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Safety Issues - Please read and add your own experiences

37K views 49 replies 33 participants last post by  Triplefive F 
#1 ·
Having seen LT's thread update about Merv biting back, and seeing the photos of a friends son who has had a very nasty accident with an electric mower he was fixing, what are your views of Safety?

I have spent 20+ years working in a dangerous industry (Construction) and have seen some nasty things happen through stupidity, bad luck, fate or a mixture of all three. The 20 years of continuous training, and responsibility for others has definitely affected my outlook. While working on the house, I nearly always wear gloves, drilling - I always wear Safety glasses. If working on my own in the garage I always take my phone and tell my wife what time I will be back in. I don't like workout right under the car if by myself.....

I often wonder if I am just paranoid, or sensible ? and often plan how I am going to do something before I do it, and consider the risks and how I can minimise them.

I like most have done some very stupid things over the years but have hopefully learnt.

Being self employed also has affected my outlook, I can't take a week of work to heal and recover, every day off work costs me.

Have I turned soft, or sensible ? What are you lot like ?
 
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#2 ·
Sounds like you take a sensible, but not paranoid approach to H&S.

Personally, I am also starting to go down this route too - last week I was using a chainsaw a lot, and although I don't wear any of the safety equipment, I did make sure I had my phone in my pocket.

Also, last week - I had a phone call from the company that manages some of my rental houses and they told me there was "a health and safety issue" with a particular house, and because it was "H&S, it was graded as urgent, needing immediate attention" - "I was required to take immediate action"
Anyway, I dropped everything, phoned a chippy mate, arranged for access (needs a chaperone because the house is occupied by a woman with leaning difficulties) and it turns out that the tenant had complained of a "Squeaking floorboard"

The wanktards at management knew that, played the H&S card to get immediate attention.

That kind of abuse is getting more common in my experience.
 
#4 ·
I work in H&S, and people exploiting or misrepresenting the tag of 'Safety' is a bigger burden often than idiots who can't or won't take sensible precautions.
Agreed. We've just taken on an H&S consultancy at work, because frankly we've gotten away with the bare minimum for 30 years.

The lady that came to my manor was brilliant.
 
#5 ·
I work in H&S, and people exploiting or misrepresenting the tag of 'Safety' is a bigger burden often than idiots who can't or won't take sensible precautions.
I agree 100% with this.

I also went on a stag party with a lawyer who many would initially call an ambulance chaser but when you spoke to him you quickly realised he wasn't. He was actually someone who tried to get compensation for people who lives had been ruined by serious accidents at work, or in non fault car accidents.

Before this turns into the normal H&S at work rant, I'm interested in personal safety precautions people take around the house and in the garage, if any ?
 
#6 ·
You most definately have not turned soft or sensible. There is nothing clever about cutting your hands up, losing an eye, going deaf etc. I worked in forestry and arboriculture for over 25 years. I've seen some truly horrific accidents with machines and chainsaws. Right from day one I've worn safety gear, it's hot, heavy etc but it's designed to protect you. Tree work as I expect building work is full of ego bellends that are quick to laugh at safety gear. Let them fuck themselves up, I call it natural selection. Your the one using the machine not the twat poking fun at the safety gear, it makes sense put it on!
 
#7 ·
I am pretty paranoid about H&S at home. I don't use a grinder without a guard, never let one go or put it down with the disc still spinning, wear goggles and gloves; that kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, I'll climb a tree with my chainsaw, or go up on the garage roof to re-fix a slipped slate, but I'll not do stuff like that without either my phone in my pocket or someone at home. Fire is what worries me the most. Especially as my garage is currently a complete shithole. I've just bought a full-size Chubb powder extinguisher to live out there. Watching/reading some people's online builds with them working in flip flops and suchlike makes me cringe.
 
#10 ·
I'm often a bit lax with e.g. chainsaw trousers/jackets (but always wear the gloves and helmet... :mental:), but one thing I'm now very wary of is hearing protection. I once sharpened all 24(?) flails of a flail hedgecutter with an angle grinder and came away with ringing in my ears which has never completely stopped. As I should still have another 50 years or so to screw my ears over, I decided that that would be the last time I used a grinder without ear defenders - I get a few funny looks now that I go hunting for them even for tiny cuts, but I'm quite keen on my hearing so put up with it.

Working under a car was mentioned somewhere: that's another one I learned the (almost) hard way. I was underneath the front of a car, feet pointing out forwards, head started somewhere around the back of the engine bay, supported on whatever stands I could find as we didn't have proper ones back then. To climb out, I reached for the bumper and pulled it to help me slide out feet first and while I moved a bit forwards, the car obeyed Newton's second law and moved backwards toppling the stands. Fortunately I had moved just far enough out and it landed (all four wheels were off) a couple of inches behind my head. I now give any car that's on stands a wobble in several directions before climbing under.
 
#11 ·
I've been very paranoid about eyes ever since I had a trip to A&E to pick a piece of metal out of my eye ball a few years ago. Not a pleasant experience. I was actually wearing safety specs when it happened, but spent a few quid on a decent pair of goggles for heavy grinding and removing paint after it happened. L
 
#12 ·
Yep - I got caught out today.



Mine was a case of using the wrong tool for the job (caused by not having the right tool).

Wire knot wheel in the grinder snagged on an edge and did a snap 180 in my hand, ripped my glove clean off my hand and took a bite out of my wrist.

Still bleeding now.
 
#13 ·
Yep - I got caught out today.



Mine was a case of using the wrong tool for the job (caused by not having the right tool).

Wire knot wheel in the grinder snagged on an edge and did a snap 180 in my hand, ripped my glove clean off my hand and took a bite out of my wrist.

Still bleeding now.
Owwwwwww.

Knotted grinding wheels are something that demand a lot of respect.

And concentration to never brush against an edge but always away from it - and worst hazard of all, the wires are constantly being shed, and will embed in timber - so eyeballs would be a breeze.

Very dangerous piece of kit in my opinion.

Get well soon fella - I know from experience how much that smarts - skin has so many nerve endings it stings like a bastard :D
 
#14 ·
with getting under cars with axle stands I tend to put a spare wheel under it next to me , do it out of habit.
also as others have said always have my mobile with me in my pocket
. I also now never take the guard of an angle grinder , and wear a full face helmet guard rather than googles had a very thin blade shatter once scared the life out of me ,thank goodness for wearing leather welding gauntlets . lessons learned , but now not really interested in doing it anymore ,
 
#15 ·
Next to by grinders is a shelf with ear and eye protection, as well as various different types of gloves. I try to make it routine that I put my plugs in and my safety glasses on before picking up the grinder. I never use them without the guards, or at the very least if I do have to remove a guard for something I make sure it goes back on once that job is finished. I also have an old army camo jacket that I put on over the top of whatever else I am wearing whilst grinding. Heavy cotton, fairly fire proof, takes the brunt of what I throw at it.
 
#16 ·
i use way more safety gear now than i did 20 years ago.

always use earplugs with grinders/routers/hammer drills in masonry. i get bouts of tinnitus otherwise. i also need them when playing drums and should probably wear them when seeing bands live.

always wear contact lenses and safety specs with all powertools and when laying under the car - i've had 2 trips to hospital to get rusty metal out of my eyeballs. and i've also become paranoid about grinders so i wear welding gauntlets when using them now too.

and i don't trust axle stands. i'd rather have the car/van on my 3 tonne jack, then i stuff a load of spare wheels under it just in case. if i need axle stands i use concrete blocks topped with a 2*4 because they can't fall over.

my latest new injury type is sunburn from welding. my mig wire feed was slipping, so instead of a nice clean weld it was massive spark - pause - massive spark - pause - massive spark, which i guess is why it burned me now and never has before. it's been 2 weeks and the skin's just starting to peel off my upper arm. so long sleeves only when welding from now on.
 
#17 ·
There's a fine line between getting the job done and taking that many precautions it becomes almost impossible to do the job.

In work environments this can be further exacerbated by people not really understanding the H&S legislation and hiding behind it to cover their own arses just in case something goes wrong.

I tend to look at jobs I'm doing and work out the risks but I'll normally err on the side of getting it done rather than taking every precaution to make the job 'risk free'

Having said that, I've just spent the last five days involved in writing a risk assessment for the CAA - now, there's an organisation that loves forms :D
 
#18 ·
As a Student Apprentice back in '62>'67 I had to do 18 months ' on the tools', back then I did'nt get any formal H&S instruction - only what the old timers chose to tell me about ( which was patchy to say the least ), I witnessed some horrible accidents in that short time.
Fast forward 40 years to my time as the Project Manager on a Construction site and things were very different ( D&A Testing / Inductions / Top-Up training / Risk Assessments / Safety Audits etc;etc; ) , all for the
better in my view.
So no, I think you have got it right , especially when working on your own ( like most of us ) - as always it's
human nature that lets us down ( 'must get it finished today' , 'wrong tool for the job' , ' won't take a minute' ),
raising this thread has probably already raised awareness - well done.
 
#19 ·
Very enlightening and relevant thread - learning a lot from the experience of others. I'm lucky that nothing serious has happened to me in the past as I sometimes form lazy habits and take the odd unnecessary risk with my power tools.

I intend to keep my skin and precious digits intact, so will be reviewing my practices going forward!
 
#20 ·
Up a ladder more than a few feet I have a spotter/someone to help if a situation develops..
Fire blanket, extinguisher and bucket full of sand to hand whenever I am welding or grinding (ever seen a bin of various rubbish start burning thats between you and your fire extinguisher... It focuses the mind!). The fire blanket gets used to cover my legs when I am sat cross legged welding.
Gloves/goggles etc when grinding/cutting.
A good vice is FAR better than your feet to hold your work piece when using a knotted wire brush (It skipped off and tore a chunk of flesh out of my ankle, took months to heal.. Stupid I know!)
If going under car it always on at least two axle stands, plus the jack and usually a wheel too.. Had a jack slowly give way when I was under the car many years ago. Lesson learnt!
If going under car always have a clear exit.
Tidy up tools after doing a job, have tripped over tools I have left out before.
Always sweep up/tidy the area at the end of the day/job..
 
#21 ·
I did some properly stupid things in my youth when I worked for my Dad. I think I peaked when I was stood on an upturned bucket in 6" of water drilling a hole with a 240v drill in a water tank ...... on top of the HSE offices in London :lol:
Mind you that job was a balls up from start to finish. One of the blokes covered over one of the outlets (hence me drilling holes) and when the chlorine treatment was added, 10x the correct amount was put in by mistake :eek: Cue lots of taps being turned on and a delightfully clean smelling building by the morning :lol:
 
#22 ·
Slightly different to building I know but at work I often go into situations where things could go very wrong very fast. There are people I work with who don't bother with the ppe. As well as the immediate 'you could die' risk, there's also the fact that if it does go wrong and you don't have the right kit with you then you get no compo afterwards.

At home I always wear ear defenders/goggles/gloves for grinding etc but sometimes I'm lazy if I'm painting a little part with a rattle can I won't always hunt out my mask.
 
#23 ·
Owwwwwww.

Knotted grinding wheels are something that demand a lot of respect.

And concentration to never brush against an edge but always away from it - and worst hazard of all, the wires are constantly being shed, and will embed in timber - so eyeballs would be a breeze.

Very dangerous piece of kit in my opinion.

Get well soon fella - I know from experience how much that smarts - skin has so many nerve endings it stings like a bastard :D
I caught an accelerator Cáble with one working in an engine bay and chopped my finger off.
 
#24 ·
Another one that we're all probably guilty of is trying to get someone's attention whilst they are..Grinding/welding/fixing/up the ladder etc.
I now wait until they've have seen/acknowledged me or finished until I talk to them.
 
#25 ·
Another one that we're all probably guilty of is trying to get someone's attention whilst they are..Grinding/welding/fixing/up the ladder etc.
I now wait until they've have seen/acknowledged me or finished until I talk to them.
I've lost count of the times my bloody mother frightened the life out of me with "a nice cup of tea"...
 
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