Several types of safety gear should be worn when manufacturing bronze castings. Continue reading to learn more about this safety gear.
Safety goggles
In order for bronze castings to be made, pieces of bronze must undergo a number of processes, many of which are performed using lasers and automated cutting machines.
The employees who operate these machines should always put on safety goggles before they begin their work. These goggles should be both heat- and shatter-resistant.
The reason for this is as follows; when a piece of bronze is sliced or carved with a machine's blade or laser, hot sparks and tiny (but very sharp) shards of bronze may be flung into the air.
If the employee who is operating the machinery is not wearing goggles, their eyes may be burned by the sparks or cut by the bronze shards. This type of injury could not only be extremely painful but could have a permanent impact on their vision.
Safety goggles will act as a physical barrier that will prevent sparks from entering the wearer's eyes. Their heat resistance will also ensure that the lenses of the goggles do not melt when they come into contact with the hot sparks.
Similarly, shatter-resistant safety goggles will shield the wearer's eyes from sharp pieces of bronze and will not break if struck with force by a particularly heavy shard.
Coveralls
In addition to safety goggles, employees who are involved in the manufacturing of bronze castings should also wear coveralls. These coveralls will ensure that the microscopic bronze particles that are emitted when the bronze castings are being made do not land on their skin.
This is important, as if an employee's exposed hands or arms ends up covered in these particles, they may end up ingesting or inhaling some of them when they next prepare a meal, have a drink or smoke a cigarette. This could be very dangerous if the bronze alloy which is being used in that manufacturing facility contains quantities of potentially toxic substances, like manganese or lead.
If an employee is regularly exposed to these harmful particles because they have not been wearing coveralls whilst performing bronze-processing activities, they could eventually become seriously ill.
Wearing coveralls can significantly reduce the likelihood of an employee becoming ill in this manner, provided they avoid touching the contaminated external sections of this outerwear when removing it at the end of their workday.
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