Safety Recommendations for Arc Welding

The operator beginning his career in operating arc welding machines must go through and become familiar with these general safety recommendations to avoid accidents and injuries. Safety recommendations while working with arc welding processes such as flux-cored arc welding, shielded metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, plasma arc welding, and gas metal arc welding are given below.

1. The welding machine's body or frame should be efficiently earthed. Pipelines containing gases or inflammable liquids shall not be used for a ground return circuit. All the earth connections shall be mechanically strong and electrically adequate for the required current.
2. Arc welding machines should be properly grounded (earthed) as a safety measure to prevent people from accidentally coming in contact with an electrical hazard.
3. Arc welding technicians must wear either helmets or hand shields fitted with special filter glass to protect their eyes from infrared and ultraviolet light emitted during the process.
4. Excess ultraviolet light emitted during arc welding can cause an effect similar to sunburn on the skin of the welding operator(welder).
5. The welder’s body and clothing should be protected from radiation and burns caused by sparks and flying globules of molten metal with the help of gloves and an apron. Gloves protect the hands of a welder. An apron made of leather or asbestos is handy to protect the welder’s clothes and his trunk and thighs while seated, while he is doing welding.
6. For overhead welding, protection for the welder's head is required. A leather skullcap or peaked cap will protect the head from sparks.
7. Leather jackets and leather leggings need to be used for body protection.
8. Welding equipment shall be inspected periodically and maintained in safe working order.
9. Ensure that arc welding machines are of standard quality.
10. All parts of the arc welding set shall be suitably enclosed and protected to meet the usual service conditions.
11. When welding in confined spaces, operators need to protect themselves from welding rays, flying sparks, metal spatter, hot slag particles, hot stubs, fumes, and gases.
12. In alternating current (AC) arc welding machines and transformers, the secondary circuit shall be thoroughly insulated from the primary circuit. The input terminal shall be completely enclosed and accessible only by means of tools.
13. The primary side of the transformer shall be provided with suitable wire terminals inside the machine case.
14. Welding (secondary) terminals shall be so arranged that current-carrying parts are not exposed to accidental contact.
15. In a transformer, the welding circuit should be separate from the power circuit so that there is no risk of the operator suffering serious current shock or burns when power voltage appears across the electrical holder.
16. A disconnecting switch shall be provided at or near each welding machine to turn off the welding process in an emergency.
17. The control apparatus provided with the welding machine shall enclose, except for the operating wheels, levers, etc.
18. Windings of a transformer, suctioned or compressed air, need to be cleaned periodically.
19. Disconnect them from the main electric power supply before undertaking any maintenance work on welding machines.
20. Other arc welding equipment, such as electrode holders, should connect soundly to the welding lead.
21. They should have an adequate rating for the maximum welding current to prevent them from heating up and becoming too hot to handle.
22. Operators holding electrodes need to wear shields to protect their hands from the arc's heat. It is recommended that all metallic current-carrying parts, including the jaws that grip the electrodes, be installed.
23. Hot electrode holders should not be dipped in water because the retained moisture may cause an electric shock.
24. Welding cables need to be completely insulated and flexible. They should be capable of handling the maximum current required for the work in progress. If the cable insulation is damaged, the equipment will not be operated. The welding cable should be free from repair or splices up to a minimum distance of three meters from the electrode holder.
25. Two cables shall be connected using fully insulated cable connectors of a capacity equivalent to the cable.
26. Welding cables need to be kept dry and free of grease and oil to avoid premature insulation breakdown.
27. The construction of arc welding machines should be such that they can operate satisfactorily even under conditions of salty or moist air, such as in coastal areas, dust, smoke, excessive vibrations, fumes, steam, corrosive atmosphere, etc.
28. One should not work on the wiring of an arc welding machine unless qualified to do so.
29. Welding equipment operated in the open shall be protected from weather conditions. If it is wet, it needs to be thoroughly dried before starting the operation.
30. Ensure proper terminals are used on the arc welding machines for the power line voltage connection.
31. Both the terminals of the welding generator should not be bonded to the frame of the welding machine.
32. Periodically, clear out the accumulated dust on the welding machine with a suction cleaner, as this will not blow dust into other parts of the machine.
33. Don’t over-grease; over-greasing may foul the commutators of a direct current (DC) generator.
34. Periodically clean the DC generator commutators using fine sandpaper.
35. Excessive sparking may result in a worn commutator of a DC generator, which needs to be repaired by skimming in a lathe machine.
36. Brushes should move freely and have adequate spring tension. This can be tested by lifting and releasing them. Brushes should snap firmly against the DC generator's commutator.
37. Periodically, attention needs to be paid to cleaning switch contacts.
38. Greasing points need attention periodically.