Workshop / Workplace Accidents & Safety

[Mythopoeika]

(This thread was spun off from the Carnage on the Escalators thread.)

Did he tell you hair-raising stories about gruesome accidents? If so we'll need a full account, please. In your own time.

No, he didn't, he just told me what not to do.
He did tell me about one or two workshop accidents, though.

 

[escargot]

He did tell me about one or two workshop accidents, though.

*folds arms, taps foot*

 

[Mythopoeika]

*folds arms, taps foot*

OK, I remember one...
My Dad was in the building trade before he became a teacher. A guy in the joinery shop pushed some wood into a planer (or was it a circular saw?) after having removed a safety cover. He planed the fingers of one hand down to the same length and blood started a-gushing everywhere. My Dad grabbed the guy, his feet didn't touch the floor until he was in the first aid centre. They didn't stitch things back on in those days (early '50s), so he lost those fingers permanently. My Dad saw everything that happened and why it happened, so he learned about shop safety.

 

[Tin]

*folds arms, taps foot*

My dad's cousin was a big cheese in insurance and he was invited to look around the Health and Safety's black museum. He said it was the only time in his career that he didn't want a pub lunch.

The exhibit that stuck in his mind was a young ladies scalp wrapped around a pillar-drill.

 

[tuco]

My dad's cousin was a big cheese in insurance and he was invited to look around the Health and Safety's black museum. He said it was the only time in his career that he didn't want a pub lunch.

The exhibit that stuck in his mind was a young ladies scalp wrapped around a pillar-drill.

I was once de-rusting part of a truck prior to welding, with a wire disc on a 5 inch grinder, as it was cold I had a long scarf on which, obviously ( it was always going to happen ) got caught in the wire disc, the motor jammed with the disc 5mm from my throat, I thought it would have made a good HSE training film.

 

[Tin]

I was once de-rusting part of a truck prior to welding, with a wire disc on a 5 inch grinder, as it was cold I had a long scarf on which, obviously ( it was always going to happen ) got caught in the wire disc, the motor jammed with the disc 5mm from my throat, I thought it would have made a good HSE training film.

Very lucky that could have been very messy.

I went to a college when I left school (I won't mention it for obvious reasons) and they showed us all an electric chainsaw covered in dark brown stains. The guy who had bought it had never used one before and the first time he plugged it in he had a kick-back and stuck it into his neck. The poor bloke died in his wife's arms. The police donated the saw to the college to show all the students.

 

[maximus otter]

I was once de-rusting part of a truck prior to welding, with a wire disc on a 5 inch grinder, as it was cold I had a long scarf on which, obviously ( it was always going to happen ) got caught in the wire disc, the motor jammed with the disc 5mm from my throat, I thought it would have made a good HSE training film.

maximus otter

 

[Mythopoeika]

maximus otter

Don't attempt to levitate a machete!

 

[Coypu]

Definatly a candidate for the Darwin awards, natures way of improving the gene pool..

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

My dad's cousin was a big cheese in insurance and he was invited to look around the Health and Safety's black museum. He said it was the only time in his career that he didn't want a pub lunch.

The exhibit that stuck in his mind was a young ladies scalp wrapped around a pillar-drill.

The scalp thing... *shivers*... me mam worked in a factory... the job she did escapes me now... but years later she used to tell us that women who worked there could be 'scalped' (I think she knew someone it happened to)... must admit that for a long time I didn't really get what she meant.

Wish I could remember what job it was she did. Gosh my brain is useless at times.

 

[Tin]

The scalp thing... *shivers*... me mam worked in a factory... the job she did escapes me now... but years later she used to tell us that women who worked there could be 'scalped' (I think she knew someone it happened to)... must admit that for a long time I didn't really get what she meant.

Wish I could remember what job it was she did. Gosh my brain is useless at times.

An absolutely horrible way to go - apparently the shock is what kills you.

 

[tuco]

I think I will be posting here quite a lot.

 

[pandacracker]

I read* about an accident involving some sort of farm machinery where the person involved was not only scalped but the face came of as well. I believe the person survived.

Someone (paramedic?) said it looked like an anatomy picture.


*I think it was the Fortean Times

 

[Tin]

One I remember from not too long ago was a factory here in Wales that formed plastic kayaks in big ovens. The supervisor had gone into work early to fix a problem in one of the ovens. When the staff turned up one of them closed the door and fired it up without looking inside.

This could go into the coincidence thread as the worker that did it was engaged to the supervisor's daughter.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

I think I will be posting here quite a lot.

I think I will be avoiding this thread late at night when I'm about to go to sleep...

 

[escargot]

Very lucky that could have been very messy.

I went to a college when I left school (I won't mention it for obvious reasons) and they showed us all an electric chainsaw covered in dark brown stains. The guy who had bought it had never used one before and the first time he plugged it in he had a kick-back and stuck it into his neck. The poor bloke died in his wife's arms. The police donated the saw to the college to show all the students.

A relation who works in operating theatres told me a story like that. A woman was cutting the hedge with an electric trimmer when her husband came home and shouted 'Boo!' behind her, and she spun round and caught him in the neck...

He probably survived because I've heard nothing about it from anywhere else.

 

[Frideswide]

Don't attempt to levitate a machete!

nothing wrong with attempting - it's succeeding that leads to peril!

 

[Mythopoeika]

One I remember from not too long ago was a factory here in Wales that formed plastic kayaks in big ovens. The supervisor had gone into work early to fix a problem in one of the ovens. When the staff turned up one of them closed the door and fired it up without looking inside.

This could go into the coincidence thread as the worker that did it was engaged to the supervisor's daughter.

I'm guessing that the engagement was broken off?

 

[tuco]

The most painful workplace accident I had was when I worked as a tyre and exhaust fitter when I was 17 years old. I had to fit a complete exhaust to I forget what, and could see from under the car on the ramp that the manifold bolts looked a bit mankey, so I started heating one of the nuts up to red hot with the gas axe ( oxy/acetelyn , also known as the red and blue spanner, master key etc ), what I had thought was a steel nut was in fact brass, and brass, when hot enough kind of explodes, a large piece of molten brass dropped onto my chest and burnt through my T shirt, rolled down my chest and stopped at my belt line, so as it was burning and hurting I breathed in, which meant it dropped onto and burnt into the end of my dick, I ran across the workshop floor to the toilets, got him under some running water and picked the now solid bit of brass out. I still have the scar to this day. This would have made an unusual HSE training film.

 

[Tin]

A relation who works in operating theatres told me a story like that. A woman was cutting the hedge with an electric trimmer when her husband came home and shouted 'Boo!' behind her, and she spun round and caught him in the neck...

He probably survived because I've heard nothing about it from anywhere else.

Ouch. A guy I went to college with had this massive scar down his thigh. He told us he was standing behind his brother watching him trim a hedge when his brother stopped for a moment he swung the trimmer down in his hand to his side and hit his brother. It didn't go very deep but did cut into his leg and couldn't be stitched properly.

A hedge trimmer could easily be fatal if it hit someone's neck I'd have thought.

 

[Tin]

I'm guessing that the engagement was broken off?

Yes she called the engagement off and the police investigated the case thoroughly in case there was bad feeling between the father and future son-in-law.

 

[Tin]

The most painful workplace accident I had was when I worked as a tyre and exhaust fitter when I was 17 years old. I had to fit a complete exhaust to I forget what, and could see from under the car on the ramp that the manifold bolts looked a bit mankey, so I started heating one of the nuts up to red hot with the gas axe ( oxy/acetelyn , also known as the red and blue spanner, master key etc ), what I had thought was a steel nut was in fact brass, and brass, when hot enough kind of explodes, a large piece of molten brass dropped onto my chest and burnt through my T shirt, rolled down my chest and stopped at my belt line, so as it was burning and hurting I breathed in, which meant it dropped onto and burnt into the end of my dick, I ran across the workshop floor to the toilets, got him under some running water and picked the now solid bit of brass out. I still have the scar to this day. This would have made an unusual HSE training film.

Thank you for the nightmares I'm going to have tonight.

Oops three posts in a row - is that a weeks ban or just 24hrs?

 

[tuco]

Thank you for the nightmares I'm going to have tonight.

Sorry Tin but I've only just started.

 

[Frasier Buddolph]

Well, since you ask . . .

When I worked in the explosives industry, we lost two technicians who were making an experimental batch in a small laboratory building off by itself in the woods. Something went horribly wrong, and the building just vanished in a huge blast. The grisly part was recovering enough of the technicians to satisfy the insurance company that there had been two fatalities. Think of the crime dramas you have seen with long lines of cops walking slowly across a field looking for the tiniest bits of evidence. One fingertip was found on a rooftop half a mile from the blast site.

The company tried for two years to duplicate the anomaly that had caused the accident, but to no avail. Just one of those things . . .

 

[escargot]

I'm guessing that the engagement was broken off?

Nope, the couple were married, surprisingly enough.

 

[Tin]

Nope, the couple were married, surprisingly enough.

Wow didn't know that, I'm sure the report said they broke up. Damn, that must be really awkward for family.

 

[tuco]

When I was in my late 20's I worked for a salvage company, my main job involved using a petrol disc cutter ( Husquarna Partner 1200, beautiful tool ) to cut scrap metal with, the thing you had to be careful of was that if the cutting disc's got wet and dried out they would look ok, but come apart as soon as you started cutting. I had three or four come apart but was lucky, only a few cuts and scrapes, one of the blokes there had lost a finger and eye in one breakup a few years before which meant I always wore a face shield and heavy gloves.

 

[Tin]

When I was in my late 20's I worked for a salvage company, my main job involved using a petrol disc cutter ( Husquarna Partner 1200, beautiful tool ) to cut scrap metal with, the thing you had to be careful of was that if the cutting disc's got wet and dried out they would look ok, but come apart as soon as you started cutting. I had three or four come apart but was lucky, only a few cuts and scrapes, one of the blokes there had lost a finger and eye in one breakup a few years before which meant I always wore a face shield and heavy gloves.

I have a couple of Huskies myself - excellent tools.

 

[Tin]

I just remembered this training video

 

[GNC]

This PIF scared me as a little kid:

So I have never used matchsticks instead of a plug to this day. Seriously, was this a problem?!