Oxy-acetylene torches have been used at Axcess for many years for cutting, welding, brazing, and heating of metals. The equipment used today is safe, but every year, hundreds of employees are injured or die as a result of improper use. SafetyEd shares how knowledge and precautions can prevent fires and violent explosions.
There are several things you can do to help prevent flashbacks, fires and explosions:
1. If using acetylene, keep the pressure below 15 pounds.
2. Purge your hoses before lighting.
3. Never light your torch with a mixture of fuel and oxygen. After purging the lines, light the torch with only the fuel gas valve open.
4. Check valves should be installed on both torch inlets and operating properly. Check valves can stop the reverse flow of gases but will not prevent flashbacks.
5. To prevent flashbacks, flashback arrestors must be installed on the outlets of both regulators, and/or torch inlets.
Check the Torch: How can you tell if the torch you are using has flashback arrestors and check valves?
If you look at the torch you will notice a small cylindrical valve on each inlet with the hoses screwed onto this valve instead of hooked directly to the torch. Most of these valves are combination flashback/check valves and will say so on the valve body. Often, combination valves are also installed on regulator outlets. Before welding, take time to inspect the equipment you will be using to be sure check valves and flashback arrestors have been installed. This precaution can prevent a deadly cylinder explosion.