Personal Protective Equipment
Personal protection is required by workers to ensure their safety when carrying out welding or cutting processes and other related tasks. Equipment is available for protection of the body, head, hands, feet, eyes, ears, and there is also equipment for provision of respiratory protection too. The choice of which equipment to use is largely dependent on the type of process being used, the operating conditions and the environment in which the work is being carried out. For example, there are many types of gloves that may be used to protect the hands, a welder may choose heavy-duty leather gloves or gauntlets for FCAW but lighter chammy leather gloves for TIG welding. In this instance choice is made on a number of criteria including safety, manual dexterity and comfort. These are not the only criteria and an operator would be ill advised to choose comfort over safety. Some PPE is more specialised and designed for specific applications. For example, when welding in confined spaces with a process that produces very high volumes of fume it may be necessary for the operator to wear an air-fed respirator or complete positive pressure helmet to ensure maximum protection.
|
