20.04.2021
Heat Protection for Mill & Foundry Workers
Whether working at mills or construction sites, steelworkers encounter a wide range of risks in their everyday duties. In addition to enduring grueling hours and strenuous conditions, their work involves exposure to constant, serious safety threats. Molten metal accidents are a critical threat to the safety of foundry workers. Tasks such as taping, charging, and pouring molten metal expose workers to dangerous thermal hazards that can result in life-threatening burn injuries in the worst situations.
While it’s impossible to completely eliminate these risks, there are essential steps that can be taken to mitigate them. Specially designed personal protective equipment (PPE) that protects workers from radiant heat is critical for protecting workers’ eyes and face from excessive radiant heat. It’s important that each employer and worker throughout this industry make safety a top priority. To support these goals, Paulson Manufacturing is committed to constant innovation in high heat shielding PPE.
Why Should You Use Paulson High Heat Reflective Face Shields?
Paulson’s high-heat reflective face shields are incredibly effective at reflecting UV and radiant (IR) heat away from the user. These large, yet lightweight, shields cover the face and front of the neck without restricting the field of vision, allowing workers to perform their jobs safely. These specially formulated face shields were originally developed for military applications, protecting firefighters from jet fuel fires. They are made using 99.99% fine gold to create a mirror surface that reflects radiant heat away from the wearer yet allows vision through the shield.
Regardless of the specific type of molten metal being worked, the radiant heat is dangerous. The temperature of molten steel, for example, is 2500° F. Even lower smelting-temperature metals such as aluminum require temperatures of 1,250° F. Additionally when moisture is introduced to any hot metal, it instantly boils, creating an explosion of steam that can easily harm the workers.
To protect workers from these types of hazards, specially designed protective gear that performs reliably in extreme conditions is needed. For these reasons, aluminized clothing is highly recommended for performing hazardous tasks such as:
- Alloying
- Charging the furnace
- Skimming the dross
- Tapping the furnace
- Transferring molten metal
How Are Our Gold High Heat Reflective Shields Made?
Paulson gold, hard-coated reflective shields are made using 99.99% fine gold that has been dispersed onto an injection-molded polycarbonate face shield in a vacuum chamber. Next, a protective hard coating layer is applied over the gold to ensure optimal service life and reduce the likelihood of scratches.
This gold coating not only blocks the extreme radiant heat from molten metal, but also optimizes the visible light transmittance (VLT) to create the best possible view. Using these shields, workers can see clearly while receiving optimal protection from the most dangerous working conditions. Workers should also remember to always wear additional protective eyewear under their face shields at all times.
Gold high-heat reflective shields from Paulson meet the requirements of ANSI Z87 and are ideally suited for many industries, including:
- Automotive
- Construction
- Heavy infrastructure
- Manufacturing
- Mining
- Oil and gas
- Transportation
What Makes Paulson High Heat Reflective Shields Stand Out from the Competition?
With over 70 years of experience, Paulson Manufacturing has built a legacy out of designing top-performing PPE solutions for the most challenging working environments. All of our products meet the latest U.S. and international standards and undergo thorough safety testing. Our products represent the height of innovation in PPE solutions and are selected by countless industries to protect workers around the world. Paulson’s heat reflective face shields have a long and reliable history of safety, durability, and comfort.
For the Best in Protection, Choose Paulson
The most difficult jobs require highly innovative protection solutions. Since 1947, Paulson Manufacturing Corporation has developed products that stand up to the most rigorous demands of the world’s most challenging jobs. Our high-heat reflective face shields use 24K gold to deliver the best possible performance reflecting UV and radiant heat. To get started on a protection solution, contact us today.