is de-slagged to measure interpass temp and measure weld length. The testing is done out of the main production areas off to the side.
I won't say I never get "flashed" but it happens rarely when I take these steps.
CHGuilford
Thanks for your reply. I have taken a bit of time before responding, because I was hoping to get some more responses.
We use to measure the volts and amps with an in-line meter, but have changed to a "clamp" type meter some time back. This is for two reasons:
1) In South Africa, there are no "standard" welding connectors. Typically there are about three common types. To carry the necessary adapters along and then connect them to the different machines is very cumbersome and time consuming. Our clients did not like the "hassle" and time involved with this. In the case of the automatic wire feeding processes, this is an even greater problem.
2) As a general rule the welding cables on GTAW and SMAW equipment are very long. Often thirty meters or more. In addition to this, earth clamps and the like are often in poor condition. This means that your volt reading from in-line volt meters are not reliable.
As you can appreciate, if you are trying to take readings as close to the electrode as possible with a clamp type meter, you have some additional difficulties.
Do you have any additional suggestions regarding my situation as sketched above? What do you think of the autodarkening hood idea?
Regards
Niekie
Amperage doesn't have to be measured that close to the arc. In fact it will be the same reading practically anywhere in the circuit because you are measuring total current flow through the conductors. A poor ground (earth clamp) will raise the amp value if all else is equal but the reading will be the same whether near the arc or not. And, really, having a good ground during testing (or any welding) is good insurance. A poor ground causes voltage drop and amperage increase because power is used to heat something other than weld metal.
Voltage is different. You need to measure it as close to the arc as practical. In that case you can have a longer set of test leads calibrated with your meter if what you already have isn't long enough for you to position the meter away from the welding. All I'm talking here is enough distance to keep you on 1 side of a small barrier and the welding flash on the other. My test leads are 12 feet long which has been more than long enough.
Another point is that with most welding I've seen, the voltage and amperage will "dance around a bit" on the readout. The steadier the welder the less it will be but it's there nonetheless. I don't worry about the few hundredths of a volt I will lose by clamping my voltage lead on the wire feeder gun terminal block. The same with GTAW and SMAW, there is usually a connection somewhere near the rod holder or torch to make your connection to.
At any rate... A self darkening hood might be just what you need. I haven't tried this so I'll ask, can you read your meters when it darkens? My aversion to a hood is 1) I've worn them for too many years so I like a good excuse not to wear one, 2) I will see what the welder did after the weld pass is made so I focus on getting the essential variable readings, 3) I can stay out of the smoke and heat (selfish of me I know), and 4) I would have to buy my own self-darkening lenses and since I carry tools in my hood, the survivability wouldn't be very good. But if I had to do testing more than a couple times a month, I probably would get the self darkening hood and modify my work habits.
Hope it helps,
CHGuilford
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