For all of you welders out there - a public service video

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PanhandleGlocker

Sharpshooter
Special Hen Banned
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,118
Reaction score
12,881
Location
Guymon, OK
Im a welder and I do line repairs on Natural Gas pipelines. The other day we were cutting 40’ of 18” pipe out and I was hand torching some straps out of the pipe after we already cut a bevel with our beveling machine so the pipe would pop out easier because the fire inside makes the pipe grow basically.. anyways… as I was hand torching I felt a pretty good piece of dirt hit me in the back and I asked the welder assisting me if the wall behind me was falling in and he said, “no… well… GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

I throw my torch down and run up out of the trench and sure enough… it caves in right where I was.

Scarier than the pipe burping in my opinion.
 

Profreedomokie

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
6,466
Reaction score
10,642
Location
Ponca City,OK.
We had an incident in the refinery years ago with the cleaning solvent used to clean metal causing Phosgene gas when it was welded. One hazard he didn't cover and maybe because it is a long-term hazard is hexavanive chrome. Welding stainless steel and some high nickel steels cause it and long-term exposure will kill you. The stuff is so toxic that our welders used to wear respirators or supplied air and change coveralls after the work was done. The dirty coveralls were kept separate from and washed separately from other dirty work clothes.
 

PanhandleGlocker

Sharpshooter
Special Hen Banned
Joined
Oct 1, 2012
Messages
7,118
Reaction score
12,881
Location
Guymon, OK
We had an incident in the refinery years ago with the cleaning solvent used to clean metal causing Phosgene gas when it was welded. One hazard he didn't cover and maybe because it is a long-term hazard is hexavanive chrome. Welding stainless steel and some high nickel steels cause it and long-term exposure will kill you. The stuff is so toxic that our welders used to wear respirators or supplied air and change coveralls after the work was done. The dirty coveralls were kept separate from and washed separately from other dirty work clothes.

I worked at a plant and welded stainless steel for 10 hours a day. The company monitored my breathing zone for exposure to hexavalent chromium and even 10 hours of welding I wasn’t exposed enough to even worry about it they told me.

Now a bunch of welders in the same building, that may be a different story. I was just one welder.
 

GlockPride

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
May 15, 2010
Messages
5,497
Reaction score
7,118
Location
Unfixed Arrow
Hex Chrome has a really LOW OSHA PEL, for a reason. However, many OSHA standards and regs haven’t been updated since the early 1970’s, but Hex Chrome and respirable crystalline silica have been, for a reason.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, just remember someone has bled or died for all those OSHA regs. Just wear your bubble wrap suit while working and you’ll be ok. Not productive, but safe. 😝
 

turkeyrun

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Feb 11, 2013
Messages
9,114
Reaction score
8,837
Location
Walters
A standard not changing in 10, 25, even 50 years is not relevant. It means the standard is at the correct level. The problem is when idiots in goobermint decide to change the standard because it hasn't been updated and they nothing.

I was working in a chemical plant. Testing waste water and EPA reporting.
We had to report 5 parts per BILLION benzene in waste water. The standard had been 5 ppb for 25 years. The best equipment available could identify 5 ppb, but not accurate at less. We had an EPA audit. One auditor kept asking for older and older records. He asked me why every report on the outfall was <5? Yet, farther upstream, an occasional report of 6 or 7 was recorded. I explained the testing and treatment.

A couple months later, we get a letter stating that results of audits, further investigation had shown the EPA standard had not been updated in over 25 years. The committee had made recommendations and taking effect, Jan 1st, the new standard would be 2 ppb.
The equipment has not changed in 30 years. The report now shows the result as 0, up to 5 ppb.

On the welding vid, PhosGene is some baaaaaaaad stuff. Most people would be scared shitless, if they had a clue about the chemicals they have under the bathroom sink, kitchen sink, in the garage and shop. It pays to read labels and know what you are handling.
 

Snattlerake

Conservitum Americum
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 19, 2019
Messages
20,735
Reaction score
32,366
Location
OKC
A standard not changing in 10, 25, even 50 years is not relevant. It means the standard is at the correct level. The problem is when idiots in goobermint decide to change the standard because it hasn't been updated and they nothing.

I was working in a chemical plant. Testing waste water and EPA reporting.
We had to report 5 parts per BILLION benzene in waste water. The standard had been 5 ppb for 25 years. The best equipment available could identify 5 ppb, but not accurate at less. We had an EPA audit. One auditor kept asking for older and older records. He asked me why every report on the outfall was <5? Yet, farther upstream, an occasional report of 6 or 7 was recorded. I explained the testing and treatment.

A couple months later, we get a letter stating that results of audits, further investigation had shown the EPA standard had not been updated in over 25 years. The committee had made recommendations and taking effect, Jan 1st, the new standard would be 2 ppb.
The equipment has not changed in 30 years. The report now shows the result as 0, up to 5 ppb.

On the welding vid, PhosGene is some baaaaaaaad stuff. Most people would be scared shitless, if they had a clue about the chemicals they have under the bathroom sink, kitchen sink, in the garage and shop. It pays to read labels and know what you are handling.
Like someone mixing chlorine bleach and ammonia for a super duper cleaning spray.

I was always told that mix produced Phosgene along with byproducts to include hydrochloric acid, chlorine gas and hydrazine.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom