Respirators can be a critical piece of equipment for welders, but there is resistance to using them.

Welders say they are uncomfortable or awkward, that moisture builds up inside of them, and that they don’t fit correctly with welding helmets, and the list goes on and on.

However, as a vital part of shop safety, the use of respirators is a concern for manufacturers.

Regulatory issues play a large role in the costs of manufacturing, so managers are responsible for overseeing safety and regulatory issues and ensuring that every employee keeps these issues in the forefront of their minds.

So how do shop floor employees understand, interpret and implement safety issues?

Welding Magazine went to WeldingWeb. com to see what welders say about safety issues. The names shown in quotation marks are the screen names of those commenting on WeldingWeb.

One of the main issues being discussed recently is the use of respirators.

“Josh705” said he needs a respirator, and asked for suggestions as to the kind of respirator to buy. He needs a respirator that he can use for welding – and he does not weld galvanized steel – and for working in environments with concrete dust and dust caused by metal grinding.

“Wannaweld” provided a Website, saying, “I’m probably going to get this one.”

The Website he recommended is (http://store.cyberweld.com/3mwereaswiod.html) that features a 3M Welding Respirator Assembly with Odor Relief and includes a Half Facepiece 6200 with one pair of particulate filters. The description for the respirator notes that it reduces exposure to metal fumes when welding on stainless, aluminum and galvanized steel, and its price was listed at $17.70.

“Burnit” commented: “Those are standard issue at our company. They are pretty comfortable. I don’t like the way they fit under my helmet, but it does fit. Definitely noticed the difference right away though. I can crawl in to certain spots and dump 3/32-in. flux core and I’m breathin [sic] easy. All you can smell is the mask.

“A lot of guys wear them, and I think it was over at a Hobart forum some guys are just such manly men that they say you don’t need them. But I mean, why not wear it? It’s not gonna hurt.”

“Josh705” responded: “You’re not going to be that manly when you have to breathe with an oxygen tank and your lungs look like you poked holes in them. Be a man and wear the respirator.”

Derek Baker, marketing manager for 3M’s Speedglas auto-darkening helmets and Adflo respirator product lines, said 3M has a number of new respirator products on the market and some in development.

“We offer a wide range of respirator products, including MFR filtering face pieces, elastomeric facepiece respirators, as well as powered air purifying and supplied air respirators,” said Baker.

“Within the EFR and MFR categories, we’re designing better valve systems so the users’ expelled air vents from the respirator to be more comfortable. In the 6200 EFR, we’re making cartridges low profile to fit under helmets better, and our new Super lite helmet can slide forward and backward to accommodate respirators better. Our respirators are very compatible with our welding helmets, so the helmet and respirator can work as one.”

Ken DeCosta, corporate environmental health and safety leader for Hypertherm, noted that exposure to welding fumes and particulates is strictly regulated by OSHA, and there are two standards: one for airborne contamination and another for respiratory issues.

However, DeCosta said that OSHA insists on engineering controls such as ventilation, as the first line of defense with respect to respiratory issues.

“A last resort is respirators,” he said. “If you’re a company that can’t afford to spend a lot of money on ventilation systems, then you can have employees use respirators. But if you have the resources, you have to install the ventilation system. You can’t just ask someone to wear a respirator,” DeCosta said.

The respirator issue is more complex than many believe.

DeCosta said air has to be sampled and analyzed so a company knows what types of fumes and particulates are being generated.

“It depends on what is being welded or cut, and all the other variables that go along with that,” he said.

Still, there is greater awareness on today’s shop floor of the role respirators play for welders. Typically respirators are used for flux-core welding because of the fumes and particles generated. The recent standards developed for hexavalent chromium has raised awareness of welders, and exposure to manganese is on the radar.

Baker added that “awareness of respirators” is definitely heightened.

“We’re educating welders about the respiratory health risks, including working with schools to get younger welders thinking about safety from the outset. We try to provide a variety of safety options so they have a range of solutions,” Baker said.