The welding process involves high temperatures, open flames, and flammable gases. To avoid injury and loss of property from fires, it is necessary to adhere to fire safety rules when welding.
The risk of fires increases in confined spaces where it is difficult to move equipment around. Not everywhere there is a fire alarm, so it is useful to know what to do if a fire does occur during welding, which is important to have on hand in case of an emergency.
Fire safety during welding work is regulated by law. SNiPs and rules have been developed that not only professionals, but also novice welders must follow. Fire safety measures when carrying out welding work will help preserve your health and protect you from financial losses.
What dangers may there be and their causes?
Manual arc welding is particularly dangerous. Sparks can fly over a long distance - up to 5 meters and cause a fire there. Therefore, fire safety during welding includes the recommendation to conduct an inspection before starting the process and remove all flammable materials such as oily rags and dry debris at this distance.
When welding in a carbon dioxide environment, strong splashing of liquid metal is possible. During gas welding, the source of increased danger is the torch. When electric welding, hot pieces of metal can fly off over a considerable distance. If they come into contact with flammable substances, a “silent” fire may occur, which will gradually gain strength.
The cause of the fire may be a faulty electrical wiring. If the requirements for handling gas cylinders are violated, there is a risk of their explosion, which will lead to a fire. Sparks flying from a working electrode can also trigger an explosion.
One possible reason is the human factor. Fire safety rules for welding work strictly prohibit smoking in the workplace. A violation may be the incorrect delivery of cylinders. They must be transported to the work site on a special trolley. Carrying them on your arms or shoulders is prohibited. They should be located at a distance of at least 1 meter from heating radiators. If welding is done outdoors, the cylinders should be placed in the shade. It is necessary to prevent exposure of gas containers to sunlight.
Personal protection for the welder
Occupational safety requires special equipment for people working with welding equipment. Kit includes:
- A wide apron or clothing made of dense fabric (canvas, tarpaulin, leather, split leather) with fire retardant impregnation. It must withstand the arc temperature for 50 seconds and not burn out from sparks of hot metal. Costumes are marked with the letter symbols “Tr”.
- Welding gloves or gaiters are made from tarpaulin, felt, leather, and split leather. They are available in the form of mittens, three- and five-fingered. They are impregnated with synthetic resins to prevent smoldering and burns from sparks.
- Boots are regulated by the standard. They should have a dielectric sole, a thickened toe that can withstand heavy loads, and leather that does not burn through high temperatures. Shoes with laces or metal heels are not allowed.
- Protective masks protect the face from heat and ultraviolet radiation. They have a special screen - a light filter, through which the welding zone is visible. They produce models with automatic darkening of the filter, with a forced air injection system to protect the respiratory system from harmful vapors emitted by the melt.
Occupational safety requires special equipment for people working with welding equipment
Injuries are an additional risk of fires; a person will definitely get distracted and lose control of the welding area if he gets burned. Personal protective equipment cannot be neglected even with a small amount of work.
Necessary activities
To prevent a fire, the following measures are required:
Events | What are the |
Organizational | Conducting briefings on safety rules at a specific site for welders assigned there |
Technical | Preparing welding equipment, checking its functionality and grounding |
Operational | Correct choice of operating modes |
Regime | Elaboration of rules to ensure safety at a specific facility and familiarization of personnel with them |
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Preparation
Fire safety during welding work includes preparatory measures for equipping the workplace. First of all, it is necessary to determine the required radius of action of the dangerous area and clean it.
This primarily applies to flammable materials and gas cylinders. If welding will be carried out indoors, then it is necessary to ensure that the exhaust equipment is working. There should be several floors in the workshop and have a fireproof coating. The walls must be covered with material that is highly resistant to fire. There must be working fire extinguishers at the workplace.
The place where welding work is expected to be carried out must be fenced. The height of the partition when carrying out welding work must be sufficient so that sparks and splashes cannot fly over it.
If work will be carried out outdoors, then it is necessary to fence off the area and place warning signs. You should check the weather forecast in advance. In case of strong winds, welding work will have to be postponed.
A mandatory step is to check the serviceability of the equipment.
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Types of fire extinguishers
Fire safety rules when carrying out welding work include a mandatory requirement that fire extinguishers must be available to promptly eliminate the consequences of a fire. To do this, choose powder or carbon dioxide options. If electrical wiring catches fire, you should use fire extinguishers rather than pouring water or liquid foam onto the fire, which can cause a short circuit and electric shock.
Powder fire extinguishers are universal. To use them in case of fire during welding work, you should choose those marked “D”.
Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers lower the temperature when gas enters the air. Inside them are cylinders with carbon dioxide, which is in a liquid state under pressure.
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Compliance with the rules
Fire safety during welding can be observed if all necessary rules are followed. It is prohibited to begin performing flammable work unless the necessary preparatory work has been completed.
If welding is performed by a student, then a qualified worker must be assigned to him to monitor the correctness of his actions. Personnel performing flammable work must have an order authorizing them to perform it in a specific location.
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OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS IN EMERGENCIES
4.1. If a fire is detected during work, you must immediately notify your immediate supervisor and call the fire department by calling 101 or 112. Before the fire department arrives, you must take measures to evacuate people and property and begin extinguishing the fire. 4.2. In the event of a malfunction of the welding unit, welding wires, electrode holder, protective shield or helmet-mask, you must stop work and report it to your supervisor. 4.3. To avoid an accident, electric welding work should be stopped in the event of the following malfunctions of the welding transformer: - in case of a turn short circuit in the windings, a sign of which is heating and even melting of the part of the winding that has short-circuited; — when contacts in connections are broken, which is characterized by increased heating; - with a strong humming of the core, which occurs from loosening of the fastening of the core itself and the mechanism for moving the coils in the welding transformer. - when voltage is detected on the transformer body. 4.4. Operation can be resumed only after all faults have been eliminated. 4.5. In the event of high gas contamination in the room in which welding work is carried out and in the absence of exhaust ventilation, the work must be suspended and ventilated. 4.6. In the event of an accident, poisoning, or sudden illness, it is necessary to immediately provide first aid to the victim, call a doctor or help take the victim to a doctor, and then inform the manager about the incident. 4.7. If a manual electric welder witnesses an accident caused by electric current, then first aid should be provided to the victim in the following sequence: - release the victim from the action of electric current; — determine the nature and severity of the electrical injury and the sequence of actions to save the victim; — perform the necessary actions to save the victim and maintain his basic life functions; - call an ambulance (doctor) or take the victim to the nearest medical facility. 4.8. If it is impossible to turn off the electrical installation quickly enough, the victim should be separated from live parts; in this case, the person providing assistance must take care of their safety and wear dielectric gloves or stand on a dielectric mat or stand. 4.9. In the absence of electrical protective equipment, to free the victim, it is necessary to throw away the electrical wire with a dry stick, board or other object that does not conduct electric current, or pull the victim by the clothes if they are dry, and then cut (cut with wire cutters) the wires supplying the part of the electrical installation where the electrical injury occurred. This can be done with an ax with a dry ax or a tool with insulated handles, and the wires should be cut (cut) in phases, i.e. each wire separately.
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