Welding without adequate eye protection
Welding without adequate eye protection means more than 365,000 workers suffer from eye injuries – that is nearly 1,400 a day! Eye injuries make up one-quarter of all welding injuries and they cost employers more than £366 million annually.
Welding injuries to the face and eyes generally fall into four categories:
- Hot metal slag burns
- Injuries from flying particles
- Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation
- Exposure to irritating fumes, vapours, and chemicals
Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations (AOR) 2010 states that some forms of artificial light can be harmful to workers unless protective measures are in place. In accordance with the Community Directive 92/57/CEE, the worker’s good health is the most precious thing for a company. They should pay attention to “The existence of alternative work equipment designed to reduce the levels of exposure to the artificial optical radiation”. The safety of the welding operator is no longer just a responsible choice of the employer, but a clear legal obligation.
All of the most common types of welding (shielded metal-arc or stick welding, gas metal-arc welding, and oxyacetylene welding) produce potentially harmful ultraviolet, infrared, and visible spectrum radiation. Damage from ultraviolet light can occur very quickly. Normally absorbed in the cornea and lens of the eye, ultraviolet radiation often causes arc eye or arc flash. This is very painful but is rarely a permanent injury. Arc eye is characterised by eye swelling, tearing, and pain. Welding without adequate eye protection may cause photokeratitis, conjunctivitis, cataracts, skin cancer, burns to the retina, and burns to the dermis.
What protects me from having an eye injury?
Welding helmets, face shields, goggles, and safety glasses are all used to protect the welder’s eye from damage. Auto Darkening Filters (ADFs) have now become one of the most common forms of protecting the welder’s eyes during the welding process, as they keep out most of the harmful radiation, which can lead to blindness. The reaction time of a Auto Darkening Filter is how long it takes for the lens to switch from light to dark when the welding arc is detected. This can vary drastically depending on the quality of the Auto Darkening Filter. The quicker the reaction time is, then the less damage will be caused to the welder’s eyes. However, the reaction time of the Auto-Darkening Filters, however fast, can still expose the eye to artificial optical radiation.
Trafimet M-System MIG Torches
The Trafimet M-System MIG Torch with Flash Protect is a huge innovation to the welding environment. It helps to eliminate any exposure to harmful rays before the ADF reacts. When the torch trigger is pressed on the M-System torch, the Flash Protect system emits a signal that darkens the electronic helmet LCD screen, a moment before the welding arc is activated. When the arc turns on the filter is already darkened… a guaranteed 0 second reaction time!
Artificial optical radiation exposure time comparison between torches equipped with Flash Protect system and standard torches during an 8 hour spot welding shift, considering a work hypothesis with 400 spot welds per hour.
| 400 spot welds per hour | Flash Protect system (0.00ms) | High quality filters (0.15ms) | Medium quality filters (0.25ms) | Low quality filters (0.40ms) |
| 1 hour | 0.00s | 0.08s | 0.13s | 0.20s |
| 2 hours | 0.00s | 0.12s | 0.20s | 0.32s |
| 3 hours | 0.00s | 0.18s | 0.30s | 0.48s |
| 4 hours | 0.00s | 0.24s | 0.40s | 0.64s |
| 5 hours | 0.00s | 0.30s | 0.50s | 0.80s |
| 6 hours | 0.00s | 0.36s | 0.60s | 0.96s |
| 7 hours | 0.00s | 0.42s | 0.70s | 1.12s |
| 8 hours | 0.00s | 0.48s | 0.80s | 1.28s |
Check out the M-System with Flash Protect in action…
