Tools and Equipment
6. Hazards resulting from the use of electric arc welding and oxy-cutting equipement
6.1. Usual hazards
Overstrain and postural fatigue
Due to the forced postures that workers frequently have to adopt, lower back pain and trauma may be produced. Not being able to conveniently use your hands for support, the posture is held with overstrain of the muscles and bones of the back.
Preventive measures:
- Work that requires forced or extreme postures of some part of the body or holding any posture for a prolonged period of time is to be avoided. If this is not possible, take scheduled breaks.
- Tasks should allow you to keep your back straight, both when sitting or standing, avoiding leaning or twisting unnecessarily.
Fires and explosions
The possibility of combustible materials entering into Contact with sources of ignition, with the subsequent formation of a fire.
The risk of explosions and fires is frequent in these operations, due to the presence of sparks and of the electric arc.
In oxy-cutting, this risk is due mainly to the handling of inflammable gases or gases that facilitate combustion, pressurised gas bottles due to the bottle breaking or exploding, torches, high pressure blasts of gas escaping from hoses, reducing valves, couplings, etc.
It is also worth noting that discharges of unconsumed oxygen into the atmosphere are produced during oxy-cutting processes. As certain materials may become combustible in the presence of oxygen, these discharges constitute a serious risk in closed spaces.
Preventive measures:
- Try to keep the workplace clean and tidy, avoiding the accumulation of inflammable waste materials in the vicinity of jobs.
- A multipurpose chemical powder extinguisher in the vicinity of the area where these operations are to be carried out.
- Do not weld or cut closed vessels or vessels that have contained inflammable materials.
- The sparks produced by welding are to be controlled at their source.
- Should these jobs need to be done in premises where combustible materials are present, such materials are to be protected by fireproof canvases or blankets.
- Once the job is done, the workplace and the surroundings are to be checked for any remaining incandescent projected particles that might cause a subsequent fire.
