Roughly 400,000 individuals are employed as full-time welders in the U.S. and millions more conduct welding, cutting, soldering and brazing operations part-time or occasionally. Welding-related operations are carried out broadly across industries and applications from manufacturing and construction, to oil and gas, and maintenance and repair.

Wherever welding is conducted workers face inherent risks: exposure to intense radiation, hot metal, electric shock, noxious fumes and loud noise. Furthermore, the environments in which welding is conducted pose additional hazards ranging from high heat, slick or frozen conditions and confined spaces, to moving and stationary heavy equipment. There is no question that wherever welding operations take place, hazards abound.