Welding with ear protection?

[wreckerman893]

I have burn scars all over me from welding and I only do it a little.....the worse thing is to be in a position where you can't move much and get a spatter or piece of slag in a fold of clothing and it ain't going no where....just sitting there and sizzling.

Butchering deuces is a tough business........I guess karma is a beotch.

 

[littlebob]

Thanks for the heads up! I don't weld that much, but as I get older I appreciate knowing about more ways to save my senses. I remember welding in shorts, t-shirt and flip flops when I was in my teens and early twenties. That was before I realized I wasn't Invincible!

 

[ODw/envy]

I have learned allot about welding over the years. The most important---
I dislike being on fire.

 

[wdbtchr]

It is now possible to repair a ruptured eardrum. I had one from when I was a kid and in my late 30s it started to drain and get infected. The ear doctor took a piece of muscle facia from behind my ear and repaired the ear drum. I can now pass a normal hearing test. Amazing what they come up with to repair us old wrecks.

 

[Kaiserjeeps]

I have found that a meduim sized super magnet can sometimes remove a metal sliver from an eye. Find the most powerful magnet you can and rotate it in small circles around the sliver. Sometimes it will come out and save you a trip to the ER let alone the pain of carving up your eyelid.

 

[tcody]

I have found that a meduim sized super magnet can sometimes remove a metal sliver from an eye. Find the most powerful magnet you can and rotate it in small circles around the sliver. Sometimes it will come out and save you a trip to the ER let alone the pain of carving up your eyelid.

I am having chest pain just thinking about this. Either situation is a serious problem - particularly an eye injury. Don't go to the ER - go to an Optometrist or an ENT. Going to the ER is like taking your MV to Jiffy Lube for an engine overhaul IMHO.

 

[NJDEUCE]

Im a pipeline welder and I always wear earplugs when I am going to be welding overhead. There is no worse feeling than having a hot spark dance around your ear.

 

[auron]

I have learned allot about welding over the years. The most important---
I dislike being on fire.

ive lost count how many times this has happened to me thats why a good set of laceless all leather boots will always be in my shop or on my feet when working

 

[nf6x]

Thank you for the warning! I had only considered ear protection for noise, and the risk of stuff getting in there never occurred to me.

 

[A/C Cages]

What a great feeling that is. done it many times myself.
Had one land on a really sweaty face right on the tip of my nose. left a burn mark there for over a week, looked like enormous zit. lol

Best one is when one of my employees comes over and tells me,,,, Hey Jon,, You are on fire Again....
Not that im on fire, but again... Yup, in a welding shop even our flame retardent clothing catches on fire all the time and time and time again.lol

 

[firefox]

Welding + shorts

Actually you need to see an opthomologist not an optomologist. The optometrist is the one who
prescribes glasses, whereas the opthomologist is the one who deals with trauma to the eye.
Been there done that about 4 or 5 times. Yea, just look straight ahead and don't blink while I stick this needle thingie in your eye. This is not something you get used to, trust me.

Sorry you got your ear burned Chris, and thanks for warning the rest of us!
Bruce

 

[tcody]

Welding + shorts

Actually you need to see an opthomologist not an optomologist. The optometrist is the one who
prescribes glasses, whereas the opthomologist is the one who deals with trauma to the eye.
Been there done that about 4 or 5 times. Yea, just look straight ahead and don't blink while I stick this needle thingie in your eye. This is not something you get used to, trust me.

Sorry you got your ear burned Chris, and thanks for warning the rest of us!
Bruce

An Optometrist is an expert in medical treatment of diseases of the eye. An Opthalmologist is an eye surgeon. Their practices overlap. I wasn't talking about the Wallmart dude. My partner was an Optometrist and was better at drilling metal out of an eye than any Opthalmologist I have met - so it depends on what you have available. My take home point was the typical ER doc is not the best at treating eye diseases. If there is no choice I would definately recommend follow-up with an eye professional.

 

[Oldvw2]

I managed to puncture my left eardrum while burning brush a few years ago. I was using a rake to force more brush on the pile when the pointed, glowing end of a green stick jammed me in the ear. The pain was intense to say the least! A Dr's visit the next day confirmed a pinhole in the eardrum. It took over a month to heal but thankfully my hearing has come back almost 100%.

Speaking of eyes - one of more unusual I have seen is a contractor that came into the clinic at the plant I work at. Our R.N. was on vacation so that left me, the safety guy, to handle 1st aid cases. A helper came in complaining of feeling like something was still in his eye after flushing it repeatedly over the weekend. I took a quick look in his eye and saw that not only did he still have a small fragment of wire (like from a wire wheel) stuck in his eye but that it had also started to rust! Needless to say it was off to the local eye practice with both an Optometrist and Ophthalmologist - the good news is that they were able to remove the metal/rust and restore his full field of vision.

BTW, the contractor had been wearing a faceshield over his safety glasses and somehow the wire had still bounced under both to get in the eye (probably during overhead work).

 

[RRworker]

Between my current job as a railroad electrician and working in my garage I have learned the value of ear plugs, and any protective equipment. I find.the ear plugs not only help protect your hearing from sound or crap getting in there but also lets you tune out alot of background noise and consentrate on listening for engine knocks or air leaks. Plus keeps me from getting startled by loud noises like cracking torches or hammer hits when under something and hitting my head. At work I wear them around the locomotives and when I'm working on electrical stuff, not only protects my hearing in case of a flashover but keeps me from being distracted.

Howie

 

[patracy]

Oh lord, I just cringed thinking about what pain that must have been.

I still have a slag burn scar on my left foot from a chunk that slipped down into some loose shoes I was wearing. That was bad enough.

 

[A/C Cages]

Call me stupid, I weld and plasma cut in shorts, T-shirt, and tennis shoes all the time. Just take a look at my clothes, holes holes holes. My shoes strings are so melted, and I have the weirdest farmers tan..lol
But then again my shop thermometer has been pegged out at 120 degrees before.

Sometimes I wear pants,long sleeve shirts, and my welding boots. Just not often.
But hey, at least I wear a Speedglass helmet with a 1/80,000 instead of the typical Jackson helmet wich is only 1/20,000.

 

[firefox]

I stand corrected, then. Whenever I got anything stuck in my eye, I was sent to an opthamologist.

A/C Cages: With that protective covering of hair that you have, I
can see why it doesn't bother you to wear shorts.
Bruce

 

[vir_librorum]

> I find that ear plugs not only help protect your hearing from sound or crap
> getting in there but also lets you tune out a lot of background noise and
> concentrate on listening for engine knocks or air leaks.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for mentioning this.

The noise-filtering ability is a very under-appreciated value of earplugs, and one that I rely on constantly whether in a boiler room, where I can hear someone close talking to me without him having to yell (try convincing someone without plugs of that, though), or driving The Beast, where one can then hear other road or vehicle noises over the engine roar.

I get a certain amount of ribbing from some older steamfitters on the job for always carrying plugs with me and USING them frequently. I have a pretty high threshold of pain in general, but a very low one for loud noises, which are extremely painful for me. Been that way all my life. Plus, I'm also a musician, so most of my enjoyment in life and a certain amount of income comes from my hearing.

Once it's gone, it's GONE. You don't 'get used to' loud noises.

I'm the second youngest (40) on our mechanical service crew, and the only one who can still hear small leaks in pneumatic controls. I can also usually tell the difference between a pnemo leak and air hissing from a breach in the ductwork by the difference in high frequencies.

I do a little oxyacetylene welding on occasion, and ear plugs help cut the roar of the gas through a large tip orifice, which can drive you crazy on short order. I always wore them when stick welding, too, between the spark factor (OOOOOUCH!) and definitely needed them when switching from welding to grinding.

Use your PPE. Protect your eyes; protect your ears; protect your hands; protect yourself. Work and life in general is a heck of a lot harder without any one of them.

Regards,

Brian