For shipyard welders, burners, fitters and helpers: ventilation and respirators for fumes and toxic metals, preservative coatings, hollow structures, compressed gas cylinders, fuel gas, hoses and torches, and arc welding cables, grounds and shielding.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1915.51, 1915.53, 1915.54, 1915.55 and 1915.56 · about 7 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (25 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
Mechanical ventilation is either general (air changes for the whole space) or local exhaust (a movable hood at the work).
General ventilation must make enough air changes to keep welding fumes and smoke within safe limits.
Local exhaust hoods are placed by the welder or burner as close as practicable to the work, removing fumes at the source.
Exhaust air goes to the open air or clear of the intake. Replacement air must be clean and respirable.
Oxygen is not air. Do not use oxygen for ventilation, cooling yourself off, blowing dust off clothing or cleaning the work area.
Reference: 29 CFR 1915.51(b)
Fumes and ventilation
Confined spaces and toxic metals
Hot work in a confined space needs ventilation. If ventilation would block the way in and out, workers inside wear air line respirators and a person outside keeps in contact and helps in an emergency.
Metal in an enclosed space
Protection
Zinc-bearing or zinc coated, lead base metals, cadmium-bearing filler, chromium-bearing or chromium coated
General mechanical or local exhaust ventilation
Lead-containing (other than as an impurity) or lead coated, cadmium-bearing or cadmium coated base metals, mercury coated
Local exhaust ventilation or air line respirators
Beryllium
Both local exhaust ventilation and air line respirators
In the open air, these metals call for filter type respirators (air line respirators for beryllium).
Helpers and others breathing the same air get the same protection as the welder.
In ship repair, remove toxic metallic ore residues or cargo, or protect them from the heat, before starting.
Inert-gas metal-arc welding gives off ultraviolet light 5 to 30 times as intense as shielded metal-arc welding. The process also involves the decomposition of chlorinated solvents by ultraviolet rays and the liberation of toxic fumes and gases.
Keep chlorinated solvents at least 200 feet from the exposed arc, and let solvent-cleaned surfaces dry thoroughly before welding.
Cover skin completely to prevent UV burns. Helmets and hand shields must be free of leaks, openings and highly reflective surfaces.
Helpers not screened from the arc need filter lenses.
On stainless steel, use local exhaust or air line respirators to protect against nitrogen dioxide.
For any welding, cutting or heating, wear suitable eye protection.
Unknown coating? A competent person tests its flammability before heat is applied. Coatings are highly flammable when scrapings burn with extreme rapidity.
Highly flammable coatings are stripped from the area to be heated (in shipbreaking, they may instead be burned away under controlled conditions). A 1 1/2 inch or larger fire hose with fog nozzle, uncoiled and under pressure, is immediately available for instant use nearby.
Toxic coatings in enclosed spaces: strip at least 4 inches back from the heat, or wear air line respirators. In the open air, wear a filter type respirator.
Soft and greasy preservatives in enclosed spaces: a competent person tests for explosive vapors before starting, the coating is removed far enough back that unstripped metal stays cool, and tests are repeated right after starting and at frequent intervals. If vapors appear, stop immediately.
Heat turns trapped liquid or vapor into pressure, and pressure turns a hollow part into a bomb.
Drums, containers and hollow structures that held flammables are filled with water or cleaned, ventilated and tested first.
Provide a vent or opening to release pressure before applying heat.
Structural voids such as skegs, bilge keels, masts, booms, stanchions and railings are inspected by a competent person and tested if needed for flammable liquids or vapors, and checked for water that could build pressure.
Jacketed vessels are vented before and during the work.
Reference: 29 CFR 1915.54
Gas welding and cutting
Moving and placing cylinders
Keep valve protection caps on and secure, with no oil on them. Do not lift a cylinder by its cap or pry a frozen cylinder loose with a bar under the valve. Thaw with warm, not boiling, water.
Hoist cylinders on a cradle, slingboard or pallet, not with magnets or choker slings. Move them by tilting and rolling on the bottom edge; do not drop or bang them.
Remove regulators and replace caps before moving, unless the cylinder is on a special carrier. Close valves when work is finished, when empty, and when moving.
Keep acetylene upright at all times, except, if necessary, for short periods while the cylinder is actually being hoisted or carried. Use a cylinder truck, chain or steadying device so cylinders cannot be knocked over.
Place cylinders away from sparks, slag and flame (or behind fire resistant shields), out of any electrical circuit, and outside confined spaces. Do not strike an arc on a cylinder or use a cylinder as a roller or support.
Crack the valve (open slightly and close) before attaching a regulator, standing to the side of the outlet, and not where gas could reach sparks or flame.
Open valves slowly. Open fuel gas valves no more than one and a half turns so they can be closed quickly, and leave the special wrench on the valve stem while in use.
Use a regulator; do not feed fuel gas straight from the cylinder to a torch with shut-off valves.
Close the cylinder valve and release gas from the regulator before removing it.
A valve stem leak that tightening the gland nut does not stop, or a leak from the cylinder valve itself that cannot be shut off, means the cylinder is tagged and removed from the vessel. If a regulator attached to the valve effectively stops a leak through the valve seat, the cylinder need not be removed. A leak at a fuse plug or other safety device means the cylinder is removed from the vessel.
Manifolds are labeled in letters at least one inch high and placed in the open air, not in enclosed spaces. Hose connections cannot be interchanged and are capped when not in use.
Oxygen and fuel gas hoses are easy to tell apart by color or feel and cannot be interchanged.
When taped together, no more than 4 inches out of 8 are covered.
Inspect hose at the beginning of each shift and remove defective hose from service. Hose that has seen a flashback or shows severe wear is pressure tested to twice its normal pressure, and not less than 200 psi.
Couplings must not come apart with a straight pull. Hose stowage boxes are ventilated.
Inspect torches each shift for leaking shutoff valves, couplings and tips. Clean clogged tips with proper tip cleaners.
Light torches with a friction lighter, not matches or hot work.
Keep regulators and gauges in proper working order.
Use electrode holders designed for arc welding and rated for the current. The grip and jaw surfaces are fully insulated.
Cables are completely insulated and flexible. The first 10 feet from the electrode holder are free of repairs or splices, unless the connectors or splices insulate as well as the cable.
Do not use cables in poor repair. Splice with insulated connectors at least equal to the cable.
A structure or pipe line may serve as the ground return, but not pipe lines carrying flammable gases or liquids or conduits with electrical circuits. If it arcs, sparks or heats anywhere, it is rejected as a ground.
Ground the frame of each welding machine, and inspect ground connections.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1915.51, 1915.53, 1915.54, 1915.55 and 1915.56. It is not an OSHA card or license, it is not a welding certification, and it does not make anyone a shipyard competent person, Marine Chemist or Coast Guard authorized person. It does not by itself meet the instruction requirements of 29 CFR 1915.55(d) and 1915.56(d). Your employer must still thoroughly instruct employees in the safe use of fuel gas as set out in 29 CFR 1915.55(d), and instruct employees in the safe means of arc welding and cutting as set out in 29 CFR 1915.56(d).
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.