Thread: Safety first

Tweet

When handling a cutting torch, don't wear synthetic, flammable clothing such as nylon, polyester, etc.
I had a nifty red jumpsuit that I worked in sometimes. I was under the pickup, welding up an exhaust system. I had some material to remove for a pipe to fit in following an engine swap. I was very careful about handling the torch, but I was just laying on my back on the concrete floor, without being on a creeper because it was too tight under there. The truck was sitting on its tires and wheels and I, for some reason, didn't want to stop long enough to put it up on jackstands so that I'd have room to get under there on the creeper. Some red hot balls of material rolled under my arm and caught the sleeve on fire. Had this jumpsuit been made of cotton, I would have gotten maybe a few small burn spots at worst. As it happened, with the flammable material, the entire underneath of my right arm had seriously burned skin that took several weeks to heal.