A little safety warning

[ALB]

Just a quick story.

I am a radiographer, and had an interesting patient yesterday, a man who had an incident involving a lathe. He mounted a piece of wood, turned the lathe on to find it was turned up to its maximum speed of about 3000rpm. Said piece of wood immediately flew off and hit him right between the eyes as he was standing in front of it. Knocked him out cold, multiple fractures to his nose and maxilla (the bone that forms the cheek and lower margin of the eye socket). Big mess, lots of blood. Made for an interesting little conversation while I performed his CT scan.

This chap was lucky not to lose an eye, or suffer a traumatic brain injury. I'm sure he's learned his lesson, but it's one of those very neat illustrations of why safety rules are what they are.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm preaching to the crowd but be safe!

 

[Adam Pinson]

Just a quick story.

I am a radiographer, and had an interesting patient yesterday, a man who had an incident involving a lathe. He mounted a piece of wood, turned the lathe on to find it was turned up to its maximum speed of about 3000rpm. Said piece of wood immediately flew off and hit him right between the eyes as he was standing in front of it. Knocked him out cold, multiple fractures to his nose and maxilla (the bone that forms the cheek and lower margin of the eye socket). Big mess, lots of blood. Made for an interesting little conversation while I performed his CT scan.

This chap was lucky not to lose an eye, or suffer a traumatic brain injury. I'm sure he's learned his lesson, but it's one of those very neat illustrations of why safety rules are what they are.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm preaching to the crowd but be safe!

Fortunately, my lathe only starts at 450rpm when first switched on, safety mechanism..... great warning story

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I learned decades ago to stand to one side, no matter what speed I thought the lathe was set to. A scare works wonders.

 

[sammy.se]

Thanks for the reminder

 

[Johnny65]

The same applies when you turn on a bench grinder, stand to one side till max revs are reached, the wheel might shatter, I was taught this 52 years ago as an apprentice and still do it as force of habit.

 

[clogs]

I use a lot of 9" angle grinders...same with the smaller models..
when I replace the disc, hold the machine at arms length with the disc running across my body....
only once in my life did a 9" let go...U just throw the machine away...

I cant understand why people turn really knobbly bits of wood only to make smooth item....
why not take the bits off before spinning up....
diff if its a live edge platter etc...

 

[M_Chavez]

@ALB I take it the patient wasn't wearing a face shield, violating an even more important lathe H&S rule?

Question: What would have been the likely damage if he had one of them acrylic face shields on when the piece flew off?

PS I'm always careful when working with machinery, but with me, the worst accident and the worst near-miss have both involved a mere chisel. Never work tired and always stick to h&s rules. They exist for a reason.

 

[Marcusthehat]

Purely based on entirely untrained un/common sense, but when I start the table saw, I stand to one side of the blade until it spins up, "just in case", ditto with a couple of 2nd hand bench grinders I acquired. I can only imagine I would do the same if I ever acquire a lathe.

 

[Torx]

@ALB I take it the patient wasn't wearing a face shield, violating an even more important lathe H&S rule?

Question: What would have been the likely damage if he had one of them acrylic face shields on when the piece flew off?

PS I'm always careful when working with machinery, but with me, the worst accident and the worst near-miss have both involved a mere chisel. Never work tired and always stick to h&s rules. They exist for a reason.

They’re made from polycarbonate, which won’t shatter.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Another one is putting power tools down before they stop moving. I watched a neighbour who should know better put down an angle grinder while it was still running - I think he must have seen me wince. Even my wife knows not to do it.

 

[Spectric]

Is that an issue with the machine or the user, if it is an electronic speed controller then there is no reason for it to start at full speed, but then as a user you should be checking the speed of a machine before using but maybe just not standing in front of it when you turn it on solves both.

 

[johna.clements]

I use a lot of 9" angle grinders...same with the smaller models..
when I replace the disc, hold the machine at arms length with the disc running across my body....
only once in my life did a 9" let go...U just throw the machine away...

I cant understand why people turn really knobbly bits of wood only to make smooth item....
why not take the bits off before spinning up....
diff if its a live edge platter etc...

I have been hit a quite a few times by hand held Stihl cut saw blades disintegrating whilst walking on site. You do not walk too close to someone using a saw unless you want little holes in your clothes from the sparks but normally it is safe 20m away. As soon as you feel something hit you turn away from the saw and wait for it to break up or the person to switch the saw off. Pointless to shout to the person as they will not hear and switch the saw off.

Idiots in the office thought they could save money by buying cheap blades or the blades were left somewhere damp or other wise damaged.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I think once behaviour is ingrained, we still repeat it even if we know it's sometimes not necessary - a little like depressing the clutch when starting a car. Everyone taught to drive in the last thirty or forty years has been taught to leave the car out of gear, but once you've got used to automatically depressing the clutch when starting you do it just the same, just like automatically standing to one side when starting machines.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

All of the behavioural stuff is obviously right - eg:

• stand to one side whilst the machine comes up to speed,
• wait until it stops before putting hand close to blade to remove workpiece,
• fix machine faults (loose bolts, damaged guides etc) before it is used,
• use blades, knives, jigs etc from a reputable source (not always the cheapest)
• no alcohol

I know all this, try to make it all second nature, yet still sometimes forget. A minor injury (cut, bruise, not severed limb) every now and then is a timely reminder of the need to pay attention.

 

[Blister]

I still remember this sad incident

https://makezine.com/article/workshop/woodworking/yale-student-killed-in-lathe-accident/

 

[Jacob]

I keep out of line of fire of table saws, ever since a mate of mine got a broken off tungsten tip in his eye. It had crown guard in place but had somehow bounced out. Luckily it hit the white of his eye, went right in, had to be extracted but he didn't lose his sight.

 

[ALB]

I still remember this sad incident

https://makezine.com/article/workshop/woodworking/yale-student-killed-in-lathe-accident/

Oof, that's grim. There was a video circulating a year or two ago of a guy in a machine shop who got dragged into a lathe. Horrific.

 

[TRITON]

I solved this potential danger with a trend dusk mask.

 

[clogs]

Phil Pascoe....
sounds like a great woman ur wife...using angle grinders.....
mine promised she would not use my circ saw again.....lol.....

 

[Spectric]

We know there are accidents with people using machinery but there are also accidents involving maintenance personel who fail to properly electrically isolate or deal with stored energy, hydraulic, compressed air, gravity or just some spring.