Few trade jobs in the Chula Vista area pay better than welding. After all, seamlessly joining pieces of metal takes real talent. For masterful results, business owners, artists, and others are often willing to pay top dollar. To be sure you can work as a welder for years to come, though, you must be careful with your eyes.
Eye injuries are common in the welding community. If you are not careful, you may burn your retinas with radiation from the weld. You may also send a hot piece of debris directly into your eye. Either way, the injury could be catastrophic. That is, if you cannot see, you cannot do your work. Here are four ways to avoid eye injury when welding:
1. Keep some distance
If you put your face too close to your welding arc, you are asking for trouble. What constitutes a safe distance depends on a variety of factors. Yet, if you regularly move your face closer to the arc for a better view, your eyes may be at risk. Instead, to magnify your work area, consider putting a pair of helper glasses inside your hood.
2. Put on protective gear
Before you begin to weld, always suit up appropriately. To protect your eyes, you must wear goggles and a welding hood. If you sustain an injury at work, the California workers’ compensation system may pay your medical bills and some other expenses. You probably do not want to rely on these benefits, though. Instead, invest in high-quality protective gear to keep your eyes safe.
3. Stand behind a welding screen
If you work in a busy shop, you should have a few welding screens on hand. These barriers serve two important purposes. First, they protect your coworkers’ eyes from light flashes. They also protect your eyes when you are not working on a project. Either way, standing behind a welding screen is a good way to keep your eyes in excellent health.
4. Rethink your lens shade
Unfortunately, all welding hoods are not right for all projects. The lens shade inside your hood has an ampere rating. If the rating is not sufficient to protect your eyes, upgrade to a darker lens shade. Even if you plan to only weld for a few seconds, wearing a hood with the wrong lens shade could be dangerous.
Your eyes are one of the most important parts of you. As a welder, you use them every day at work. To ensure your eyes stay in tiptop shape, always weld smartly. With a bit of planning, you can likely avoid an eye injury.