Guidelines for Developing a Welding and Cutting Safety Program

This is an outstanding read from Occupational Hazards.com.

OSHA's safety management guidelines offer safety managers a framework for preventing hot work injuries and fatalities.

by Laura H. Rhodes, Ed.D., CSP, and David P. Rhodes, M.A., CSP, CPCU, PHR

Cutting and welding tasks are performed either on a routine or infrequent basis in all industrial and commercial environments by maintenance personnel or contractors during the fabrication process, equipment repair or facility maintenance operations. OSHA reports that welding, cutting and brazing are hazardous activities that pose a unique combination of both safety and health risks to more than 500,000 workers in a wide variety of industries. The risk from fatal injuries alone is more than four deaths per 1,000 workers over a working lifetime.¹ Up to 25 percent of fatalities in shipyards result from fires and explosions caused by hot work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).²

An example of the result of uncontrolled safety and health hazards and poor work practices is reviewed in OSHA Fatal Facts Accident Summary No. 25. A welder entered a steel pipe (24-inch diameter) to grind a bad weld at a valve about 30 feet from the entry point. Before he entered, other crewmembers decided to add oxygen to the pipe near the bad weld. He had been grinding intermittently for about 5 minutes when a fire broke out and enveloped his clothing. Another crewmember pulled him 30 feet to the pipe entrance and extinguished the fire. However, the welder died the next day from his burns.

Check the rest of this out over at Occupational Hazards.com.