Safety Suggestions for a Newbie

[Carl26]

Hello, I am new to welding and new to this forum. I do maintenance and setup in my manufacturing shop. I have a stick and a MIG welder. For right now most of my welding will be for occasional general maintenance and light fabrication. Although in the future I hope to use these welders for more hobby type fabrication.

Anyway, I was reading some of the threads here about people's clothes cathching on fire and so forth and decided I need a little help choosing the right safety equipment. I have an older Jackson AD helmet, but I just bought a Miller Elite helmet. Should I be wearing a respirator? What kind do you recommend? Also, what kind of clothing, gloves, etc. should I be wearing when I weld?

Thanks for any help.

[MicroZone]

Welcome Carl. As you've probably heard before, always pick the right tools to do the job. If you're just tacking some stuff together for test fit, you don't need all the heavy safety equipment. If, on the other hand, you're doing some welding on galvanized steel then you want to make sure you use the appropriate respirator, breathing equipment, heavy jacket, gloves, etc. A good start would be your local welding supply and ask what they recommend to start welding.

Other than that, I truly believe you cannot have enough safety equipment. I walk around with safety goggles so much, I forget to take them off when I come into the house for dinner. I also wear gloves all the time. You have to protect your best assests. The best assests on your body is EVERYTHING.

[enlpck]

Fire extinguishers, welding blankets, and a screen if there is any chance of others being in the area. The screens also help direct airflow when using a fan for fume exhaust. The blankets help prevent fire and also are handy when doing repairs and you want to protect areas you are not welding on (finish, keep crud out of openings, and so on)

[Carl26]

Thanks guys. Good call on the welding blankets. I didn't think about those, but I can imagine that they would come in handy.

[steve45]

Make sure you wear boots or pants long enough to cover your shoes. You don't want spatter getting in them!