The safe handling of oxygen is a principal safety practice in welding, especially when you are using an oxyacetylene rig.

The issue came up in an unusual way on the WeldingWeb Internet forum, when a welder from southern California said he had an old oxygen cylinder, and neither he nor his local welding distributor could get the cap off.

You can read the entire thread at www.weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=8513, and it's likely you'll find some parts are funny and some parts are serious, but the most serious point made is that an oxygen cylinder – and any gas cylinder, no matter how it is marked – should be treated as the potentially dangerous – and potentially deadly – thing that it is.

While the Internet chat concerned a variety of ways to remove the cap, a welder named Bill from Lebanon, Oregon, who identified himself as a welding instructor, finally pointed out the seriousness of the discussion. Bill's WeldingWeb handle is DiverBill45.

"Somebody wasn't listening when taking the basic oxygen cylinder safety class 101, or they should go back to school and take it over again, before they kill themselves or someone else." DiverBill45 said.

"As a welding instructor, the first thing I teach in O/A class is safety, and the first thing that is taught in that class is keep any and all oils away from the valves on oxygen bottles. As each of us know, but we don't think much to much about it, since we work with compressed gases each day, is that any compressed cylinder is nothing but a bomb or a missile sitting there, ready to go off, at any time. Any small mistake on our part can cause an accident which can result in injury or death to ourselves or others around us, not to mention the damage to property and equipment, that such an accident can cause."

He went on to provide examples of things he has seen working in the construction trade and as a scuba diver, and he recommended that the southern Californian welder stop what he was doing and find someone who knows what to do about a rusted safety cap. Then, he recommended that the bottle be cleaned to remove any oil that might have gotten on the valve, and have the bottle inspected for damage that might have been caused by the unorthodox and unsafe methods used in trying to remove the cap.

"Never, never use any type of oil on any oxygen bottles! This is no joking matter. These bottles are not toys and should be treated for what they really are, potential bombs or missiles," he concluded.

A welder from La Verne, Calif., who goes by the on-line name ZTFAB, backed DiverBill45 up: "This bottle is an unknown. It may be marked O₂ but nobody really knows what's inside. It should be treated as any other pressure vessel with dangerous contents inside especially due to its vague history."