Top 5 in 365—Articles about safety

The PAPR is lightweight, has a motor that rests on the back of the neck, and can be worn under a user’s existing welding helmet.

The last installment of “Top 5 in 365” showcased the five most-popular articles on thefabricator.com published within the last year about plasma cutting. Previous installments have focused on bending and folding, laser cutting, arc welding, assembly and joining, automation and robotics, consumables, cutting and welding prep, finishing, manufacturing software, materials handling, and metals and materials. This post is about the safety category on the website.

The safety technology area has information for protecting workers directly with personal protection equipment and indirectly with interlocks, light curtains, machine guards, barriers, safety curtains, sensors, and ventilation systems. Here are the top five most-read articles in the past year about safety.

5. The importance of meeting OSHA standards for ventilation
Improve the air and your bottom line

It is essential that all welders understand the hazards they are exposed to. It is even more important that employers take steps to minimize these hazards.

While general ventilation that ensures natural or even forced movement of fresh air in the welding environment reduces gas and fume levels, this is not adequate. Not even welding outdoors or in open spaces provides sufficient ventilation for welders. Rather, local exhaust ventilation systems should be employed at the source to ensure that fumes, welding dust, and harmful gases are removed from every worker’s breathing zone.

4. The world of plug-and-play ventilation
New take on dust collection comes in a compact package

Most people can recognize a dust collector because of its hulking size against a laser or plasma cutting table. Donaldson Torit looks to make the dust collector more inconspicuous with its new product offering.

3. Fume management in heavy fab operations
7 tips can help to transform a haze-filled shop floor to a clean and modern manufacturing environment

A well-designed and maintained dust and fume collection system will properly filter fumes and other hazardous contaminants generated during heavy fabrication. These systems prevent respiratory problems and keep facilities in compliance with current air quality requirements. Air filtration also helps to keep controls and other computerized systems free from damaging dust and fumes. In facilities where air can be filtered and recycled, it can minimize the need for costly makeup air.

Any heavy fabrication facility looking to create a fume management program should follow the seven following steps before investing in fume management equipment.

2. The new face in respiratory protection
Welders breathe easier with lightweight, low-profile PAPR

We live in a time when likes, views, and shares on social media are almost as valuable as actual currency. So when Australia-based CleanSpace Technology experienced a flurry of social media activity surrounding its CleanSpace2 powered air respirator (PAPR), it knew it had something special on its hands.

Though the company has a global presence in respiratory protection, it’s only been in the U.S. for one year. CEO Alex Birrell said the technology was developed by a team of biomedical engineers after evaluating traditional respiratory protection systems. Their goal was to improve protection for wearers and their employers.

1. 3 health and safety concerns of traditional anti-corrosion coatings
The health hazards for employees who work with paints and coatings have long been a source of concern for the industry. A 2013 study showed a connection between exposure to paint products and higher instances of headaches, low quality of sleep, memory issues, and muscle weakness. Workers commonly are exposed to volatile and hazardous chemicals through traditional anti-corrosion coatings during the process of surface preparation, application, or removal.

Let’s examine the three most common health and safety concerns of traditional coatings, along with the efforts made in the paint and coatings industry to identify and assuage these concerns. Paint and coatings manufacturers—as well as the industries that use these coatings—must look to novel strategies for improving safety and reducing hazards, in order to protect not only their bottom lines, but the health and productivity of their essential workforce.

Next up? Shop management.