health and safety

[engineer one]

any one watch the news last night.

especially bbc, they were showing some then and now pictures from indonesia after the tsunami.

anyone see the fishermen with their table saw. Now that's a health and safety hazard. open blade, and open drive belt and a petrol engine, on green wood, and in the open air :lol: :twisted:

if that doesn't make you wonder nothing will

paul :wink:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

H Paul

My thoughts exactly.

Cheers
Neil

 

[garywayne]

What we need to remember is that different people are used to doing things in a different way to what we are getting used to, and that is only because we are being told to do it that way. I remember seeing a program, years ago, about an African tribe. There was one scene where a toddler was playing with a machete. That is how that child learns to use it. I honestly believe the more safety precautions put in place the safer we feel, and more complacent we become, the more accidents occur. Pay attention to what you are doing. When I am driving and my wife speaks to me and we are approaching a junction, I ask my wife to stop so I can concentrate on my maneuver. Simple really. Accidents will happen no matter what.

 

[PowerTool]

any one watch the news last night.

especially bbc, they were showing some then and now pictures from indonesia after the tsunami.

anyone see the fishermen with their table saw. Now that's a health and safety hazard. open blade, and open drive belt and a petrol engine, on green wood, and in the open air :lol: :twisted:

if that doesn't make you wonder nothing will

paul :wink:

Never saw it,but when I used to work on a farm we always used to do the same (apart from tractor powered rather than petrol engine) - I was always more nervous of the drive belt than the saw,for some reason.
No-one ever had an accident/injury.

Andrew

 

[RogerS]

Well said, Gary..we're sanitising everything.

 

[promhandicam]

. . . There was one scene where a toddler was playing with a machete. That is how that child learns to use it. . .

Quite right too. When my wife and I started working in Zaire (as was) once a week all the school kids in the village had to come to school either with a machete or a hoe to do 'Salongo' - a sort of community service. Seeing a kid in Africa with a machete is no different to seeing a kid in the UK with a mobile phone or an mp3 player. Can you imagine what would happen in the UK if a kid turned up at school with a machete :roll: This is one of the reasons that I am enjoying doing some woodworking with my son so that he gets to know how to use tools and respect them - unfortunately my kids don't get the opportunity to do woodwork or metalwork at school here - but I think it is similar in some schools in the UK too.

Steve

 

[wrightclan]

I saw it. Yes the "table saw" they were using demanded respect; but I was more impressed with their ingenuity and enterprising attitude in very difficult circumstances.

Brad

 

[engineer one]

hey i wasn't knocking it, just thinking what you can do when the demand is there.

one problem of a civilisation is too many people have too much time to consider the problems rather than overcome them.

but it is important to remember that although safety is paramount, too often the rules make it almost impossible for a normal person to use the b****y thing. :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[mel]

yes i saw it too
worse than that
i was flicking through the channels one night to see a rather annoying fellow
using a stihl chainsaw to make a bookcase/shelf type of affair :shock:
it was a discovery channel and i think its called "the salvager" or le salvager
he was covered head to toe in chippings and had nothing in the way of safety gear :shock: :shock:

 

[CHJ]

Never saw it,but when I used to work on a farm we always used to do the same (apart from tractor powered rather than petrol engine) - I was always more nervous of the drive belt than the saw,for some reason.
No-one ever had an accident/injury.
Andrew

Likewise, an old photo from the farm I was living on just after WW2.

These guys are cutting up 4-5 storm uprouted elm trees from the row that can be seen in the background.

My father always cut up 3-4 ton of logs each year on a 4ft+ dia swing bed open saw powered by a large unguarded twin cylinder motor.
Never ever saw a problem with it, but was taught not to stand in the wrong place and to keep away from the moving parts, when you come to think about it it was no more dangerous than the shire horses attached to plow, seed drill, hay mowers or corn binders that I used to be around from 5 yrs upward and the tractor powered thrashing machines.

 

[Noel]

I also suspect he isn't in a position to open a catalogue and order a TS. Unguarded machinery is the least of the man's problems. And as said his ngenuity is to be applauded.

 

[WoodStoat]

Sometimes, an over-reliance on safety devices can, perhaps, make us less safe: "All the guards are in place so I can't have an accident with this machi... Oh dear." Plus It occasionally becomes almost impossible to see the workpiece on occasion.

For example, the mitre saw: it's a circular saw on a stick, in essence. Mine is by Makita and has a self-retracting clear plastic blade guard which jams on anything thicker than 2" timber, and gets in the way of lining up the cut. To do this accurately, you have to pull the guard out of the way manually. However, on the radial arm saw I used in the sawmill, you had a larger blade and more powerful motor, and no lower blade guard. The only person who injured himself was one of the local inbreeds, who tried to chamfer his fingernails on it. So off came the Makita blade guard, and as a result I spend less, rather than more, time with my hand near the blade.

There was an interesting experiment tried recently in I think Holland, where a city or town removed all its traffic lights and street warning notices. Drivers were forced to take responsibility for their own safety rather than to let someone else do it for them - the rate of traffic accidents dropped remarkably.

 

[CHJ]

There was an interesting experiment tried recently in I think Holland, where a city or town removed all its traffic lights and street warning notices. Drivers were forced to take responsibility for their own safety rather than to let someone else do it for them - the rate of traffic accidents dropped remarkably.

I noted this some years ago while driving in California, traffic courtesy at cross roads was very pronounced, the fact that I was fortunate enough to be driving a caddy seville may have been a factor but it took some getting used to, people actually slowing down on approach and waving you across, In my local towns with mini island controlled cross roads when approaching from your right they make sure they are travelling fast enough from some 50+ meters away that it is obvious they cannot stop at the demarkation lines should you dare to enter the junction from your stationary position.

 

[seaco]

I remember seeing a program, years ago, about an African tribe. There was one scene where a toddler was playing with a machete. That is how that child learns to use it. I honestly believe the more safety precautions put in place the safer we feel,

I've seen similar where a child of no more than ten was squatting down holding a fresh coconut in his feet and using a fifteen inch machete to open the top, for tourists passing by.... :shock: