How Dangerous is Welding Really?

OSHA maintains a searchable database with information regarding workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Occupation, worker demographics, geographic location, and other factors are available in the database, which is available on OSHA’s Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities website. Tracking this information is intended to hold employers accountable and to identify safety issues that must be addressed. It is public information and may serve to reassure you or otherwise help you make your career choices as you enter the welding industry.

As Table 2.1 illustrates, out of 397,000 welders there were 48 job site fatalities in 2021, most resulting from the welder being struck by equipment or objects (for example, a crane’s load falling on them). The second leading cause of death that year was falls. Another common cause of death is electrocution. More detailed and specific statistics are difficult to find due to employment classifications being general, such as “Manufacturing.”

* from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics “Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities: TABLE A-5. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation and event or exposure, all United States, 2021”

Welders should always wear proper safety gear and follow safety procedures to reduce the risk of injury or death. Anecdotally speaking, every welder will experience injuries in the course of their work. The most common is burns, either from sparks, heat from welding, or light. At some time or another, every welder will get a piece of grit in their eye. Many welders will miss some time at work during their working career due to an on-the-job injury. Most injuries are minor, and the likelihood of a welder being killed on the job is minimal. As a welder myself, I have never gone to work in the morning wondering whether that would be the day I would die on the job.

Unsafe Conditions vs. Unsafe Acts

Accidents and injuries are the result of unsafe conditions or unsafe acts. An unsafe act is just that: someone is doing something dangerous and not following safe procedures. An unsafe condition, however, is a dangerous situation on a jobsite. For example, an open hole in the floor with no guardrails or covering is an unsafe condition. Someone may step into the open hole and fall to the next level, getting injured or killed. An unsafe act would be seeing the open hole and not correcting the situation.

Immediate vs. Long-Term Dangers

One often thinks of immediate dangers on the job, such as falling off a ladder or getting shocked or even electrocuted from welding in the rain. However, the dangers welders face depend on the industry they work in. For instance, a commercial diver-welder is exposed to hazards such as drowning, electrocution, and the bends from decompressing too quickly. A GTAW welder manufacturing small parts at a desk is exposed to far fewer hazards. Instead of drowning or the bends, a GTAW welder may encounter burns from ultraviolet (UV) light or repetitive motion injuries.

Even though the welder sitting at a desk making small parts may not face drowning or other imminent life-threatening dangers, long-term hazards remain. The first is exposure to fumes—fumes from welding can contain heavy metals that may be carcinogenic. Continued overexposure to flash from the welding arc can lead to cataracts, retina damage, and blindness. Draping welding leads across your body for long periods exposes your body to electromagnetic pulses, which may have long-term negative effects on your health. And, of course, working in non-ergonomic positions under strain for long periods can lead to muscular-skeletal injuries, including back injuries and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Welders should not only think of working safely regarding immediate jobsite dangers, but also keep in mind that there are long-term hazards to avoid.

Attributions

1. Figure 2.5: lamp, signal, plastic, warning, light, object, yellow by ulleo is released under CC0
2. Figure 2.6: Unsafe Conditions by Kurayba is released under CC BY-SA 2.0