Torch Safety/Arc gouging

Date 05-01-2009 08:26 Edited 05-01-2009 18:24

I just wanted to put a reminder out there for old hands and a stern warning for new hands or students. I thought about this as I look at some of the scars on my left arm that only took literally 1/2 a second to make.

When you are using a oxy-act rig; rosebud, gouging or cutting tip. Don't get too comfortable handling that flame. Many of us use it constantly and get very close to it, get comfortable with it and get casual and lax in respect for it. You know what I mean...lighting it near your body, laying burning torches down while you move your work etc.

THIS WAS 20 YEARS AGO....I AM OK! LOL!

I was walking round a vessel one day with the torch lit, making adjustments to some holes. The torch hose caught on the rollers the vessel was sitting on and turned in my hand. I did not have a tight grip on the torch, I was just cradling it in my fingers loosely...carelessly. The flame wiped very quickly across my forearm, I felt nothing really, I smelt burned hair and went to brush it off with my dirty welding gloves. I brushed/slapped MEAT off my arm onto the floor and stared in disbelief at the amount of blood pouring off my arm. All it took was an instant....the docs scrubbing my scabs off for weeks did not. That torch is quite a bit hotter then your gas grill...it will cut/destroy flesh much more easily then metal. Just keep that in mind next time you cut some plate or heat a bar to bend.

With Torching or Gouging its really important to think about where your waste material is going to go. Keep your feet out of line from what blows or drops with gravity. Make sure no body is in the way of where your going to blow that hot metal..and they are aware you are fixing to make a cut. I cannot stress it enough .....WEAR YOUR LEATHER WHEN YOU ARC GOUGE....If you do not have flame proof work shoes then for gosh sakes cover your feet....Yea you have done it XXX times....It only takes one half doller size glob of molten goo to make you best friends with a plastic or vascular surgeon or both.

Anyway for you guys doing the heavy work....the only one who will bring you home safe at nite is YOU.

Tommy

By aevald

Date 05-01-2009 15:01

Hello Tommy, Yaaa...ouch! Yes, the simple old firestick does have the potential for some serious injury. I see this rather often, ie. students that are uninformed or haven't quite heeded all of the safety stuff that you present to them day after day. Even the measely little OOO welding tip..... oh that little thing can't do much damage. As you said though Tommy, between roughly 5,600 degrees to 6,200 degrees fahrenheit will certainly do the trick when you least expect it and much more so than you would expect. Hope you are getting along after this one. Oh, and be safe! Best regards, Allan

By ctacker (****)

Date 05-01-2009 15:43

I had a similar exp when I first started out. I had a small leak in my oxygen hose, figured I would finish my cut and fix it, The gas hose blew off soon after that and as fast as I could throw the torch down, it had already burned through a light jacket, flannel shirt and tee shirt. and left a blister on my stomach. if it had been middle of summer I'm sure I would have come out alot worse.
Carl

By swsweld (****)

Date 05-01-2009 17:29

Sorry to hear of your misfortune Tommy. Hope you heal quickly. Sometimes we do let our guard down, thanks for the reminder.

Last week I was under the ceiling welding in a very congested area. Overhead pipe welding. The only way to get to it was to sit on another pipe. Before any pain I smelled the flesh and hair that you mentioned. Then the dirty welding glove putting the fire out. Yea, you guessed it. Not wanting to know the extent of the burns I completed the welds. But somehow I found a way to make the weld without sitting under the weld. At that point there was no choice since there was a huge hole in my pants and underwear. Normally the hands laugh when somebody get a burn or nick if they know it's minor. No laughing this time. Anybody that has ever had that happen can only sympathize. Got home that evening and not serious at all. Just a close call from not getting away from the fire of covering up with leathers of fire cloth. Sorry if that was too much info.

Thanks for the safety reminder and take care.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 05-01-2009 18:27

OUCH It certainly does not take long...and once your on fire its hard to get away from it ain't it!

oh fellas no worries bout me.....

This happened roughly 20 years ago when I was welding pressure vessels.....did not mean it to sound like today sorry. I did heal fine...but after 2 1/2 weeks of them scrubbing the burns with dry gauze ..I said let it scar up!! I cannot do this anymore. I cannot even begin to imagine what heavy burn victims endure.....

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 05-01-2009 19:06

Thanks for the gentle reminder Tommy, can't be too careful. A guy here did something similar, he was wearing a pair of gloves with a hole in them while cutting with the torch, as he went to brush away some slag near his cut, the glove with a hole in it grabbed the tip of the lit torch and he did something similar to his fingers as you did to your arm. Takes quite a while to get those wounds healed up.

By jstasney (*)

Date 07-03-2009 17:33

Something similar happened to a buddy, well, ex-buddy.....gassed himself...
ANYWAYS,
welding the bright iron one day, Aluminum, in tennis shoooooes, he commenced to dropping molten AL down his shoe top at the ankle.
If anyone knows what happens when you drop the tiniest amount of molten AL on the floor, it immediately turns into silver dollar sized flat pancaked pieces.
Well, that's what happened to that rather large drop of molten AL that went into that tennis shoe.
AN instant flash burn the size of a coke can top to the meat.
AND the AL stuck to the meat to be pulled away!
THAT was aweful to smell and see.
It took months to heal and remain infection free.

By welderbrent (*****)

Date 07-05-2009 00:45

Ouch. Some things just don't need additional comment.

Have a Great 4th, Brent

By jstasney (*)

Date 07-05-2009 01:41

Have a great 4th yourself Brent...
It's good to see your AWS too....
Semper Fi!