We can’t emphasize enough the importance of personal protective equipment for welders. Even those not welding should protect themselves when in the vicinity of work being done, including quality control inspectors, supervisors, engineers, and others. For this reason, welding screens are important pieces of safety equipment that should be in any facility where welding takes place.
Why are Welding Screens Important?
If people in the vicinity of welders do not wear eye protection such as goggles, a welding screen is essential. It protects them from harmful UV and blue light radiation, while still allowing them to keep their eyes on the welding process. Welding screens can also provide privacy when needed. But most importantly, they keep people safe from dangerous flash burns, which can occur even when a person is not looking directly at the UV light from a welding torch.
What is a Welding Screen Versus a Welding Curtain?
A welding screen is usually made from a semi transparent vinyl or PVC material. The material is fixed on a portable frame that allows the screen to easily move around the workspace. Sometimes, screens are configured so that they create a three or four-sided “room”. Besides a small doorway, this allows the welding operation to be entirely enclosed. Construction sites and mobile welding operations often utilize welding screens. However, many welding shops and manufacturing facilities that want flexibility enjoy using welding screens as well.
In comparison, a welding curtain is usually suspended from a frame or from the ceiling. They can come in many different forms. For example, a vinyl grommet curtain is attached to the frame using the grommet holes around the edge of the material. A welding strip curtain has a series of overlapping PVC strips that can be semi-permanently mounted on a structure or from the ceiling. Welding curtains are a popular choice for permanent welding booths since they are designed to be stationary.
How to Choose the Right Welding Screen Material
There are many different welding screen materials on the market. Many times, the material of choice is vinyl (PVC) or polycarbonate. Vinyl is the most popular choice because compared to other options, it is affordable, flexible, lightweight, scratch-resistant, and easy to clean. When you’re deciding on the right welding screen material for your facility, consider the following characteristics.
Safety Standards
When looking at welding screen materials, make sure you look for options that have been tested and meet safety standards set by organizations like OSHA and ANSI. These standards were developed by scientists and safety experts to ensure that welding screens and curtains provide sufficient optical protection. They also ensure that the welding screen material passes certain anti flammability tests. To know if the screen you are considering meets these standards, check whether it is marked with AWS F2.3M:2019, the manufacturer’s name, and the date of manufacture.
Colors
The color of a welding screen matters much more than simply matching the color scheme of the business. The specific welding application and unique environment the screen will be used in need to be considered. In addition, the right color will help improve visibility while also reducing eye strain.
Yellow welding screens are the clearest option, typically used for indoor welding operations. Because of their light color, they let more light into the welding booth. This creates a clearer view for supervision purposes and allows the welder to feel less confined. These curtains are not the best option if people will be continuously exposed to welding light for long periods of time.
Red welding screens stop a good amount of visible light from coming through while still retaining some transparency. These are popular options because they provide a good balance of allowing supervision and not disturbing others nearby.
Bronze or green welding screens are a good option when you want to offer maximum comfort to those nearby. A very low level of visible welding light will be able to come through the welding screen material. Supervision isn’t as easy behind one of these screens, but it is not impossible. You can still see that the welder is working and upright on their feet.
Blue screens should not be used in welding areas. Sometimes they are called welding screens, but you should steer clear of these screens. They do not provide enough protection against blue light radiation. They also don’t meet many welding safety standards due to the color.
What Welding Screen Materials Does Singer Safety Offer?
Singer Safety Company has welding screens in a number of different materials. You can choose which option will be best for your company’s operations.
The materials you can find at Singer include:
- TransVue Vinyl: This material is ideal for welding. TransVue offers flash-blocking optical protection.
- Laminate Vinyl: This is an opaque material that is suitable for welding and privacy.
- Clear: In areas where privacy is not required, this transparent material provides workspace separation.
- TempTex: This material was designed to provide protection for high-temperature applications such as welding and cutting.
- Cotton Duck: Where the environment may experience water or high humidity, this mildew-resistant material is ideal.
- Specialty: We can also create our welding screens in vinyl materials that meet special needs. We offer translucent, mesh, and safety strip special materials.
Why Choose Singer Safety Welding Screen Materials
There are many reasons why our welding screens are the best choice for your business. They are light, durable, and easy to assemble. In addition, they can be used alone or joined together with Add-A-Panel Clips for custom enclosures or straight-line barriers.
In addition to the flexibility of welding screens, we also sell welding curtains. In fact, we are one of the top providers of welding curtains in North America. We offer a wide variety of industrial welding curtains and many other safety products that can help you create a safe and effective work environment. Get in touch with us to learn more about our products.