Hi All would any have and willing to share a risk assessment for Acetylene welding?

Many Thanks
Mark Elliott

I think we first must understand Acetylene as it relates to the nature of the gas, behaveiour pattern, the chemical composition, understand the acetone in the gas. If you could get the MSDS for the gas and compare the MSDS with your environment, because the MSDS will infromed your the storage and handling procedures of the Acetylene, from this infromation you will be able to generate a risk assessment fromat.

Word of warning please read up on this stuff and try and use an alternative such as oxy propane -- it is the aftermath that this can cause

we have 5 hospitals and it is BANNED from all sites a few years ago a bottle fell from a contractors van when he opened the door
it was not moved for over 24 hours as it could cause an explosion
and we had to close down the outpatients department in a fire situation its worse the exclusion zone is 200 metres if it has been heated which could mean evacuating a whole hospital in my case or a factory (all production stopped, due to a small fire in an outbuilding) like i say we dont allow it at all there is alternatives with oxy the aftermath can be so bad if not identified early

Oxy-Propane is not really going to do the job as far as welding is concerned.
The main problem as far as acetylene is concerned is the operator, and poor training and use.
You never get into the situation of dropping a bottle....if you do then that particular bottle is never used...return to supplier with advice note.
If dented you can then get a situation where the porous filler is damaged and the gas can form in a pocket within the bottle: at pressure above 30lb/sq-in the gas is unstable...
In over 40 years of welding/flame cutting using acetylene I have never had a situation that had any possibility of becoming dangerous.
Given the number of acetylene bottles in the UK, and the few situations where problems occur, I think it can be considered a reasonably low risk ?