Welding curtains are an irreplaceable element of workplace safety equipment. However, with so many types of curtains, barriers, and screens available, how do you tell which is right for you? Safety barriers come in a range of durable materials that all protect effectively but have some slight differences in application. Knowing your way around those materials is a great first step. Then, consider the differences between portable welding curtains, screens, blankets, roll-ups, and tri-folds. Here at Singer Safety Company, we offer all of these critical safety items. We also delight in educating people about their options. Let’s start by reviewing screen materials.
What Should You Look For in Your Safety Barriers?
Industrial welding screens, safety barriers, and curtains exist to protect welding workers. To this end, several variables influence the different types of protection a barrier provides. The primary variable is the material with which the screen is made. Singer Safety provides several materials for portable welding curtains that offer differing levels of protection and utility. For example, TransVue and Laminate Vinyls are both ideal for welding protection. TransVue Vinyl allows for two-way visibility while partially blocking the dangerous flashing light emitted by arc welders. Laminate Vinyl on the other hand is opaque, providing privacy and high durability. Regardless of the material you choose, there are options to serve every purpose and welding operation imaginable.
One secondary trait of some materials like the aforementioned TransVue Vinyl is transparency. Transparent welding curtains have their own set of benefits and drawbacks. A transparent welding screen allows the welder to have a better environmental sense. They can avoid potential accidents or mistakes by being aware of the work site beyond the barrier. However, transparency, despite protecting surrounding workers from most optical damage, does not provide an adequate substitute for full PPE. Some safety barrier materials offer one-way transparency to counteract this, but if your work threatens long-term, repeated exposure to welding nearby, an opaque curtain may prove a better option.
Many safety barrier materials come in customizable colors and sizes. Customizability offers excellent preemptive solutions for workflow and inventory problems. Do you have trouble keeping track of which screens belong to which departments? Do you need an easy way to distinguish between permanent stations divided by welding screens in a floor plan? Color coding is an easy solution for both of these questions. Standard Welding screens often come with compatibility for connecting multiple units into larger composite barriers or attaching caster wheels to make them mobile. No matter your worksite needs, customizable screens can adapt. With all of these choices in mind, let’s go through the different types of welding curtains and discuss their unique benefits.
Comparing and Contrasting Welding Curtains and Barriers
Portable Welding Screens
Portable welding screens are the standard welding screen option. They are mobile, adaptable, and durable, offering protection for a welding station at any work site. As mentioned above, Singer Safety’s portable welding barriers include clips to secure separate panels together for a longer, overlapping barrier. It comes in all of our available materials, including high-temperature materials. The screen’s frame is built of 18 gauge steel in a utilitarian black finish for the perfect combination of durability and nondescript efficiency. Our basic panel sizes are four feet wide by six feet tall, though we also offer screens sized five feet wide and four feet tall.
Portable Welding Curtains
Welding curtains are our other most popular welding safety option. The main difference between safety curtains and safety screens is that safety screens come suspended between multiple sides of a frame, while the curtain extends to full size with the help of gravity, usually only suspended from the top side. This means that our curtains are very light and portable, easily packing up into a small size. They also adapt well to permanent installation with simple tracks installed in a facility’s ceiling. Singer Safety’s curtains have the unique flexibility of working with several different kinds of fasteners according to your needs. We provide the typical s-hooks, but we also approve of the use of velcro and even heavy-duty staples to install our curtains.
Welding Blankets
Welding blankets serve a different purpose than the previously mentioned forms of safety barriers, but are no less essential. Instead of standing upright or hanging vertically to protect people in the surrounding area, welding blankets are designed to lay flat. Welding blankets are specifically engineered to protect the floor, other surfaces, and nearby objects from molten slag, sparks, and other volatile byproducts of welding. Sometimes there are no other options besides welding near flammable objects or on potentially flammable flooring. Welding blankets are the mandated answer to these dilemmas. They come in a few colors and can be ordered at custom sizes. If you perform welding work at temporary sites, consider keeping multiple welding blankets on hand.
Roll-up and Tri-Fold Safety Screens
Roll-up and Tri-Fold safety screens offer similar functionality. They are both self-standing, highly portable options for welding operations on the go. Roll-up screens functionally serve the same purpose as standard welding screens in that they block off the welding site itself. Tri-fold safety screens serve to break the line of sight from an external location to a welding site and warn of potential danger should anyone move past it. While tri-folds cover a limited horizontal area, they provide a secure enclosure for the area they cover. Both types of barriers come in multiple sizes and offer equivalent protection and durability to any other option of screen.
Singer Safety: A Trusted Name in Welding Safety
Singer Safety Company has spent decades as one of the industrial safety equipment industry’s most respected manufacturers. We do not just offer welding safety products. Our safety barriers sit at the forefront of technological innovations in multiple industries and concentrations, including food safety, manufacturing, and noise control. We believe that safety equipment works best when it works with your specific needs. Therefore, we cover all of the standard welding safety features and offer as many customizations as possible. Contact us today to request a quote or to ask questions.
