Protection for professionals

[Paul Seaman]

This forum is generally about questions not statements Here I go against that. Bob Sigmon pointed out hazards on another forum about UV/A, UV/B, UV/C radiation. This is a real hot spot that I have left alone because I have strong feelings on the subject. Any and all compitent welders should cover all skin tissue from the rays of our welding. We can put little thought into slowly poisioning ourselves because we dont show signs of problems---until its too late. I am a 37 year old whose wife[a sun worshiper] is currently undergoing treatment for stage 2 melanoma. Heads up on the treatment it is like having depression, flu, sinus, migrane, fever,and chills all at once, and the treatment period is 52 weeks 3 injections per week.

I was watching one of the fabricating tv shows last night and it really upset me that these guys are impressioning the youth of america with the macho tough guy welding with short sleeves and no helmet. This is not only a poor show of judgement but real dumb, this guy is going to look like a knife fight when they get done cutting the cancer off of him, in 15 years.


Please, Please don't dismiss this, it is a very serious plea, weld well, weld safe, live long and prosper. Its your decision!

[MACH4]

Pjseaman,
Your post really caught my eye as I recently left a similar post on the Hobart board. I also agree about the "monster garage"type shows that spend hours welding in short sleeves,barefoot etc.glad I'm not alone on some of these issues!! Best of luck to you and your wife during the treatment,keep us posted.I'm going to see if I can download some photos from the Brady Paramedic guide of basal cell melanoma,maybe some gory pics. might save a life!!Again,best wishes.
Mike
MACH4

[Blondie_486]

pjseaman & Mach4,

I agree 100% those shows should in fact show the people using the proper safety techniques not only in welding but grinding and whatever they're doing. On American Chopper I remember an episode where Mikey was grinding something without safety glasses and holding his work on the floor with his foot. Well the piece went zinging across the floor and they treated it like a joke. Truth of the matter is I wouldn't let him come to work with shorts and sandals, he'd have to have long pants on and work shoes, not athletic shoes although those would be better than sandals.

For welding I wear long sleeve denim shirts and denim jeans with ankle high leather work boots to work. I also wear leather cape sleeves in the summer and a full leather jacket in the colder months to weld in. For MIG and SMAW (stick) welding I have a pair of heavy gauntlet type leather gloves and for TIG I wear a lighter pair of pigskin driving gloves for finger dexterity handling the filler rods.

When I was in my early 20's I thought I was safe welding in just long sleeves alone but the keyhole area between the mid sleeve and the cuff of my sleeve was open and I was unaware of it. After 8 hours of welding my forearm was a very dark purple. My foreman saw it and sent me to the Nurse's station and the nurse in turn sent me to the hospital emergency room where I was treated for radiation burn. I had always wondered how people could lay in the sun till they were severely burned and not know it, well I found out as I was unaware I was actually being burned. The doctor in the emergency room told me that the burn was pretty severe and may leave scarring, I got lucky though and no scarring. He also went on to tell me the dangers of radiation burns and that constant exposure to ultraviolet rays WILL, not could lead to melanoma type cancer and that in the future I should be aware of the UV rays of not only welding but sunlight. He told me that it is a good idea to wear long sleeves and a hat with a wide brim all the way around when working outside as well even on a cloudy day the UV rays can come through the clouds and still do damage.

I watched my mother die from cancer and it was a horrible death for her and I didn't want this for myself so from that day on I have been constantly aware of the danger of UV rays to the skin. I always wear my leather sleeves to weld with and the proper gloves and also I wear a "T" shirt under my shirt to provide neck protection since I can't find a shirt that will button domfortably around my neck. Even when working outside around the house and cutting the grass I wear long sleeves and long pants to protect myself from the UV rays. I have a step sister who's a sun worshiper and she's only a couple of years older than I am but from the years of exposure to the sun she looks at least 15 years older than I do and her skin has the texture of leather. The last I heard about her is she was dying from cancer.

My advice to anyoe who welds even if you're only a hobby welder is COVER YOURSELF PROPERLY!!!! I would hate to hear that anyone in this group developed melanoma from not wearing the proper protection.

Pjseaman, my prayers include your wife that she may make a full and complete recovery from her stage 2 melanoma and live out a full life with you and your family.

Be safe!

Blondie_486

[HAWK]

Blonide_486,

Here is a partial quote I pulled from your post:

I watched my mother die from cancer and it was a horrible death for her and I didn't want this for myself so from that day on I have been constantly aware of the danger of UV rays to the skin. I always wear my leather sleeves to weld with and the proper gloves and also I wear a "T" shirt under my shirt to provide neck protection since I can't find a shirt that will button domfortably around my neck. Even when working outside around the house and cutting the grass I wear long sleeves and long pants to protect myself from the UV rays.

I empathize with you. I also lost my mother to cancer over a 6 year stretch. The last 3 months were horrible! I watch what I wear and have full body protection from the arc. I also wear side flash glasses when working around other welders. I recently quit this practice when I went with the new Optrell Satellite e-hood. I also make sure my gloves are well suited to to the welding process. If they get sweat soaked, I change gloves for a while. I wear steel toed boots for the stupid things I may do like dropping hot cut plate on my foot.

Let safety be number one in our profession. These macho welders on TV are just plain stupid! When I was younger I used to spot and tack stairwell frames with a mig before the final burn in. I always turned my head and pulled the trigger. I had all the other protective gear. Understand this was before e-hoods. 500-600 tacks before lunch would kill you neck flipping a hood up and down like a bobbing dog in a car window. Even so it was a stupid thing to do.
Be aware of our surroundings and any danger zones that could cause problems. Maybe it will save our life or good health down the road.

[SoCalTA]

The only thing I would disagree with is the title of the post. I am however thankful for the information. I am not a professional at this. Shoot I spend tons of time just reading and reading the answers to questions to see if I can figure out what you guys are talking about. This post however I got loud and clear. I never would have known how harmful this hobby could be without the insight from you guys. I am just glad you all said something so soon into my new hobby so I can learn things the correct way. In all honesty I would have looked to those shows ..not knowing any better and thought that the way they welded was ok. I am good about the eye protection from my own experience but now I am covered on the skin side of welding.

Thanks for the information guys .. I will be sure to cover up as part of my start up process every time I weld.

[Blondie_486]

Hawk,

I've been hood flipping for about 30 years now. Maybe that has something to do with my neck problems? Probably so. I've never tried one of the electronic helmets I always figured something would go wrong with it and cost an arm and a leg to fix and all of the salesmen I've talked to say I can't use my magnaview on the inside of it. Perhaps I should try one sometime but I've never seen any of the welding dealers in my area display the Optrel you speak so highly of. Do they possibly have a website that has a dealer locator in it?

Watching any loved one die is a traumatic experience, my mother suffered for 7 years and the last few months were the worst. I was at her bedside holding her hand when she took her last breath.

Well if we all use our common sense and protect ourselves from the harmful rays hopefully none of us will have to endure a welding related cancer.

Hopefully one or more of the producers of these shows will read these posts and will show people using the proper safety techniques in future shows. It would be a shame to lead our youth down a path of self destruction because of trying to imitate a macho image they saw on the television. Perhaps we should find out how to write to the producers of these shows and post the information on the welding message boards and have welders like ourselves write the producers and voice our opinions? Could it hurt? I don't know if Andy has any contact with Orange County Choppers since they do use Miller welders and did the Miller aniversary chopper. Perhaps he could express a concern about the lack of safety gear on the show? And it's possible influence on the youth that watch the show.

Blondie_486

[Paul Seaman]

Blondie: when you start looking at an e-hood check the Speedglas 9000x, I have one and love it. I recently had an opprotunity to try on a Optrel and it seems a little heavier and more rigid. The 9000x doesn't have the grinding feature but the next step up does. If I had it do over I would buy one step up but still would buy the Speedglas over the others. Also I do own a Jackson journeyman, and Miller Xlix. The jackson was my first e-hood and it was a good start and made me a better welder imediatly. The Miller was a freebie that came in the box with my mm210. I only use the Miller when the Speedglas is in the truck and feel lazy, It is a great hood and nice as a spare. I can say if you buy or try any e-hood you will never go back willingly at least.

Thanks to all for their responses, as you can tell this is a very emotional and personal subject. My wife will get through this with a little help but she has many scars and life is forever changed. She is 1/3 of the way through her treatment and on the way to recovery. I am sorriful for the loss of the others and thankful that they shared their experiences. Thanks to all.

[ASKANDY]

All I have to say is God Bless All who read and take heed of this post. It would benefit all our newer welders to learn from OUR mistakes and experiences. I know I'm not the only one who has skipped protection in the name of time saving. But my dad would have my butt when he cought me welding without sleeves. I was young and dumb 20+ year ago. A few burns later and some rough nights trying to sleep with an eyefull of sand has tought me what common sense should have.
Thanks all for sharing some personal info with us. I know we all can learn form other peoples reality checks.

Good luck to you and your wife pj.

A-

[Paul Seaman]

Guys thanks for the responses and I thought I would tell you about my email to monster garage love the show but you people are totally stupid not wearing the least amount of protection was the basic mood of the email. Only with a few colorful attention getters if you get my drift.

Judie is doing pretty well and the doc said she is getting stronger so this is the first good news of 4 monthes of misery. We pray for strength and guidance just to get through. Thanks to all, your great folks and I am hopeful that we don't see any other needless fatalities or suffering. Thanks much

[Blondie_486]

pj

I'm glad to hear the good news about your wife, I hope she continues to get stronger and make a full and complete recovery, ya'll are in my prayers.

Good deal about writing to Monster Garage concerning the protection issue but Orange County Choppers is just as bad if not worse. Last Monday and last night they were building the Miller Electric 75th Aniversary bike. They didn't show any welding last night but last week Paul Jr. and Vinnie were both welding without even gloves on let alone any sleeves and did all of the tacking without a helmet.

Perhaps you could post the e-mail address you have for Monster Garage here and we can all write them about this issue. 10 voices speak louder than 1 and 100 voices speak louder than 10. Maybe if enough of us write these shows and express our concerns then they will look at their responsibilities to the viewing public and set a better example, especially for our youth who idolize some of these people. I did watch Monster Garage last night and they did have 1 welder wearing proper protection and it just so happened that it was a female welder.

I will see what I can do about finding an e-mail address for the American Chopper show and I think I can come up with a few addresses for Orange County Chopper as well. Paul Sr. seems to have a pretty square head on his shoulders so maybe if we e-mail him directly he'll have Paul Jr. and Vinnie wearing proper safety equipment.

Catch you later

Blondie_486

[Paul Seaman]

I went through the discovery channel web site and http://www.discovery.com/utilities/about/contact.html was the web Info, go for it guys givem heck. I normally wouldn't be like this but they really got me steamed.

[SoCalTA]

PJ,

Steamed.....
Don't you mean "its really starting to get you aggravated?" 8-)

[Paul Seaman]

Aggrevated doesn't quite cover it, more like angered, infuriated, peaved, pissed yea that comes close with out becoming really vulgar. At least everyone got the picture! OK I feel better, thanks to all and be safe.

[chris2626]

Paul,

I agree it is plain STUPID to not cover up. I worked an intership a semester ago at a plant and a half a day I didn't have my welding shirt on and got a ****a burned. I was dumb not to wear a shirt. I promiss you I always wear safty glass and a long sleeve shirt jeans and steel toe boots to keep me safe.
I totally agree it is so dumb they don't wear long sleeve shirts when welding.
I can remember one Monster garage show of a woman who was a welding instructor at a school who was preaching to all these guys how they needed to wear a hood when tacking thing together. That was the only time I have seen safety on a show. I guess all I can say is it sucks to be them in 20 years.

Chris

[Paul Seaman]

Chris:
This is one of my earliest posts, it is a good reminder for all. I am glad you have learned from your mistakes. I have a friend that still hasn't and he and I are good friends but I want to hurt him for being stupid sometimes. Even smart people do dumb things once in a while. It is our responsibility to help others to learn safe habits, we can make a difference.

Thanks for your response,