There are 7 major categories of welding hazards
1. Electrical Shock
2. Arc Radiation
3. Air contamination
4. Fire + Explosion
5. Compressed Gases
6. Weld Cleaning
7. Other Hazards that are process specific. (this applies more to industrial level welding)

Electrical shock – Welding often works with electrical currents more than 100x powerful enough to kill you. The key to staying safe is paying attention to your surroundings, avoiding moisture at all costs and knowing how electricity behaves, i'll go more in depth with this when I discuss Arc Welding Theory. With certain processes this is more of a hazard, I’ll discuss these hazards under each individual process.

Arc Radiation – Welding Arcs and Welding Flames emit three different types of radiation

I. UltraViolet – Also reffered to as UV this is responsible for welder’s flash (photokeratitus). This is essentially a sunburn on your retina. Boils form on your eyeball and eventually burst, making your eyes feel like they have crushed up glass in them, your vision also becomes blurred. This can take days to heal and is very painful. First aid for welder’s flash is to take gauze soaked in cold water and rest it on your eyes, moist teabags work as well. THE BEST SINGLE WAY TO PREVENT THIS IS TO WEAR UV RESISTANT SAFETY GLASSES UNDER YOUR HELMET.



II. Infrared – This is the heat that the weld gives off. We are dealing with some very high temperatures some in excess of 8000 degrees F, pay attention to what you are doing.

III. Visible light – not so much a danger as an annoyance, wearing the proper shade lenses will help with this.
Air contamination - Welding and cutting puts all sorts of nasty things into the air. Make sure you have adequate ventilation where you are welding, get a fan or ventilation unit should you need to.
Fire + Explosion – We are dealing with a lot of heat, flammable gases, and sometimes dirty containers. Pay attention to what you are doing, keep flammable materials away from the weld area. Keep a Class ABC fire extinguisher handy if possible.

Compressed Gases – This is a big hazard, some tanks can have thousands of psi of pressure stored in them, following a very basic rule will prevent almost any accident that can happen. IF the tank is not strapped in a vertical position, it MUST have a cap protecting the valve. To illustrate how dangerous this can be, here’s a video.


That could easily take your leg right off. It's also worthwhile to note that alot of gases used in welding are heavier than air, I've heard several stories about people dying from asphyxiation because of this. Use caution welding in enclosed areas.

Weld Cleaning – when cleaning a weld, hot chips of slag can fly off and hit people. Use caution when using slag hammers, chisels and grinders to clean welds.

Protective Gear

Clothing – Stick with Cotton, Wool, and Leather, these fabrics won’t hold a flame nor will they melt to your skin. Most welding Jackets have a combination of leather and a fabric that has been fire-proofed, this helps assist with keeping the welder cool, here’s an example:


Gloves – There are two basic types of gloves worn when welding Gaunlet-type for GMAW and SMAW welding or thinner GTAW type gloves, here are examples of each:



Gauntlet Type GTAW (TIG) Type



Welding Masks/ Goggles


Arc welding masks come with two different types of lenses. Static (fixed shade) or dynamic (variable shade, auto-darkening) Static lenses are darkened pieces of glass that always stay the same tint, they are cheap, require little maintenance, but can take a bit of practice to get right, additionally you must keep spare lenses handy if you need to change your shade . Dynamic lenses are often very expensive, and require power, but make welding substantially easier in the long run. My advice would be to learn how to weld with a static mask, and then purchase a dynamic mask at a later date
Examples of masks and goggles

Static Mask Dynamic Mask


* A word on cheap dynamic masks – plan on spending close to $200 for a dynamic mask, there are cheaper ones out there, but they aren’t very durable and the batteries often go dead very quickly. If you need an opinion on a mask, PM me.


The shade of the lenses depends on the process and the amperage you are using, here is a basic guide to use, this can change depending on your personal preference.