VIDEO: TOOLING UP: Why Welders Are Upgrading to These 3M Respirators

BRENT CHARLTON: We've put in a lot of newer technology into these welding filters to give the welder the best view. So it's not like something a traditional fixed shade where it's in the down position is just dark. It does not go dark until they strike the arc. So there's less setup time and there's less, you know, looking up and looking down.

So they're saving time on that, and they're able to do more welding and that's what we want welders to do, spend more time on welding.

Narrator: This video is brought to you by 3M Industrial Safety Products, helping advance worker protection and comfort. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome back to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you've joined us here today. Before we jump in, we want you to go ahead and like and subscribe. Hit those buttons so you don't miss a single episode. Today I'm so excited to be talking about the next generation of respiratory protection with not one, but two experts from 3M.

We have Geoff Sadjadi and Brent Charlton. Thank you both so much for being here with us today. And welcome to Tooling Up.

BRENT CHARLTON: Hey, thanks for having us.

GEOFF SADJADI: Appreciate it. Happy to be here.

TONI NEARY: I am so excited for this dynamic duo. And why don't we jump in Geoff, with just a little bit about you, how you got to where you are today at 3M.

GEOFF SADJADI: So I started at 3M back in 2014. I very quickly moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where I was industrial adhesives and tapes rep, calling on all sorts of different customers, with our specialty tapes and liquid adhesives, trying to solve some complex industrial problems. I then moved into a converter markets role in Indianapolis.

Converter markets is kind of a fancy term for cutting 3M materials to different unique shapes and sizes that are going into parts and pieces, into your iPhone, for example, or things that might be a wearable medical device. And then, I eventually transitioned into the role that I'm in today, which is the marketing manager for powered and supplied air, specifically on the versaflo PAPR line and I've been doing that for a little over five years now.

TONI NEARY: I love it. And Brent, it sounds like you've had quite a journey at 3M as well. Tell us a little bit about your background.

BRENT CHARLTON: Hey. Thanks, Toni. So I've been at 3M for almost 13 years now. I started off in our insights and analytics team and got to work with all the business groups across 3M, and then I had an opportunity to come to our personal safety division and take the lead at one of our connected safety products.

So it was a really interesting push-forward product. And then for the last six years, I've been working on our welding product line with SpeedGlas and Adflo brands.

TONI NEARY: I love it, and I love the fact that you both have some longevity, and you kind of refer to yourself as newbies there. So what is it most that you really do appreciate about 3M and the culture of the organization?

BRENT CHARLTON: That's right Toni, you're still technically a rookie at 3M until you hit that 15-year mark I feel. And that's one of the cool things about 3M because it's such a big company, big organization, you have different career paths that you can take. You could have three, four different careers at 3M if that's what you're looking for. We have people that start off in the plant might move over to supply planning or procurement into finance.

So that's just one of the great things about 3M, just the opportunities to collaborate.

GEOFF SADJADI: 3M is constantly driving innovation in a variety of different categories. And so it's kind of exciting to be on the front lines of the next generation of technologies that are solving the complex problems across all the industries.

TONI NEARY: And I think most people think of Post-it notes and Scotch tape when they think of 3M. But we are already starting to discuss a little bit when we talk about welding and respiratory, like, what are some of the other really cool 3M innovations that might surprise people that are actually 3M products?

GEOFF SADJADI: A couple of things that I learned while I was in converter markets was, we actually make optically clear adhesives that are going into the displays of your motor vehicle. So all the touchscreens and everything like that that are in the front, as well as materials for EV battery thermal runaway. So when the battery gets too hot, basically, it's a way to protect the device from, you know, not overheating or causing any sort of a combustion.

BRENT CHARLTON: My kind of favorite line, I might be a little biased here, but with the SpeedGlas portfolio. 3M actually acquired a company in the early 2000s that invented the auto darkening filter. So that's now a part of the 3M technologies. And, they invented this auto darkening filter in the early 80s, and we're just now at our fifth generation of these auto darkening filters with some of the latest and greatest technologies.

TONI NEARY: I think it just blows my mind. And I think it's just a sign of innovation. And these are really cool products. So it's a perfect segue into what we're here to talk about today, which is powered air purifying respirators, or PAPRs for those who are in the know. Geoff, for those who aren't familiar, can you break down what a PAPR system is and why it's so important?

GEOFF SADJADI: So, a PAPR is a powered air purifying respirator. And here is one of our powered air purifying respirators right now. So, it's a motor blower unit that either can attach waste mounted or to your backpack. And what it does is it pulls air through the motor blower, through a filter in a cartridge.

So if you're working in a hazardous environment, that filter cartridge is cleaning up that air and sending the clean air through a breathing tube into some type of a head top that the worker might be wearing. And so it's really nice for workers because it gives them the opportunity to not have their lungs do the work.

It's really the motor that is pulling that air through the motor blower.

TONI NEARY: I think there's another little side note there as well. And that has to do with fit testing and generally having to be clean shaven for using respirators as well. Can you talk a little bit about how that's a little different when we're looking at PAPRs?

GEOFF SADJADI: Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate you bringing that up. So when you're wearing a tight-fitting respiratory solution, it is required by OSHA that you need to be fit tested. And when you're wearing a loose fitting PAPR system, you're actually allowed to, there's no requirement to be fit tested for that. And so that is a nice benefit to the employer because it allows them to relax some of their clean-shaven policies, especially in the manufacturing environment, a lot of folks like to rock some sort of facial hair.

So it makes it a little bit easier on them to wear a PAPR system with a loose-fitting head top.

TONI NEARY: And I'd have to imagine that this is also increasing comfort as well as that cooling airflow makes it sound like it would actually be pleasant or almost refreshing if you're working in different environments.

GEOFF SADJADI: Absolutely. So it's definitely going to be a lot more comfortable for the wearer. And then in addition, like you said, you're going to get a little bit of a breeze coming down on your face. So if you're working on the hottest day of summer in Texas, it's going to be nice to get a little bit of a cooling breeze coming down across your face.

It's going to feel a little more like a fan versus like air conditioning, but it'll still beat anything than wearing a tight-fitting respirator in those types of environments.

TONI NEARY: I love that, and I imagine comfort is the key. The safest PPE in the world is the one that's actually being used and worn correctly.

BRENT CHARLTON: You got it. I couldn't agree more, Toni.

TONI NEARY: Brent I think that's a perfect opportunity for us to talk about increasing safety and productivity is a lovely side effect of that. Tell us a little bit about your solutions and how those are really helping to increase safety for workers and productivity for employers.

BRENT CHARLTON: There's a number of different benefits that we have, and we've done a lot of case studies at our customers to make sure that they're able to see these values. So, one of our customers that we've done a case study on, they actually had a really big issue with eye injuries on site. And so moving from, you know, a traditional respirator, disposable respirator, a reusable respirator into a powered air purifying respirator.

They always have that visor in the down position. You can see their full face. So it's much easier to communicate with someone when they're talking. And what we found when they moved to a powered air purifying respirator, they actually reduced their eye injuries 70%. So some significant savings, not just on the fit testing side like Geoff mentioned, but also, you know, there's downtime.

If you have those eye injuries, there's lost productivity, there's additional costs. And that's where a lot of this comes into play. You know, Geoff touched on the cooling effect of having that air flow down on you. And we've found a lot of our customers moving to a powered air purifying respirator. They're not having to adjust their disposable respirator, reusable respirator. It's not bumping into their eyewear. Nothing's interfering with the hard hat, eyewear, respirator. So everything is meant to be integrated and working together, so they're not having to readjust things. Geoff also covered, you know, it can be tiring breathing through that disposable respirator, reusable respirator for an entire shift. So moving to a powered air purifying respirator, it's a lot easier to breathe. You have that cooling effect. You can work longer, you're taking fewer breaks. And that's where we've seen a productivity increase of, on average, at least 40%.

TONI NEARY: Okay, 40% productivity increase is an absolutely huge number.

BRENT CHARLTON: It is. And it boils down to really a couple things. So, just to make sure it's clear for the team, it boils down to two things: Number one, again, less breaks. So when you're having that cooling effect, you're not having to adjust PPE, you're taking fewer breaks. And secondly, especially when you look at our welding filters, we've put in a lot of newer technology into these welding filters to give the welder the best view.

So it's not like something a traditional fixed shade where it's in the down position is just dark. It does not go dark until they strike the arc. So there's less setup time. And there's less, you know, looking up and looking down. So they're saving time on that, and they're able to do more welding, and that's what we want welders to do, spend more time on welding.

TONI NEARY: I really feel like you all have thought of everything. I can't thank you enough for your time, for your knowledge, for the innovation that 3M is bringing to the marketplace to really keep people safer.

GEOFF SADJADI: Thanks for having us. We appreciate it.

BRENT CHARLTON: Thanks, Toni.

TONI NEARY: It was so great having Geoff and Brent on the show today. If you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did, and you want to make sure you see more discussions just like this one, go ahead and subscribe to our channel. 3M even has a demo program so you can experience the benefits firsthand of this amazing technology.

To find out more about 3M PAPR systems, go to www.mscdirect.com/3m-papr. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: What more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.