Posted By Orla Herley
Hi folks,
Am working on a decommissioning site where a lot of heavy duty welding is taking place taking out hot gas ducts. The welders overalls we started out with were not up to the job so I set about trying to source a suitable alternative.I did a lot of research in to various brands and materials and settled on Megatec 360 bespoke suit for the welders which conformed to EN 470. However, the suits turned up, had no labels on them stating what they were and what they were made of let alone whether they were flame retardant or not. That said, they were handed out by Stores and within a few weeks I started getting my first complaints along the lines of "these suits are rubbish". Not up to the job at all and sparks going through the material onto the skin below. Have been on to the manufacturer and have sent one of the suits back for testing and analysis to see if it was a fault in the material. While the manufacturer has been helpful, we spent quite a bit of money on these and am being asked by management to get replacements. Any advice on how to deal with this?
More specifically, can anyone involved in heavy duty welding in this kind of field recommend a durable long lasting all singing all dancing welders overall that will keep my welders happy?

Any advice would be appreciated
Orla

Posted By Orla Herley
Cheers for that Tabs but leather isn't going to be an option. Different british standards apply for foundry's.

Ideally what I'm looking for is someone from petro/chem industry who can recommend a welders coverall covering the entire body, is flexible enough to be worn all day and durable enough to be able to provide protection in the circumstances. The boys already wear the gauntlets/boots/mask c/w screen etc but it's the suit that lets them down. As they're doing a tough enough job they dont need to be worrying about whether the suit is up to the job as well. I've researched some of the materials available Pyrovytex/Nomex and proban but am looking for a recommendation and possibly even a company name so I can get this sorted.

Any ideas?

Posted By Merv Newman
Can you check what your actual purchase order specified ? The screw-up might have happened there.

Merv

Posted By TBC
Your right Linda that's the two names I can suggest - Arco and Proban treated suits/coveralls. Did the job for a freight wagon builder I used to work for. No complaints.

Posted By John Murgatroyd
The thing you don't need with welding is lace-up boots...the laces last a week and the sparks go down the lace area....I wear proban overalls and rigger boots..

Posted By George Wedgwood
Proban are fine when they are new but need special laundering if you are not to compromise the special fabric treatment applied - check on what the supplier recommends. The alternative is the range of special fabrics like Nomex by DuPont, which actually expands and creats an insulating layer when hit by flame or hot substance. They are expensive (probably about £95 a pair) but don't need special cleaning and are more comfortable to wear - esp. Nomex Delta IIIA. Your risk assessment should examine all the options and wearability aspects as well as frequency of potential clothing burns and the help of a good PPE supplier as suggested will help in that. Regards, George

Posted By John Murgatroyd
Hey, I weld every day.
Lace ups ?
Insert them.
If I get sparks down the boot sides I don't want to have to unlace boots to get them off....they get kicked-off.....fast.
Overalls ?
Get a workplace protective clothing contract....they supply the overalls to spec and clean them.
By the way, dry cleaning for industrial clothes isn't done anymore....environmentally bad !

Posted By Orla Herley
thanks to all who responded. We've tried the Proban suits initially but because we're working on a decommissionng site, we have our own laundry which boil washes everything therefore the Proban washes off gradually. All my welders wear rigger boots to avoid the laces problem. We've tried the Megatec without much luck and I haven't heard good reports about the Nomex material either. Going back to the initial problem, when I first started getting complaints about the suits I went back and checked the requisition used to order the suits in question and it very clearly states that we wanted flame retardant Megatec 360 welders overalls. However, I suppose thats a problem I will have to sort with the supplier.

Many thanks to all concerned for thee useful links re ARCO etc. I suppose I'd better get busy......

Cheers
Orla