What is the danger of working with sheet metal?
A lesser-known danger of working with sheet metal is the potential for breathing in tiny particles of dust. These particles will gather in the lungs where they increase an worker's risk of respiratory illness and disease.
Is sheet metal dangerous?
The unique properties of sheet metal make it a rather dangerous material to handle. If your company produces, transports or handles sheet metal, you should take additional precautions to ensure the safety of your employees. Some companies completely overlook sheet metal as a potential workplace hazard, leaving employees susceptible ...
How to protect your eyes from flying debris?
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after working with sheet metal (even if you wore gloves). Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from flying debris. Ensure your power tools work properly before attempting to use them on sheet metal.
What is the danger of working with sheet metal?
A lesser-known danger of working with sheet metal is the potential for breathing in tiny particles of dust. These particles will gather in the lungs where they increase an worker’s risk of respiratory illness and disease.
Is sheet metal dangerous?
Another potential danger of sheet metal fabrication that employees need to be aware of is the potential for skin burns. Unlike wood, sheet metal is highly conductive to thermal energy . If there’s an open flame or other heat source nearby, the sheet metal will pick up some of this heat. Touching a hot piece of sheet metal can burn an employee’s ...
How to protect your eyes from flying debris?
Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after working with sheet metal (even if you wore gloves). Wear safety glasses to protect your eyes from flying debris. Ensure your power tools work properly before attempting to use them on sheet metal.
Does a machine run faster during bending?
The machine runs fast during the bending process, and the upward bending speed during the workpiece deformation is greater than the speed at which the operator is holding the workpiece by hand.
Why is the workpiece displaced forward?
Because the workpiece is subjected to a forward pressing force during processing, the workpiece is displaced forward, resulting in an increase in the small angle L of the front portion.
When is the width of the T V groove selected?
Generally, (4-6) T V groove width is selected when bending die selection. When the size of the bend is less than half the width of the selected V-groove, slippage will occur.
Is it important to take care of sheet metal?
Taking care while handling the equipment is important, but care must be taken while working with the sheet metal. A few individual safety precautions while working with sheet metal are detailed as follows.
What is sheet metal rolling?
Although the sheet metal rolling is the easy-to-perform process, it still demands complex machine utilization. It requires sheet handling at high temperatures. These factors demand the operator to take safety precautions with a metal rolling machine. This post discusses safety tips for sheet metal rolling equipment.
Why is PPE important?
The use of PPE is highly important to reduce the chances of an accident. Appropriate dressing is essential as loose clothing may get trapped in the rollers, or may be exposed to high temperature. To prevent operator accidents, PPE and clothing must be taken care of. Also, the operator must avoid wearing any loose or fancy jewelry ...
What are the hazards of welding?
Welding creates a number of fire hazards: heat, sparks, gases, slag and other emissions from the surface being welded or cut. Certain surfaces, such as those covered with heavy dust or flammable paints or compounds, may not be welded, cut or heated.
What are hand tools used for?
Hand tools should be used to feed, or place, materials in and remove them from the press. They are not guards or protection devices and cannot be used in place of either guards or devices.
When should gas cylinders be upright?
The only time a cylinder is permitted to be in the other-than-vertical position is when it is being moved in the shop or on the work site or being hoisted to a different working level.
How should fuel gas cylinders be stored?
They must be stored in a dry and well-ventilated area, away from combustible materials, elevators, stairs and gangways, in a location where they cannot be bumped or damaged.
Can you take oxygen into a confined space?
A cylinder containing fuel gas, like acetylene, or oxygen must never be taken into a confined space (with the exception of self-contained breathing apparatus gear).
How to teach gas to employees?
It is the employer’s responsibility to teach employees how to fuel gas safely. One of the first things employees should learn how to do is “crack” a cylinder. Cracking is done to remove dust and dirt from a cylinder’s valve and should be done before the regulator is attached. The proper method is to stand to one side and open the valve slightly, then close it immediately. The small amount of escaping gas will clear dust and debris from the valve so that it does not contaminate regulators or torch assemblies. Cylinders must never be cracked near any possible source of ignition.
How to tell if a gas hose is acetylene?
Hoses for acetylene or other fuel gas must be clearly distinguishable from those for oxygen, either by color or texture. If hoses are taped together, at least 8 inches out of every 12 inches must be free from tape covering so that the color and texture can easily be seen. All hoses conducting substances that could ignite or combust must be inspected at the beginning of each shift and removed if they are in poor condition. Hoses that look worn or damaged must be tested at twice their normal pressure, as long as the pressure is not less than 300 pounds per square inch (psi), to determine if they can still be used. Couplings for hoses must be the type that can only be disconnected with a rotary motion as opposed to a straight pull in order to prevent accidental disengagement or loose connections. Hose storage must be in well-ventilated areas, away from passageways, stairways and ladders.
What is crown in sheet metal?
When sheet metal is rolled down to your ordered thickness, the center width position of the master coil is slightly thicker and the coil edges are slightly thinner than the body of the coil. This effect is called crown. The magnitude of the crown can be minimized with certain rolling practices, but thickness will always drop off slightly at the coil edges. This usually isn’t much of a concern, since the coil edges typically are where the carrying web is located in progressive stampings or are part of the engineered scrap in blank-fed stampings.
How fast does a slab roll roll?
The reduction rolls used at the mill rotate at very high speeds, moving coils through the hot rolling mill at speeds as high as 30 miles per hour (MPH), or 44 ft. per second (FPS).
What is an alloy made of?
Alloyed metals are composed of specific elements in well-defined amounts selected to impart desired characteristics in the final product. The main element of the alloy (such as iron or aluminum) is not available in its pure form when extracted from the earth; it is iron ore or aluminum ore (bauxite).
Why do you need gloves when handling sheet metal?
Touching a piece of hot sheet metal with the bare skin can result in serious burns . This is just one more reason why workers should wear a pair of gloves when touching or handling sheet metal.
Can you cut a piece of sheet metal?
If a worker happens to run his or her hand across the edges of a piece of sheet metal, it could slice into their skin. Workers must be conscious of where their hands are located at all times, avoiding the sharp edges.
