Welding Safety and Fire Code.

[SweetBennyFenton]

Well, my space just got a new fire marshal and now a few of our common practices have been called into question. I am looking for advice on how to satisfy what my marshal wants without sacrificing my ability to build scenery.

I have a nicely equipped shop adjacent to my main stage that is only a little short on space. After a recent inspection my new fire marshal told me that there is no place in my shop that is safe to weld because there is no physical barricade between the welding space and my wood storage and construction space.

I have a small space set away from the wood construction area that I use for welding smaller pieces that I can install a welding curtain around if I needed to which would solve my small scale problems. Problem is... I don't have enough space there to weld large projects.

In the past when I needed to weld a large project, I would lay out an OSB deck on top of my main shop floor or use the actual floor of the stage itself. Now neither of these options provides a physical barrier for sparks or slag... I always just set up these projects as far away from wood construction or storage as I can.

How does your shop separate wood and metal fabrication? Do you have any experience with portable welding shields? It looks like I'm going to need to drop a decent chunk of change to get physical separation when welding so I want to make sure I do it right.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Footer]

I'm going to assume you are MIG welding and not torch or TIG.

Every shop I set up for welding always has concrete floors with steel or concrete walls. If you don't have that, you might be kind of boned.

Small scale you are fine with what you have, large scale there are a few things you can do. First, do you have a parking lot near by? I know that sounds odd, but I have done it in a pinch. There is also the other option of drilling and bolting instead of welding... or building in small pieces and bolting them together.

Point blank, you should NEVER be welding anywhere wood is stored or on stage. A bit of slag that gets behind a table with layers of saw dust behind it can take down your shop faster then you can imagine. Unless everything in the vicinity of where you are welding is concrete or steel, your pretty much done. You can buy more welding shields, mcmaster has plenty to fit about any need. Most of the time I use welding shields it is to guard against light, not slag. I also have concerns about where you are cutting your steel and drilling.

Your AHJ is right in citing you on this. If you can not get the right facilitys (concrete/steel/nothing flamable), you should not be welding... build with wood only.

Now, you can weld on a wooden masonite covered table, if you have a squirt gun nearby.

 

[SweetBennyFenton]

Thanks Footer. You assumed correctly, I'm only MIG welding. All my metal cutting and grinding is housed in the small "Metal shop" area set away from the wood storage and construction.

 

[shiben]

I agree with Footer, you should not be welding around wood and sawdust or on a stage (they are flammable enough as it is...). I think your best bet is going to be doing your welding in the parking lot or loading dock. Really your two options, unless you want to build a wall between your wood storage and assembly areas. If you go that route, you can use a specific type of sheetrock material thats rated as a fire wall. Otherwise, you are stuck with cinder blocks. Now, you MIGHT be able to get some sort of movable sheetrock wall that would work, but then your ventilation plan needs to be worked on as well. Also, I dont think I have seen steel walls on a facility round here recently, that must be hell for HVAC...

 

[mstaylor]

In addition to sheetrock you could use underlayment for tile, durarock.

 

[jstandfast]

Sometimes,in some situations,fire marshalls have been know to allow some " at the edge" layout deals if you will agree to having a full time, dedicated
" fire watch" person.