The eyes never lie, but the skin doesn't either!!!

The title of this post might be a bit confusing but when it comes to welding, these words are gospel. Recently, I had a conversation on Facebook with a friend of mine who posted a video of someone doing some welding. There was another person sitting about 10 feet away from the welder, wearing a short sleeve shirt and sunglasses. After watching the video, I made a comment about how careless the person watching the welder was being by sitting that close to the arc. My friend responded with one of the biggest misconceptions about arc welding and said, "he was far enough away to not risk electrocution".

WHOA!!! Let's back up a bit, I wasn't even talking about getting electrocuted, I was talking about cooking your eyes and skin because of bright ultra-violet (UV) light exposure. It suddenly dawned on me this is a risk that people who don't weld all the time are oblivious to. The arc consists of an extremely bright UV light that can cause serious damage to a welders eyes and skin. Although there are other examples of being exposed to it, the most common exposure to bright UV light occurs during arc welding processes. That is why when someone damages their eyes by UV exposure, it is often referred to as 'Welder's Flash' or 'Arc Eye'. Even closing your eyes as tight as you can when the arc is lit will still expose you to the risk of UV exposure (our eyelids aren’t thick enough to prevent damage).

Symptoms of Welder's Flash: - Mild to severe pain, usually starting a few hours after exposure - Sensitivity to light - Bloodshot eyes - Blurred vision with spots - Feeling of something in your eye, like sand or some other small irritant

And we haven't even began going over what could happen to your skin when exposed to the light from the arc. In the short term, you will get something called ‘Arc Burn’. Arc burn is a sensation you get on the surface of the skin that looks and feels like a lot like a rash. It will itch and feel like someone is rubbing your skin with sandpaper but it doesn’t get better over a few hours, it only gets worse. And consistent exposure to that arc light, since there is also radiation involved, will lead to things like melanoma and skin cancer.

Symptoms of Arc Burn: - Red, dry, tender skin - Swelling - Skin that turns white to touch - Skin that is painful to touch

So why is there so much confusion and misconceptions to what I consider to be the biggest health risks when welding? In a word, television is to blame. Nowadays there are a bunch of shows all over the TV where they are building cars, bikes, restoring items etc. where the people on the show weld. I love watching these shows because it gives me insight on some tricks other fabricators use to get the job done. But I find myself yelling at the TV more often than not because I see these guys closing their eyes about two feet from the arc, all the while wearing a tank top because they want to show off their muscles. That is when I start yelling, “YOU MORONS… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?” It really drives me crazy when they do those things and set a really bad example for the people that watch these shows. And that is what creates these misconceptions about what the most common risks to welding. People watch these guys and gals doing careless things like exposing their eyes and skin, and assume that they are going to be fine if they do the same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth.

At the end of the conversation with my friend that I mentioned earlier, I said something to drive the point home. I told him, “People always think that it’s the amperage that is the biggest risk when welding, but if you ask me it’s the light from the arc”. Please for anyone reading this post, I beg you… if you ever find yourself near someone welding, please make sure you are taking special precautions to protect your eyes and your skin.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

- SB