Stupid accident

[Keith 66]

Well i have posted on enough H&S threads before but today was a new one for me.
Machining some hard old sapele on my Startrite bench saw, there i was ripping a 4x2 down the middle, as i was on my own it was a case of go halfway through lift the end nearest me off the blade then lift the whole thing drop the other end down the side of the saw & flip it over to finish the cut from the other end.
And so i do this & as i flip it over the top end it smacks the flourescent tube over my head which promptly implodes, a cascade of broken tube all over me & one end falls straight down & the smashed end chops a dirty great gash across the top of my thumb at the second knuckle.
Blood everywhere & a degree of turning the air blue, then i find the first aid box has been mislaid & migrated somewhere else.
Got it patched up but it kind of put a dampener on proceedings!
Few lessons learnt!

 

[TRITON]

Pics, or it didnt happen.

You need to remember, when on a workshop forum, its the camera you should first be hunting for,not the first aid box.

 

[Adam W.]

No, please don't post pics.

 

[isaac3d]

One good thing out of this unfortunate incident. Now you have a good reason to replace the old tube lighting with LED strip lights. Safer and cheaper to run.

 

[Spectric]

it smacks the flourescent tube over my head

Sounds like they are to close to your machine, safer to fit a diffuser or get them to a safer location.

 

[Keith 66]

It isnt going back in the same place thats for sure!

 

[TRITON]

No, please don't post pics.

Nobody is forcing you to look. Besides, pics act as a warning.

Just after I left school, I did a course in engineering, and during that course we were given a lecture by the health and safety executive. During it they put up full colour slides showing horrifically damaged limbs, hands,fingers that had become caught in machinery due to operator lack of concentration, clothing becoming entangled.
That was about 40 years ago, and because if that I've had a very very healthy respect for the machinery i use. Before I even switch on, I go through a religious ritual of my positioning, that my sleeves are up above my elbows, im not wearing anything baggy, I've no apron strings tied at the front and a mental note of how im going to carry out such and such an operation from start to finish.
When I did my cabinet making course at college decades later, we had a basic HSE course and notes given, but no graphic pictures to show what happens should you neglect safety. To my mind they should have.

 

[Bingy man]

Many many years ago I did the duke of Edinburgh award and chose the police as part of the scheme. Think I had to go to the local police station and learn about the work they do . We were all warned that we would be shown graphic pictures of accident scenes and suicide / accidents. Worst pictures I’ve ever seen but I’ve never forgot them -I was a kid who would play on building sites and railway tracks and not even think about consequences let alone the danger I put myself in . So yes pictures of other members unfortunately injuring themselves or others will help prevent accidents- learning from these accidents will help all of us who may not be as experienced with w//w machines to adopt safe working practices and the more experienced members are also reminded that it could happen to anyone. Safety 1st 2nd and 3rd etc .

 

[Lorenzl]

I doubt they show those slides these days as they wouldn't want to upset anyone. I think they have even stopped using plastic frogs in biology class so as not to upset the children.

I hate to say it has taken over 45 years of accidents and near misses to start taking things seriously and I still think to myself some times "why the f**k did I do or didn't do something". Some problems I have are caused by bad health and safety in days gone by; loss of hearing & tinatus for example.

Where I work we have us old technicians who have interesting discussions and academics passing through every now and again. One day we were discussing accidents and one of the academics said he didn't think that was a suitable discussion for a workshop.

 

[Bingy man]

The attitude of some people never ceases to amaze me , most accidents can be avoided as triton says by thinking ahead and planning out what you intend to do , a fellow engineer used his ladders to access a loft and couldn’t be bothered to use his non slip mat . The landing floor was laminate flooring ( high gloss) and as he pushed the loft hatch up the ladders slipped and down he went , the loft door slammed shut as he fell and he lost his finger due to his wedding ring getting trapped in the loft hatch and the frame . When the safety inspector investigated he found the engineers non slip mat still in the original bag on his van -it had never been used !! It’s unfortunate that a members has an accident but I take my hat of to him for posting it on this forum for all of us to learn from . I certain Keith 66 will do things differently next time as he was lucky he didn’t end up at the mercy of his table saw .

 

[Tezza1]

Nobody is forcing you to look. Besides, pics act as a warning.

Just after I left school, I did a course in engineering, and during that course we were given a lecture by the health and safety executive. During it they put up full colour slides showing horrifically damaged limbs, hands,fingers that had become caught in machinery due to operator lack of concentration, clothing becoming entangled.
That was about 40 years ago, and because if that I've had a very very healthy respect for the machinery i use. Before I even switch on, I go through a religious ritual of my positioning, that my sleeves are up above my elbows, im not wearing anything baggy, I've no apron strings tied at the front and a mental note of how im going to carry out such and such an operation from start to finish.
When I did my cabinet making course at college decades later, we had a basic HSE course and notes given, but no graphic pictures to show what happens should you neglect safety. To my mind they should have.

To add my input into workshop safety. I am now 65 and completed a 4 year engineering apprenticeship in a MOD armaments factory. There were only about 16 of us in my year and when we were all about 18 years of age were were shown a film on the dangers of setting up large press machinery which produced shell cases. The quote from the guy giving the lecture has stayed with me - " Pay attention lads if you get it wrong it's either amputation or mutilation". Now my attention is occupied towards woodworking machinery I treat all cutters with the utmost respect. I will never forget my 4 years of tuition where I learned so much, but never realised at the time.

 

[Oakay]

Well i have posted on enough H&S threads before but today was a new one for me.
Machining some hard old sapele on my Startrite bench saw, there i was ripping a 4x2 down the middle, as i was on my own it was a case of go halfway through lift the end nearest me off the blade then lift the whole thing drop the other end down the side of the saw & flip it over to finish the cut from the other end.
And so i do this & as i flip it over the top end it smacks the flourescent tube over my head which promptly implodes, a cascade of broken tube all over me & one end falls straight down & the smashed end chops a dirty great gash across the top of my thumb at the second knuckle.
Blood everywhere & a degree of turning the air blue, then i find the first aid box has been mislaid & migrated somewhere else.
Got it patched up but it kind of put a dampener on proceedings!
Few lessons learnt!

Ah, so that is what a crown guard is for on a ripsaw, in case of occasional decending florescent tubes! Please excuse me, it comes from having just been on the joke thread. Hope you heal up quickly.

 

[Ttrees]

No, please don't post pics.

Would you say the same if the issue was a more common occurrence not to do with an overhead lamp?
I for one would appreciate photos of an accident or the setup if it were the case.

Saying that, I'm still unclear about anything.
Is the florescent lamp to blame in this, yes it caused an accident, but the methodology sounds at fault
to me.
Bit pointless making vague assumptions though, and as of yet, I ain't going to be digging trenches in some kind of "no overhead lighting" camp, not that I've heard of anything like that before, just saying.

Tom

 

[stuart little]

Well i have posted on enough H&S threads before but today was a new one for me.
Machining some hard old sapele on my Startrite bench saw, there i was ripping a 4x2 down the middle, as i was on my own it was a case of go halfway through lift the end nearest me off the blade then lift the whole thing drop the other end down the side of the saw & flip it over to finish the cut from the other end.
And so i do this & as i flip it over the top end it smacks the flourescent tube over my head which promptly implodes, a cascade of broken tube all over me & one end falls straight down & the smashed end chops a dirty great gash across the top of my thumb at the second knuckle.
Blood everywhere & a degree of turning the air blue, then i find the first aid box has been mislaid & migrated somewhere else.
Got it patched up but it kind of put a dampener on proceedings!
Few lessons learnt!

What a mess that powder stuff inside a tube makes!

 

[Lorenzl]

My last accident which was not that bad ( although it could have been worse ) but was painful and took a while to heal was again preventable. I had done some routing and when I came back a day or so later I was going to use the mitre gauge. I took off the fence and there was a small amount of dust on the table. I wiped my hand across the table to remove the dust and cut the base of my hand as the router cutter was sticking up above the table.
I could have removed the router cutter; but I may have been going to use that one again - in fact that was the case
I could have wound the cutter below the table when I finished - what I do now
I could have used a hand brush
I could have put one end of the cutter package over the router.

 

[isaac3d]

I doubt they show those slides these days as they wouldn't want to upset anyone. I think they have even stopped using plastic frogs in biology class so as not to upset the children.

I hate to say it has taken over 45 years of accidents and near misses to start taking things seriously and I still think to myself some times "why the f**k did I do or didn't do something". Some problems I have are caused by bad health and safety in days gone by; loss of hearing & tinatus for example.

Where I work we have us old technicians who have interesting discussions and academics passing through every now and again. One day we were discussing accidents and one of the academics said he didn't think that was a suitable discussion for a workshop.

OMG... "accidents and how to avoid them" NOT a suitable discussion for a workshop?? I can only wonder at the intelligence of said "academic".
And referring to not upsetting children in school..... Many years ago I taught Chemistry and I made damn sure the kids saw up-close images of damage to eyes caused by accidents where people were not wearing safety glasses. Did it put them off Chemistry? No, it encouraged them to wear safety glasses and they then enjoyed the practical lessons safely.
So if there are any Head Teachers or "Education Academics" reading this, please consider that a moment of upset at seeing an unpleasant image could save a lifetime of living with a serious injury.

 

[RobinBHM]

Nobody is forcing you to look. Besides, pics act as a warning.

Just after I left school, I did a course in engineering, and during that course we were given a lecture by the health and safety executive. During it they put up full colour slides showing horrifically damaged limbs, hands,fingers that had become caught in machinery due to operator lack of concentration, clothing becoming entangled.
That was about 40 years ago, and because if that I've had a very very healthy respect for the machinery i use. Before I even switch on, I go through a religious ritual of my positioning, that my sleeves are up above my elbows, im not wearing anything baggy, I've no apron strings tied at the front and a mental note of how im going to carry out such and such an operation from start to finish.
When I did my cabinet making course at college decades later, we had a basic HSE course and notes given, but no graphic pictures to show what happens should you neglect safety. To my mind they should have.

There are some terrible YouTube clips of lathe accidents.

every so often I watch a few, helps keep me from becoming complacent on woodworking machines

 

[Lorenzl]

A guy at my old job in the carpentry department severed the arteries in his right wrist with kickback from an industrial planer.
A guy who should have known better as he was over 65 and been in engineering his whole working life nearly lost a couple of fingers after trying to pull swarf off a moving part in a metal Lathe.
Proves you don't always get wiser with age.

 

[Henniep]

"Think before you act" - " Planning" - "Risk assessments". All familiar phrases, but nooooo ...... what the heck waste of time, skip and get on with the job. (Sound familiar?)
I've been a safety practitioner for 38 years and investigated enough accidents to know that lack of planning and shortcuts cost body parts and sometimes, lives.
Shortcuts might be macho, but personal safety is maturity.
Ps. Did you know that the mercury content in one x six foot flourecent tube is toxic enough to render 3000 liters of water unfit for human consumption and potentially poisonous

 

[Adam W.]

I think we're all big enough to imagine what a dirty great gash in a thumb/finger looks like without having to resort to the freakshow of blood and gore to entertain ourselves at the misfortune of a fellow forumite, no?