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Question,

I was working today with two young guys who were talking about their plans after high school graduation. They both indicated an interest in welding as a profession.

So, I told them about my friend "Lonnie" who had been a pipeline welder. Lonnie and I got to know one another many years ago. Lonnie had a fifth wheel and would travel to various jobsites and weld pipeline until the job was done and then take any number of months off and then find another job and go to that one. Apparently he was an excellent welder and in the years I knew him, he never lacked for work. Seemed like a great life... work a job for a month or two... take a loong vacation to hunt and fish,.. then go on another job and refill the piggy bank.

But Lonnie told me that there was problem with his profession. He called it "welders lung." Years of breathing the welding fumes had damaged his lungs and he he just flat out told me it was going to cause him an early death. Well, it wasn't but 2-3 years later that I heard he had to quit working due to lung issues and that his health was in decline. He passed away a year or so later..... in his early 50's. Interestingly, Lonnie blamed himself....said he had been told about welders lung when he started out and pretty much gave short shrift to "welding safety."

So, I'm telling these two kids about Lonnie and I see they got a bit quiet..... turns out both young men were hard set on going to "welding school" right after they graduated from high school and had even made "reservations" for spots at some school in Florida. They had never heard of welders lung.


So .... can these two young men become professional welders and expect that today's safety precautions will prevent them from developing "welders lung?"

They will be working with me again tomorrow... any words of advice?

Thanks,

TF

You do inhale allot of bad stuff when you weld. If he was welding outside it was likely stick welding too and as far as I'm concerned that's more dirty that tig or mig. Inside many places have collectors that suck the fumes and smoke away from you. They'd likely work outside too. Welding is dirty though. It's also hard on your eyes.

They have helmets that have air filters in them now. They are expensive but they are out on the market.
I ran across (2) welders while inspecting on a Hospital Build.
They were father and son.
The Flux Core wire is the killer. That stuff is real harsh.
For the The Pipe Line welders it is the E6010 Cellulose base flux old school electrode. It is harsh
But those hoods with the filters work real good.
I have been welding for over 45 years and Inspecting Welding for over 30 years to this day I do not have Lung problems
Shop welding can be real hard on you with all of the Crap that fly's around in the air from every worker in the shop.
Shops are where I started and where labs send me when I work for other Company's.

Welding is a good carrier you just have to take precautions.
The noise will get them as well. Tinnitus runs high in the industry.

Good luck on what your guys decide on doing for a living.
At least they are thinking about a Carrier that they can grow in.

Things are better now.But it can still bite you.

Welding is something I enjoy, to build or repair.
And it can be a good paying career.

But I can't imagine doing it for a living.
Especially production in a facility.

Friends used to weld aluminum and titanium bicycle frames.
8 hours a day, in a booth with a helmet, welding one after another.
Spool fed TIG.

I would have lost my mind.

I recently retired after welding on and off for 44 years. Shops, power plants, refineries, mining sites, compressor stations, etc.
No serious lung issues yet but I'm sure it didn't help them any.
Grinding dust I thought was probably just as bad as welding fumes. You can see all the particles floating around in the air especially if there is a shaft of sunlight shining through the work area.
Also bad is how contaminated the things you are welding on, like paint, oil, and other industrial chemicals that are on or near the heat zone that get liberated into the air from the intense heat.
And yes, I have some hearing loss, not severe however, and a touch of tinnitus.
But with all that said, it wasn't to bad of a profession, I would do it over again. I think "Lonnie" was an unfortunate exception compared to all the guys I know.
I'd tell the kids to go for it, take the safety precautions seriously, and they will make a pretty good living.

I have worked with a several career welders since 1980. One man in particular kept informed and purchased his own respirators years before the employer discovered the need for them. He was also the first in the plant to buy an automatic hood.

The old timers laughed and called him a pussy. The old timers were all dead before they hit seventy. He is still healthy at 60 years. But yes, welding can be hazardous.

I did a little welding at my convenience. Mostly I ran the torch and did fitting for five years.

We always had problems with Zinc exposure when we would get into galvanized. Zinc will make your nuts ache like you had been kicked by a mule. And there is the smoke associated with flux core and stick rod. Not to mention all the asbestos we used to kick out of the way so we could get to the pipe underneath. Now all the noise is Hexavalent Chromium.

There are healthier career choices. But there is also pretty good respiratory protection available if one is conscientious in its use.

Safety gear has improved a lot over the years. I know many welders in their 60s.

What I'm surprised to hear is that these young men didn't have a trade or vocational options in their high school. I have 2 boys. Both 17. One is in welding the other is in machining. They are on their 2nd year of training through our high school and career center and have their senior year starting this fall.

There is a shortage of skilled labor. I could hire 3-4 machinists /machine operators tomorrow and 1 welder tomorrow.

Good on these fellas you know for looking to work with their hands.

Fabrication is probably better as far as variety goes, assembling and tacking the parts together according to the drawing specs for the welders to finish.

Smokin seems common with welders, that prolly doesn’t help.

What’s a little more smoke? Vaping also.

That is true. And the vast majority of the welders I have worked with are hard core alcoholics. I do not know the correlation.

As a career Tool & Die Maker I welded as a part of my job, recognizing the inherent dangers I declined welding other than what was required to complete projects I was working on. As good as the auto darkening hoods are you are still getting some level of exposure to the arc. Dust, fumes and noise in and around the welding area pose their own hazards. While welding can be interesting, challenging work it is up to the individual to decide if it is worth the associated hazzards.

I’m 68, welded for years and years on gas and fire lines, still here at 68.

I'am 66 welded my hole life and still do.....be smart about the fumes.....my only problem is my hearing but I also have shot millions of rounds of ammo with little to no hearing protection.....

I just turned 65 and welded in a shop setting for something close to 20 yrs with nothing but a fan to blow the fumes away for most of that time. Still pretty darn healthy although I do have tinnitus. With the improvements listed by other posters, I would think it is a darn viable choice as a career.

Isn't that the truth.

I know 4 guys that are in the trade and each smokes like a fish. They can hardly wait to get their respirator masks off to light up.

WS

When I graduated from Ferris College in Michigan with a Welding Degree, many career paths were open to me:
- heavy construction including working in high places
- manufacturing
- petroleum industry

I chose to work for a company that built tank farms across Texas and Oklahoma. The money was quite good but the travel became tedious and lonely. So I took a job with the Auto Workers Union and tried manufacturing. Again, the money was outstanding but the jobs became boring. I studied blueprint reading part time. My next job was Welder/Fitter. Less welding and more fabrication. Eventually, I was promoted to Foreman and then Superintendent.

My advise is to work within an organized union position. The safety standards are more uniform and you can't beat collective bargaining and seniority protection.

Do not smoke cigarettes!

Sherwood

I've welded pipelines for 49 years and never heard of "welders lung". Welding pipelines means you are outdoors with plenty of ventilation

Spent 6-½ years in a fab shop with 15-20 AWS D1.1 certified welders. You can't have enough filtration, ventilation and hydration. We were constantly replacing masks. Welding on galvanized or zinc was a big no no. Many of the guys were smokers as well.

One of the leadmen there had over 40 years of welding experience. He forgot more than I will ever know about welding. The good ones make it look easy.

A former co-worker's wife had cancer and they were in and out of the regional cancer hospital constantly over a couple years. He got to know a former welder who did a lot of his small jobs in short sleeves. He was really paying the price. He had melanoma all up and down both arms. He was a walking corpse.