Safety Gear for Children

[LoveMonkey]

Good Evening,

Since I have been spending more time in the garage recently I have a curious four year old who wants to know what I'm doing. She's very well behaved, so I can trust her to stay behind any safety line I give her when a power tool, or any tool for that matter, is in operation, but I don't want her in there without suitable eye, ear and dust protection. I do have a dust extractor for my power tools, but still wear a mask when I'm using them. Are there any brands to recommend that offer these items to fit well and comfortably on such a young child, or do I need to tell her she'll have to grow a bit first?

Thank you

 

[Trevanion]

Nice of you to want to spent time with her out in the garage, that's how fond memories are made

There are quite a lot of offerings online for child ear defenders because of concerts and air shows where there's loud noises etc... 3M have a Peltor "Kid" pair of defenders for around £15 but I'm sure there are cheaper to be had.

There aren't so many offerings for child safety glasses though, it's very important that they fit well otherwise dust and other debris might bypass around the glasses. It may be an odd suggestion but perhaps a pair of clear swimming goggles? That way they're a snug fit to keep absolutely everything out and they're actually designed to fit a child with an added bonus of being quite cheap.

As far as child dust mask offerings, there aren't many "proper" dust masks made for a child, but perhaps a good alternative is one of those air pollution masks you see people wearing sometimes in the big heavily polluted cities.

My mother remembers fondly of cutting asbestos sheets on the bandsaw with her grandfather when she was a kid, and all sorts of other things that perhaps a young child shouldn't have been doing :?

 

[AndyT]

There does seem to be plenty of choice for eye protection - just think of all the school science lessons where children of all sizes need to be protected.

There are educational suppliers such as https://www.tts-group.co.uk/childrens-s ... 03753.html but plenty on the usual big online marketplace sites too.

Keep that interest active!

 

[Stanleymonkey]

My kids love wearing my ear defenders. I wouldn't worry about buying special sized ones - just get a spare pair for yourself! Safety glasses work nine times out of ten. Sawdust and debris can get around them but I've only found that when it's kids messing around blowing sawdust!

 

[sunnybob]

Lucky you. My 9 year old grandson is always pestering me to let him "help", but he can not keep his hands to himself despite all my warnings.
He will grab something and THEN ask me what it is. (hammer) (hammer)
Maybe when he's 10?

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Lucky you. My 9 year old grandson is always pestering me to let him "help", but he can not keep his hands to himself despite all my warnings.
He will grab something and THEN ask me what it is. (hammer) (hammer)
Maybe when he's 10?

May I recommend, instead of having him "help", which probably means "stand there and do nothing for a bit", you get him to do the job while you watch and supervise. It will take all day to not do the job, but he will be in boy heaven. Especially when it comes to using the big, scary machinery. Kids are far more competent than we give them credit for, once they have had a bit of practice.
As an example of child competence:
[youtube]GrIJE-yrWjQ[/youtube]

 

[sunnybob]

Tried that.
gave him a full lecture on the dangers of electrics, got him to help fault find a non working disc sander (I had previously pulled a wire off the switch). he was full of it. Within 30 seconds of the result he grabbed the only bare ended cable on the workbench and started twisting it up.
Of course, it was NOT connected (stupid I aint), but he didnt even ask.

I fear for him growing to maturity unless he sticks to office work :roll:

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Tried that.
gave him a full lecture on the dangers of electrics, got him to help fault find a non working disc sander (I had previously pulled a wire off the switch). he was full of it. Within 30 seconds of the result he grabbed the only bare ended cable on the workbench and started twisting it up.
Of course, it was NOT connected (stupid I aint), but he didnt even ask.

I fear for him growing to maturity unless he sticks to office work :roll:

I'm just off to move the pigs' electric fence: 8,000 volts might prove a useful training experience? Always concentrates my thinking, I can tell you. You can have positive and negative feedback reinforcement loops - chocolate or shocks, chocolate or shocks.

The most common way to build a homemade cattle prod is to use the flash bulb on a disposable camera. The capacitor will deliver a mild shock created from low voltage. This electrical current is directed through basic electrical wires to a point of delivery, often attached to a barrel; a PVC pipe is ideal for this task.

https://careertrend.com/facts-7222736-homemade-cattle-prod.html

Just don't tell anyone in the UK!

 

[sunnybob]

In my days as an apprentice, you took the blame for whatever stupidity you foisted on yourself, nowadays? not so much.
And of course.....YEAH BUT....
its my grandson. Imagine my daughters response to giant flash burns over both of his hands?
She's a nurse and has access to syringes and stuff that I really dont want to think about, I'm too young for euthanasia :roll:

 

[samhay]

I'm just off to move the pigs' electric fence: 8,000 volts might prove a useful training experience? Always concentrates my thinking, I can tell you. You can have positive and negative feedback reinforcement loops - chocolate or shocks, chocolate or shocks.

The most common way to build a homemade cattle prod is to use the flash bulb on a disposable camera. The capacitor will deliver a mild shock created from low voltage. This electrical current is directed through basic electrical wires to a point of delivery, often attached to a barrel; a PVC pipe is ideal for this task.

As a kid we used to play chicken with the electric fences. Essentially you won if you held on the longest.
Camera flash capacitors on the other hand still scare me.

Back to kid's PPE. +1 to using adult sized eat defenders. My 7 year old recently told me his kid versions don't work as well as mine.

 

[Trevanion]

As an example of child competence:

a 14-hour day of intensive labour even by adult standards to earn less money than a single cup of coffee would cost you in most cafes in Britain.

Not quite sure what to say about that.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

As an example of child competence:

a 14-hour day of intensive labour even by adult standards to earn less money than a single cup of coffee would cost you in most cafes in Britain.

Not quite sure what to say about that.

Puts it all in perspective, doesn't it. I have actually made quite a few mud bricks, and know from experience that what those kids are doing so nonchalantly is actually very hard work, and very skilled. They make it look easy. Of course, if you are making 2,000 bricks a day, every day, you can expect to get good at it.

My point was that we treat kids as incompetent, incapable and generally useless. They are not. They just behave according to expectations. I think the biggest problem with modern kids is that they are bored. In a natural environment (the good old days of hunter-gathering), kids would just do whatever the adults would be doing, alongside the adults, and to the best of their abilities. I'm all for child labour as a learning experience - the plight of the Afghan kids in the video is something entirely different.

 

[Brandlin]

There aren't so many offerings for child safety glasses though, it's very important that they fit well otherwise dust and other debris might bypass around the glasses. It may be an odd suggestion but perhaps a pair of clear swimming goggles? That way they're a snug fit to keep absolutely everything out and they're actually designed to fit a child with an added bonus of being quite cheap.

Swimming goggles are not rated for impact resistance. Thats the primary role of safety glasses.

If you are looking for dust exclusion then you are looking for a different PPE solution.

 

[Trevanion]

Swimming goggles are not rated for impact resistance. Thats the primary role of safety glasses.

That's a very fair point actually and something I stupidly overlooked, mainly I think because I'm a bespectacled fellow and I never have had anything hit me directly in the eye (Although I've had stuff bounce off the glasses before) just dust and small debris work its way around.

 

[Brandlin]

Swimming goggles are not rated for impact resistance. Thats the primary role of safety glasses.

That's a very fair point actually and something I stupidly overlooked, mainly I think because I'm a bespectacled fellow and I never have had anything hit me directly in the eye (Although I've had stuff bounce off the glasses before) just dust and small debris work its way around.

I too wear prescription glasses and mine are safety rated - so i too often forget as mine are always on my face.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Swimming goggles are not rated for impact resistance. Thats the primary role of safety glasses.

That's a very fair point actually and something I stupidly overlooked, mainly I think because I'm a bespectacled fellow and I never have had anything hit me directly in the eye (Although I've had stuff bounce off the glasses before) just dust and small debris work its way around.

I too wear prescription glasses and mine are safety rated - so i too often forget as mine are always on my face.

It looks the part, but is it too much? A bit OTT? https://www.acuteshop.com/gudetama-kids ... ellow.html

 

[LoveMonkey]

Thanks again for all the responses.

I bought a new set of adult ear defenders that would be an upgrade on what I was using. She says they make things quieter, but they feel loose on her head to me, so I have ordered a set of 3M Peltor Kids Ear Defenders for her and I will use the new ones myself.

My wife found some dust masks that we already had, which I didn't know about.

I haven't picked any eye protection yet, but I will have a good look online and order something this weekend.

By the way, I like the look of that helmet and no doubt my daughter would too, but I think it might be a bit impractical for the workshop.

Thank you