Watch the archived presentation below.

Work-related injuries are higher in welding than in other occupations¹. The risk of fatal injury in welding, cutting and brazing applications is more than four per thousand workers over a working lifetime².

Welding, cutting and brazing are common practices performed every day in a wide variety of industries: shipbuilding, construction, manufacturing and fabrication, to name a few. Regardless of how often these applications occur within an organization, everyone – owners, supervisors, workers, educators, students – is accountable in understanding the hazards that exist, how to protect from those hazards, and how to comply with enforced regulations.

Implications of an unsafe workplace go beyond preventable injuries, leading to lost time, workers’ compensation, OSHA violations and more. Committing to a safety culture can lead to increased performance, safety, compliance, and recruiting and retaining skilled operators.

In this session we will discuss:

• Best practices for welding, cutting and brazing
• Relevant regulations and how to comply (fumes, fire, shock, PPE)
• Examples of common misconceptions and workplace incidents
• Answers to common questions

¹2012-13 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Metal and Plastic Machine Workers
²Occupational Safety & Health Administration, “Welding, Cutting and Brazing”

Presenters

Katherine (Kathi) Abshire is a safety sales specialist for Miller Electric and holds a QSSP (Qualified Safety Sales Professional) certification. With more than 30 years of experience and a substantial background in the safety and occupational health industry, Abshire has helped many companies achieve welding safety excellence.

Dale Johnson has been with Miller Electric/Smith Equipment since 1993. He has worked in plasma and gas equipment sales and evolved into the trainer for the gas equipment line. Most recently he became a commercial district manager for the Dakotas and Minnesota.

Johnson’s extensive experience in working with workplace safety dates back to 1978 when he worked for more than 15 years as the reclamation supervisor at Decker Coal Company, requiring administration of all activities pre-mining and post-mining of a surface coal mining operation.

Bert Schiller is an industrial hygienist certified in the Comprehensive Practice of Industrial Hygiene (CIH). He has more than 35 years of experience evaluating welding fume exposures within a wide variety of industries; he also worked with OSHA in Michigan for 5 years. He has taught industrial hygiene at Madonna University for the past 20 years, and has recently been added to the faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Schiller also assists Miller Electric and Hobart Brothers in the development and testing of improved engineering control technologies.

Moderator

Kyle W. Morrison covers occupational safety and workplace safety regulation as senior associate editor for Safety+Health magazine.