Tag Welding

Jackson Shadow Welding Helmets

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Discount Safety Gear is your one-stop online shopping location for almost any type of safety gear, equipment or clothing. When you shop at Discount Safety Gear, you know that you’re purchasing high-quality products at the best possible prices. If you’re in the welding business, Discount Safety Gear has a fantastic selection of welding helmets that meet the required ANSI standards. Check out a few of the great models of welding helmets from Jackson, one of the most trusted brands in the industry.

Jackson Shadow HSL-2

The Jackson Shadow HSL-2 Welding Helmet is the best selling welding helmet in the industry. This helmet has a narrow shell design that makes it perfect for working in tight places. The Shadow welding helmet is also lightweight, only 13.8 ounces, so it’s comfortable to wear for long period of time. The extended front of the helmet increases throat protection from sparks, slag and fumes. This helmet can withstand temperatures of up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, is a minimum of 50% better than most other thermoplastic shells, and comes with a standard Shade 10 polycarbonate filter plate and cover plates. The Jackson Shadow helmet meets ANSI Z87 and CSAZ93.4 standards. Best of all, this high-quality welding helmet is available at Discount Safety Gear for only $35.99, with discounts available for ordering in larger quantities.

The Jackson Shadow HSL-100 Welding Helmet is another great option for workers looking for a lightweight helmet with a narrow design. This helmet has the same weight, 13.8 ounces, as the HSL-2 model and also features increased throat protection against sparks, slag, and fumes. This helmet can also withstand heat of up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and comes with a Shade 10 polycarbonate filter plate and cover plates. What sets this helmet apart is the larger fixed front, measuring 4.5 inches by 5.25 inches and the choice of colors: black, blue and red. Order one of these helmets today for only $59.99, a savings of over $10 off the list price!

Welding Caps – Put a Lid on It

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Whether you’re a professional welder or just a hobbyist, owning a good welding cap is always a good idea. Serving a number of purposes, not the least of which is protecting the welder’s hair from dangerous sparks, welding caps are essential to staying safe in the work place. Nowadays welding doo-hats are also popular. Available in a wide variety of colors and designs, both welding caps and doo-hats are “hot” commodities.

Welding caps were most likely brought into existence some years ago by pipeline welders. They needed a cap with a bill that could be turned sideways to protect their ears. They also wanted a little extra room up top, which would enable them to pull the cap down tight when needed, thus protecting the entire head. Welders continue to wear welding caps today for these very same reasons.

Welding caps can also be worn to keep both sweat and hair out of a welder’s eyes, to provide cushioning beneath the oftentimes uncomfortable parts of welding helmets, or, with all the different designs available today, to simply make a fashion statement. Whatever a welder’s reasons may be for wearing a welding cap, it’s always a good move, as being safe is always better than being sorry.

As for welding doo-hats, many welders wear them because they say they’re easier to wash than traditional welding caps. Some say it’s easier to get a better fit with a welding doo-hat as well. Whether one wears a doo-hat or a cap is, in the end, a matter of preference, but it does need to be said that welding caps do provide somewhat more protection than doo-hats. You can’t turn a doo-hat sideways to protect the ear, and it’s always seemed to me that welding caps offered more protection as a result of the material used to make them as well.

Welders Are at High Risk for Eye Injuries: Part 1

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Person Welding Using Eye ProtectionWelding is a hard job, but somebody has to do it. The reality is without welders we would not have vehicles to drive, computers and their components, bridges connecting us, and so much more. All of this got me thinking after I was chatting with a friend who owns a metal fabrication shop. He informed of all the dangers involved with welding and it was extremely shocking.

I was informed that eye injuries account for approximately 25% of all welding injuries. I found this to be an astounding statistic and inquired about the sources of these injuries. Several sources of welding-related eye injuries are:

* Flying particles and chipped slag hit the welder in the eye.

* Radiation and photochemical burns from ultraviolet radiation (UVR), infrared radiation, and intense blue light.

*  Eye irritation from fumes and chemicals.

My friend then went on to tell me how these injuries can occur. He told me there common types of welding including shielded metal-arc or stick welding, gas metal-arc welding, and oxyacetylene welding that produce potentially harmful ultraviolet, infrared, and visible spectrum radiation. In simpler terms, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) often causes arc eye or eye flash which is typically absorbed in the cornea and lens of the eye. At this point, I asked if this is painful and permanent. He told me while injury is rarely permanent, it is very painful causing swelling of the eye and tearing. In spite of all this, projectile molten and cold metal particles are the primary cause of welding-related eye injuries.

On a positive note, most of these eye injuries are reversible with more than 50% of injured workers returning to work in less than two days and 95% within seven days. Please, be aware that while some welding-related eye injuries are reversible – others can cause permanent visual impairment. In the case of infrared and visible spectrum radiation, there is a rare possibility of permanent retinal damage including cataracts, diminished visual activity, and increased sensitivity to light and glare.

What’s worse is that welders can suffer degenerative eye damage over the years. He told me about a study that was conducted in Denmark with 217 welders, 57% of them had yellow spots on the white part of their eyes and 24% suffered degenerative damage of the thin membrane covering the eyeball. Worse yet is that approximately half of the welders had scarring of their cornea (covering of the eye). Now the question is how do I prevent eye injuries while welding?

The answer to that question will be coming next week. Part 2 will discuss the need for eye protection underneath your welding helmet and the differences between fixed and variable shades. Check back here next Thursday at the Safety Glasses Blog for this answer and much more about welding-related eye injuries.