PPE FOR OXYFUEL AND PLASMA WELDING AND CUTTING

The PPE of choice for most Oxyfuel and plasma welding and cutting operations is goggles or IR/UV protective faceshields. Roughly 2 to 3 times more welding goggles and faceshields are used per year than welding helmets for electric arc welding but little is said or written about them because they pale in comparison to the interest in high-tech ADF equipped electric arc helmets.


In addition to shops that do gas or plasma welding and cutting as their primary function, nearly every company in every industrial market segment performs those functions in their maintenance departments. Like most other PPE, on the surface welding and cutting goggles and faceshields appear to be a commodity with little or no difference among the brands. But as usual, there are significant differences in design, material and workmanship resulting in clear differences in quality.


There are two types of gas welding goggles – rigid frame and flexible frame. The Fibre-Metal Products Company, now a Honeywell Safety brand, introduced the rigid frame more than 60 years ago with its SOLOGGLE brand. It was, and still is, so popular with gas welders and cutters that it became almost a generic name for welding goggles.


Rigid frame goggles have a number of advantages. They are durable enough to withstand a harsh work environment, they fit well, provide good protection against foreign objects, and they can be easily lifted up into a rest position with a gloved hand. Flexible frame goggles are lighter weight, contain air vents for ventilation and they come in both 2X4 ¼ plate or 50MM lens styles. There are no real technical reasons to choose one over the other. Selection is usually made based of personal preference and the specific hazards and working conditions of the job.


There are still a lot of goggles used, but over the past decade or so, faceshields are preferred by an increasing number of oxyfuel welders, cutters and plasma arc cutters. Early IR/UV faceshield windows were dyed or coated to achieve their filtering properties. But those processes produced windows that did not have consistent shading throughout the window, they faded over time and the dye or coating scratched off rendering the window useless for its purpose. Because they were the only manufacturer injection molding windows at the time, again, it was the Fibre-Metal Products Company that developed and perfected the process of adding an IR/UV absorber to the windows raw material to mold the shading in which produced a high performance IR/UV protection window without the flaws of dyed or coated windows. Today, the Fibre-Metal brand offers shade 3, 5 and 8 IR/UV protective faceshield windows. No other supplier offers as broad of a range that we are aware of.


For a quality rigid frame goggle, look for a sturdy frame, capable of providing a long service life in a harsh working environment, smooth rolled or rounded edges for any part of the goggle that touches the face, a top quality headgear (many brand headgears have cracking and breaking problems, check your potential sources track record), and smooth operating “telescoping arms” for ease of lifting the goggle into a rest position when necessary. There are still goggles available with elastic headbands, but most gas welders and cutters prefer a “headrest” model. Most oxy-fuel goggles come with a shade 4 or 5 filter plate and other shades are available on special order or the user can buy a higher shade filter and install it.


The OSHA recommended filter shades for oxyfuel welding and cutting are:


• Oxyfuel welding


o Light - shades 4-5


o Medium - shades 5-6


o Heavy - shades 6-8


• Oxyfuel cutting


o Light - shades 3-4


o Medium- shades 4-5


o Heavy - shades 5-6


(See http://www.aws.org/technical/facts/Z49.1-2005-all.pdf) for additional information)


If head protection is needed in your oxyfuel operation, look for a method of attaching goggles to the head protection that does not require hazardous mounting slots. The “Speedy” loop mounting mechanism provides a secure, easy on, easy off method of mounting goggles that does not compromise the ANSI rating of the protective cap.


IIn flexible frame oxyfuel goggles, look for soft, comfortable frames that hug facial contours for comfort, ventilation for cooling, and a selection of plate and lens, stationary and lift-front models.


Faceshields offer a choice of how to provide protection. OSHA and ANSI Standards require primary eye protection, spectacles or goggles, under faceshields. They also strongly recommended that a clear faceshield be worn over welding and cover goggles or spectacles with filter lenses. So a wearer can use shaded spectacles or goggles under a clear faceshield, or they can wear clear primary eye protection under a shaded faceshield. There are pros and cons to both methods.


With a shaded primary eye protection/clear faceshield combination, when the torch is extinguished and the faceshield lifted, visibility is extremely compromised and tripping or falling is a risk. If the shaded primary eye protection is removed, the wearer is at risk from others working in the area. On the other hand, with a clear primary protection/ shaded faceshield combination, when the faceshield is lifted the wearer is at risk from the visible light from other torches in the area. To provide some degree of protection from that, some oxyfuel welders and cutters wear a light shade 1.7 or 2.0 spectacle under their shade 5 faceshields. The decision of what to use should only be made by trained, experienced welding and safety officials after a thorough evaluation of the working conditions and hazards present.

When considering a faceshield, look first at the faceshield headgear. The crown protector should be made from the same material as a welding helmet for a long service life. It should be designed to cover as much of the head as possible. Most quality suppliers offer a choice of sizes. The faceshield should include a quality headgear. The shaded window should be injection molded from propionate, the best all around material for a welding environment, and should include a top quality, molded in absorber for consistent shading and protection. The window should be preformed to the shape of the headgear for a good seal and to eliminate potential weak spots from having to bend a flat window to mount it. Above all, look for optical quality. An oxyfuel welder must be able to see to be productive. Poor quality windows often provide a distorted view of the job. Look for a selection of window sizes and shapes to cover the most exposed face and neck areas.

The Fibre-Metal brand also provides a unique shade 8 faceshield window for protection from plasma arc cutting up to 100 amps (See http://www.aws.org/technical/facts/Z49.1-2005-all.pdf for information on required protection from higher amperages). The window is made from the same material as their shade 5 windows and fits most Fibre-Metal brand faceshield headgears.


WARNINGS: Because there are apparently similar products on the market that do not provide the same degree of protection and the risk of misuse of these products, several special warnings must be made. ALWAYS wear primary eye protection (spectacles or goggles) under faceshields. NEVER use any of the products mentioned in this post for electric arc welding of any kind. Serious injury could result. Be aware that there are green tinted windows, for glare protection only, that do not provide any filtration. Make sure any PPE you consider for oxyfuel welding, cutting or plasma cutting is clearly marked for IR/UV protection and includes a shade designation. If there is any question or doubt check with welding and safety officials and the manufacturer before using. Failure to do so could result in serious injury.


The protective spectacles mentioned in this post should be used solely for the applications described above and should NOT be used as general purpose sunglasses, or for driving as they have reduced levels of light transmittance and will distort traffic signal colors. Failure to heed this warning could result in serious injury or death.


Make sure you are familiar with ANSI Z87.1 and AWS Z40.9 Standards before making a face and eye PPE buying decision. OSHA’s Non-mandatory Compliance Guidelines for Hazard Assessment and Personal Protective Equipment Selection is available at: (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10120)