Safety and Portable Welders – Protecting the Eyes

Although it might seem that the use of a portable welder is a more casual affair than using a welder in your shop, which might require less precautions in its use, it is in fact a good idea to be even more careful and safety-conscious when using a portable welder than when welding indoors. The reason for this is simple – when you are using a portable welder, you will often be doing so in an environment that is less than ideal for welding.
 
In your own welding shop, everything will (hopefully) be neatly arranged, all tools will be ready to hand, and flammable substances are safely stored in metal, purpose-built cabinets that will prevent fires and explosions. Out “in the field,” however, conditions are rarely so pristine and well-arranged. welding with a portable welder may involve working close to flammable substances, near other people who are inexperienced and incautious around welding gear, and so on. Therefore, the best protection against accidents while using a portable welder is to be particularly alert and safety-conscious, and offset the potential quirkiness of your environment with an extra layer of precautions.

The most obvious danger of welding – whether with an oxyacetylene torch or with a MIG or TIG arc welder – is the risk that these implements pose to the eyes. Gazing into the violent illumination of a welding flame, whether it is electricity-based or gas-based, can cause a condition known as arc flash, a temporary but unpleasant visual effect. Therefore, your first safety precautions should be protecting your own eyes and the eyes of others.

A tinted face shield with a shade of 5 is sufficient protection when using an oxyacetylene torch, although using an actual welding helmet will give you even better protection. However, when making use of an arc welder, nothing but a full welding helmet will do. This not only shields your eyes, but protects your face from the potent ultraviolet radiation that arc welding emits, which can cause skin cancer with repeated exposure – especially on the sensitive skin of the face. Even if your face is seamed and apparently leathery from years of outdoor conditions, it will still be more vulnerable to skin cancer than other areas of your body – in particular, the eyelids.

welding helmets come in standard or auto-adjusting versions. Standard versions have a single, fixed “shade” – the rating of light their windows are able to handle – so you will need to buy a helmet that matches the light output of the welding implement that you are planning to use. Their advantage, of course, is cheapness and ease of care, so they are often favored by beginning welders in particular. Between 9 and 11 are the usual welding shades, and acquiring three helmets – with shades of 9, 10, and 11 – is a prudent plan.

When using a portable welder, you need to protect the eyes of others as well as yourself. If you are welding at home or on a farm, this means protecting the eyes of animals as well, who will be drawn to look at the welding arc and will not understand to look away, and thus will experience arc flash. When possible, move all animals from the area, and in any case, set up opaque welding curtains around the work site. Keep an extra helmet on hand for visitors in case someone needs to talk to you urgently while you are welding.