Welder suit

Welder's suit - overalls designed to protect workers from sparks, splashes of molten metal, scale, radiation from the welding arc.

The welder's suit consists of a jacket and trousers. Traditionally, welder suits are made of canvas fabric (i.e. tarpaulin, consisting of cotton-linen fiber with fire-resistant impregnation), natural leathers (split, less often yufti). Since the 2010s, welder suits made of purely cotton fibers with fire-resistant finishes and fabrics based on para- and meta-aramide fibers have become widespread.

The main measurable indicator of the protective properties of clothing for a welder is the resistance to burning by a drop of metal melt in seconds.

The highest resistance to burning at the same density is possessed by fabrics from meta and para-aramid fibers. Sometimes fabrics made of para-aramid fibers are additionally reinforced with a non-combustible silicone layer, which gives them additional thermal resistance.

For suits for welders, the state standard “GOST 12.4.250-2013 SSBT. Special clothing for protection against sparks and splashes of molten metal. Technical requirements".

According to the standard, overalls for welders are divided according to the level of protective properties into three classes:

• 1st — overalls intended for work at a distance to the source of metal spray of at least 2 meters when servicing automatic welding lines, apparatuses, and when cutting metal;

• 2nd — overalls designed for manual welding at a distance to a source of metal spray of about 50 cm, including work in installation and field conditions;

• 3rd - overalls designed to perform manual welding at a distance from the metal spray working to the source of about 50 cm, in rooms that are limited in volume, including metal tanks, pipelines and similar working conditions in shipbuilding, when laying gas pipelines, repair on the railway ; during oxygen cutting of metals.

Materials for a suit of welders to protect welders from ultraviolet radiation must comply with the requirements of GOST 12.4.105.