Welding includes a lot of risk and involves possibility of hazards. We take you through some handy preventive measures that will help you with safe welding.
  One must take extreme caution when it comes to welding. The injuries can result due to fire, explosions, shocks or even due to hazardous agents.  The following tips are useful for welding.• Never permit unauthorised and ill trained persons to use the welding appliances.
• A portable fire extinguisher needs to be close by the welding arena. Also, one should ensure that it is in working condition.
• The welder should adopt a comfortable and which ensures that the head is away from the plume. During welding, the welder has to constantly bend over the work piece and that induces the hazardous fumes in the nasal area. The distant yet comfortable position will minimise the risk of gaseous hazards.
• There should be proper ventilation for the welding works. A Local Exhaust Ventilation is never 100 per cent efficient. Hence the use of extraction hood or nozzle will be of great use.
• One should also make full use of the safety goggles while electric welding processes. The goggles protect the eyes from welding spatter. The goggles protect them from the slag particles when chipping and hot sparks when grinding. Never use contact lenses while welding or during any activity around the welders.• Protective clothing is another important measure to be taken into consideration when it comes to welding.  Woollen clothing is to be preferred over cotton as wool does not catch fire easily. In case of the use of cotton clothing, it should be treated with chemicals. This will reduce the combustibility.
• In case of the use of pull-overs, jumpers, then care must be taken that they are free from oil or grease.
• The sleeves, collars should be kept buttoned and the pockets should be eliminated from the front of overalls and aprons. This is to avoid the sparks that might get lodged in the rolled-up sleeves and the pockets of the clothing.
• To protect oneself from electrocution, make sure that there are no puddles of water near the welding machine. Also, care must be taken that the weld machine is dry, including the main box, the torch, the pedal, and the plug. The risk of fatal electrocution from a properly working TIG weld machine is high. Proper care must be taken while working with TIG weld machine.
• Hot pieces of base metal may come in contact with combustible materials and start fires. Fires and explosions have also been caused when heat is transmitted through walls of containers to flammable atmospheres or to combustibles within containers. Anything that is combustible or flammable is susceptible to ignition by cutting and welding.
• Whenever possible, flammable materials attached to or near equipment requiring welding, brazing, or cutting will be removed. If removal is not practical, a suitable shield of heat resistant material should be used to protect the flammable material. Fire extinguishing equipment, for any type of fire that may be encountered, must be present.
• Gloves are a must when working on welding and also while handling the welded material. Cotton gloves are preferable for light TIG welding. In case of heavy welding, heavy duty gloves are to be used.
• Remember that the light emitted from a weld arc is brighter than that of the sun.  Never look at the ark without the welding mask. The mask should have a shade of 10 or darker. The rays from the arc can cause a UV burn that is much worse. Observers may use a cardboard mask with a shade 10 filter plate.
• In case of robotic welding system, for proper working, the machine safe guarding equipment must be chosen after a thorough and formal risk assessment. This assessment should consider all the potential hazards and the hazard guarding solutions.
• Any robot moving with a speed of more than 10 inches per second is to be safeguarded with adequate measures.
• After the work place is defined and the risk assessment done, the best safety measure are to be used based on the application requirements and the activity of the user.
• Mechanical barriers are one of the best barriers. Also known as “hard” guards, such as doors and gates, may make up one or two walls of a robotic work-cell to prevent access to a specific area.
• Safety light curtains are another option to deal with robotic welding. They can provide easy access to the robotic work-cell for placing and removing parts, while keeping workers and other machinery protected from the robot. Safety light curtains can be used as a perimeter guard or point-of-operation guard.
• Area scanning Devices make use of laser light to guard a robotic work-cell. During the programming, these scanners detect the intrusion into the defined area.
• Safety mats is another machine-guarding option. These mats are the favourite choices when it comes to robotic applications. This is the secondary safety system for guarding the work place.
These safety issues that will play a crucial role when it comes to preventive measures while welding. These measures when implemented will ensure the safety of the welders providing the highest productivity.