Based on this post, underwater welding is one of the professions with the highest death rates. The top fatality rate stands somewhere around 15%, which happens to be nearly 1,000 times more dangerous compared to a police officer’s job. And that’s merely the statistics for the death rate. It doesn’t even mention some of the severe and permanent injuries that this technicians suffer while working underwater.
Why do you consider underwater welding offers such high rates of pay? It’s as a result of risks active in the job. You are never sure whether you are going to emerge from it alive. Even when you emerge from it alive, you might acquire long-term health problems. Simply speaking, it is one of the most dangerous jobs that can result in your death.
Even though Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t keep records of underwater welding injuries and fatalities, many studies rank this maritime job being a deadly profession. You need to have extensive training and experience to follow along with every one of the safety protocols both before and after performing the welding task at hand. Professionals also receive specialized training to ensure they can take care of any unforeseen events underwater. High quality experts supervise the welders’ work closely. Everyone uses state-of-the-art machines in order to avoid accidents, severe injuries, and more importantly, death.
Would it be worth becoming an underwater welder?
Underwater welding can be a profitable job because of its high salary. But it arrives with its very own risks. And also the risks are so dangerous that you might acquire life-threatening diseases and even die while working. Therefore, you must weigh the pros and cons from the profession prior to getting into this industry. Here are a few main reasons why most people don’t choose underwater welding being a profession:
- Cost of training – As mouth-water since the salary looks, the practice cost is also sky-high. This often puts off newbie welders. You have to enroll yourself within a commercial diving school to get certifications. Talk with your nearest school to learn the entire cost of tuition and certification fees. That will assist you decide whether you would like to spend lavishly in the training of any profession where you may meet death on the first day at work.
- Job flexibility – Most welding divers are unfamiliar with the commercial aspect of underwater welding. They like offshore jobs. You may get a high salary, but things get complicated once you don’t get leaves for vacations like in other industries. Your loved ones commitments may take a toss when you start this job full-time.
- Age and skill – You will discover a common belief that this younger you start out in this particular profession, the greater it is for you personally. That’s a myth. To the contrary, the better experience you become, the better valuable the services you provide get. Even though starting early gives you plenty of time to gain experience, it doesn’t discount the truth that seasoned welders always get first preference over newbie welders.
Common reasons resulting in underwater welding
Several risks bring about the underwater welding death rate. The next reasons may put you off from considering it as being a profession, but it’s simply to make you stay updated with what may occur. Your choice and courage are completely yours. Here are the common reasons which lead to underwater welding deaths:
1. Hypothermia
The toughest part about underwater welding is you should are employed in cold temperatures for long periods. You can’t come out after completing half the job. The cold temperature often conducts heat away from your body. In the event you remain submerged underwater for long periods, you might experience metabolic issues. In certain worst cases, you might experience organ failures also. The ideal safety measure, in this case, is always to wear an insulated rubber wetsuit when you are down. And more importantly, try to finish the job as quickly as possible.
2. Electrocution
Water is one of the best conductors of electricity. And also the job of an underwater welder is to use electrical appliances underwater. Are you able to understand the risk involved now? Electric shocks are typically fatal. You might either experience paralysis or die instantly when you can’t remove the machine soon enough. Electrocution happens if you are using welding machines that are not sufficiently adapted for underwater usage. Every machine that you employ needs to be waterproof are available with proper insulation. Double-look at the machines before you take them down because when you begin to use them, you should count on them completely before you finish your task.
3. Drowning
Even though your body can sustain the cold temperature underwater and avoid electrocution, you cannot escape the grasp of water’s differential pressure. The worst part about this job is even most experienced underwater welders can drown. To make this worse, you can’t easily detect differential pressures. There are actually it extremely hard to escape when you get kept in the flow. It’s like someone is pushing you down while you are attempting the best in the future up.
Apart from differential pressures, old gear or poorly-maintained gear also can bring about drowning in underwater welding. Alternatively, your hose, mask, or oxygen tank might also give way, resulting in severe suffocation and death. Many cases claim that underwater welders tangled themselves accidentally to their items as soon as the visibility dropped as they went deeper.
4. Sickness from decompression
Some underwater welders dive too fast because they wish to complete the process and are available out quickly. The trouble with diving fast between pressure zones is that you may inhale harmful gases. And inhaling too much of these harmful gases may lead to your death. You won’t have even time for you to swim to your boat or shore. Like drowning, decompression sickness is also a common reason for underwater welding deaths. You have to take care of your diving speed before you reach your workspace. Similarly, you can’t hurry to the shore. You have to maintain a stable speed that doesn’t interfere with pressure zones.
5. Explosives
Hydrogen and oxygen combine to form multiple gas pockets underwater. These gas pockets can explode at any time and with no warnings, resulting in life-threatening injuries or death. The explosion might not exactly seem as colossus since the ones the thing is on a lawn, but it’s enough to consider your breath away.
How exactly does underwater welding work?
Electricity isn’t the sole dangerous factor you need to be familiar with in underwater welding. Underwater welders use stick welding that utilizes an electric powered arc as the primary energy source. However, wet welding involves building a thick layer of bubbles as flux. They evaporate slowly since the flux touches the tip from the welding rod. The gas layer within the stick welding machine serves as a shield towards the weld. It prevents the weld from oxidizing compounds and water.
Joining two metal pieces underwater isn’t easy, understandably. You have to consider tons of factors plus keep safety concerns in mind while working. The newest underwater welding technique involves employing a dry chamber system. They are temporary hyperbaric chambers that prevent water from entering work area, thus preventing electrocution. The chambers are spacious enough to accommodate as much as three welders together.
Now you understand the dangers linked to underwater welding, could you consider taking it as the lifetime profession? If you, it’s best to enroll at one of the best training institutes. Focus on both theoretical and practical training. You will additionally get hands-on training to get a concept of what it’s like to use the welding machines underwater.