[87TPIYJ]

Thank you Capt. Obvious. Lol. I think everyone on here had a lesson learned. I can just about guarantee that no one would pass an OSHA inspection on the processes they do in the garage. Accidents happen. Are they avoidable? Absolutely, but if they aren't meant to happen I would still classify them as accidents. :cheers:

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[101gargoyles]

Thank you Capt. Obvious. Lol. I think everyone on here had a lesson learned. I can just about guarantee aruntee that no one would pass an OSHA inspection on the processes they do in the garage. Accidents happen. Are they avoidable? Absolutely, but if they aren't meant to happen I would still classify them as accidents. :cheers:

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Fine forget about the classification. All I'm saying is it takes less time and pain and money to learn how to protect than to treat the result. Thanks for the promotion to Captain though...

 

[rixcj]

In most large companies, safety is their main focus (or at least their insurance company's...). So much so, that where I work, we are allowed to take home any personal protection gear that we need to be safe with home projects.

Rich

 

[nolanbalzarini]

I have noticed that my left hand has accumulated 13 scars, while my right hand has only 2.
also the other day when i was welding on lower shock mounts on my xj, i got done went to roll out from under the jeep and i rammed my right shoulder into the exhaust hanger.
that resulted in a fairly 2 inch long cut with a deep gouge and a giant bruise. i was in a hurry to get some paint and be done.
thats nothing compared to some others, but it goes to show, slow down and pay attention to what you're doing.

 

[paparker21]

Here's a picture from yesterday; I was incredibly lucky to have been up getting tools when it happened.



As you can see in the photo, jackstands we're being used and the jeep still fell. So what happened? Look at the jackstand's feet and the surface I was working on. Angle iron feet with a very small bearing surface on asphalt. The asphalt heated under pressure and my driveway is in bad shape anyway- it broke through under one side of the far jackstand. This allowed the jackstand to tilt and the whole shooting match went sliding and falling off the side.

Take aways:

Make sure your jackstands have appropriately large bearing surfaces
Make sure your working surface is in good condition
Make sure your working surface is level

 

[rixcj]

I'm glad you weren't under there! All good points....things that are easily overlooked.

Thanks for sharing.

Rich

 

[Gearhead31]

Paparker, I have had a very similar problem before. Ever since, I either use the drive on ramps or place a concrete patio paver underneath the jack stands. Exact same problem, feet dug down into soft asphalt and dropped it. Closest I came, my head was under the radiator area as I'm jacking and the whole thing dropped. That was a major game changer as to how I approach everything about it.

I'm glad you didn't get hurt mate, always go the extra step when it comes to safety.

 

[rixcj5]

Thank you Capt. Obvious. Lol. I think everyone on here had a lesson learned. I can just about guarantee that no one would pass an OSHA inspection on the processes they do in the garage. Accidents happen. Are they avoidable? Absolutely, but if they aren't meant to happen I would still classify them as accidents. :cheers:

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Now now my garage would most certainly pass any OSHA inspection. That is if OSHA stood for Oh Shoot Hurt Again.:cheers2:

 

[wilson1010]

(9 April 2003, New Zealand) Phil needed to make repairs to the underside of his car. But when he jacked it up, there wasn't enough room for him to work. So he removed the car's battery, placed the jack on top of it, and set to work again, this time with plenty of elbow-room.

Unfortunately for Phil, car batteries are not designed to carry much weight. The battery collapsed and the jack toppled, trapping him beneath the car. Unable to breathe due to the weight on his chest, he quickly expired in a pool of battery acid.

http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2003-11.html

 

[revrnd]

I've been reading the truck magazines since I was in high school back in the late 70s & spent 28 years as a too & die maker in a stamping plant & a couple of automotive assembly plants. One of the 1st rules we were told during orientation was "DON'T WEAR GLOVES NEAR MOVING/ROTATING EQUIPMENT!"

I retired & still have all my fingers & toes.

Reading some of the fabrication articles in the mags, I have to shake my head when I see someone drilling a piece of steel while holding it w/ a gloved hand. CLAMP IT TO THE TABLE!

Finally twice I was in the vicinity over the years when someone wiped the table of a disc sander w/ a rag while it was pretty. Horrible sounding, but luckily only the rag got sucked into the sander, no injuries sustained.

I don't want to sound harsh, but unless a person has worked around equipment professionally, they may not have a lot of safety training. I see some posts on a home machinist forum that I frequent & a lot of them members are learning how to run a lathe or milling machine on their own, not thru an apprenticeship.

 

[brokenyoujoint]

I can add to this thread unfortunately. I was working on the jeep and doing a lot of grinding/cutting/welding. I spent a good 8 hrs in the garage and wore eye protection a good 80% of that time. Nothing got in my eyes... I came in and showered when I was done. Apparently I had metal in my hair because While in the shower I got something in my eye. Didn't feel TO bad and tried to flush it out. No help. Long story short I ended up getting a piece of metal in the cornea about 1/2 way into the cornea DEAD center of mu pupil. I went to urgent care and the physician tried to get it with a needle ( ARE YOU CRAZY) and ended up having to to go an Ophthalmologist to have it sliced out with a blade. Instant relieve but my eyes were 20/20 prior and after the removal it was 20/85. After 6 weeks it was at 20/40... It's now around 20/30 but still bugs me and i have scaring dead center of my vision and most likely will not get better except for a partial cornea replacement.
Lesson learned: You can be as safe as possible, but when you shower be sure to thoroughly wash everything and rinse before you open your eyes. The slightest itty bitty whatever gets in your eye and you're in a world of pain!
Be safe people!

 

[rixcj]

Sorry to hear that....

There are a lot of simple things that we can do to prevent small stuff from getting in our eyes. Like bending your head forward (with eyes shut) when taking off grinding shields and safety glasses...then giving a quick wipe of the head to brush off burrs, grit, and other debris before opening your eyes again.

Safety takes an awareness of what can happen under all types of potentially hazardous tasks, and what can be done to prevent injuries.

Then, it takes the effort to do these things. That's where most people fall short, myself included, sometimes.

Like brokenyoujoint, I also had spectacular eyesight. I was so proud of it. One day, I sustained an eye injury in my shop. I was clamping a cracked cast steel part together with vise-grips, and the piece broke, and shot right into my eye, like a bullet. No glasses on.

I went to the eye doctor and he removed 11 pieces of shrapnel out of my right eye.

Well, my eyesight hasn't been the same since. Of course, that was 20 years ago, so my eyes are that much older, too.

Bottom line is....safety takes an effort that is well worth it.

Rich

 

[OCDXJ]

I just read through all these posts and not 1 mention of hair, I used to work in a machine shop and we had a guy in there that was to lazy or to vain to tie up his very long hair correctly, then 1 day he was drilling a 2 inch hole in a 6'x8'x1.5" plate table he was building (we made stretch benders for the auto industry) he bent over to line up the hole started drilling a long shaving came up got his hair and almost completely scalped him, it took the paramedics almost 45 min. to untangle his hair and body from the drill press, it pulled him on to the table and wrapped him around the drill bit, he did live through it, but it took him 1.5 years to recover.
With all the beards and some long hairs still out there, please take extra care tying up your hair.
That was the worst thing I personally ever saw, I was the one who had to shut off the drill press.
There is no PPG I know of that will save you from your hair.

 

[V8GCZJ]

When i was in school(vocational) one of the first thinks we where taught if you have long hair a hair net must be worn. If work with machinery or any electric ALL rings jewelry etc must be removed. If you need to ask why you need to take some safety classes. In short rings/jewelry can get caught in equipment and it conducts electricity. An old saying still is true: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! It's unfortunate that people still have to learn the hard way.

 

[WSS]

When i was in school(vocational) one of the first thinks we where taught if you have long hair a hair net must be worn. If work with machinery or any electric ALL rings jewelry etc must be removed. If you need to ask why you need to take some safety classes. In short rings/jewelry can get caught in equipment and it conducts electricity. An old saying still is true: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! It's unfortunate that people still have to learn the hard way.

I was doing a job with my dad when I was about 14, maybe 15. One of my jobs was to tack weld these bars on to dozer track shoes using fluxcore wire. I was wearing a leather apron and the strap broke, all I could find to fix it was bailing wire. So, I had bailing wire wrapped around my back and leaned over to tack a bar, the wire took the ground path and burned a nice ring around my back. My dad said to move the ground closer next time LOL.

 

[LouC]

A neighbor of mine was changing a starter on his Chevy truck and didn't disconnect the battery negative cable first. He was wearing a watch with a metal band and guess what happened, the watch band grounded out between the solenoid B+ stud and the engine block! Got so hot instantly it burned a ring around his wrist. Lesson learned always disconnect the battery negative when working on a starter and no watches, rings etc.
I always tell kids learning to work on their own vehicles the battery is one of the most dangerous things under the hood, yeah its only 12-14V but can be as much as 800-1000 AMPS! Always disconnect the negative first to remove the return path, and re-connect it last.

 

[LouC]

You are absolutely right!! Garage doors are VERY DANGEROUS!!

Years ago, I had an experience with one that was a very close call. After reading your story, I am very fortunate that I just got a small cut across my cheek that is almost completely unnoticeable.

That happened quite a few years ago. But, just last summer, I arrived home from work at midnight (second shift).

I got out of my open jeep, opened the garage door manually, drove in, and shut the door manually.

In a split second, I heard a loud "TWANG" sound, and instinctively ducked. One of the long door springs actually snapped at the end where the eyelet is formed.

The spring flew right by my head. If it had hit me, I'd probably be dead.

When the garage door company came to do the repair, I paid $35.00 extra to have safety cables run through the center of the springs, so that if they ever broke again, the safety cable would keep the spring suspended overhead.

I am very sorry that you had that happen to you...if you don't mind sharing, what is your prognosis?

Rich

I've had the Twang sound twice this year, so when one spring breaks, plan on replacing the other one because its not far behind! And for sure add the safety cables, my originals did not have them but for sure I added them when I replaced both cables. You can replace them yourself, I pushed the garage door all the way up & as far back as I could get it and used a vice grips on both sides to hold the door far enough back that there was no tension on the springs...Then I also put a bolt & nut through a hole in the track as a back up safety. Its a job you can do, but really be careful with that heavy door, make sure that in addition to whatever you are using to hold it up, have a back up!

 

[jeepdaddy2000]

I'll add to the thread.

I've been disassembling and mostly reassembling things since the third grade (ask my aunt about her train set:frown2. Been a professional mechanic for almost ten years in a local 4X4 shop. Worked in a lube bay, tire bay, stripped brakes, and operated, driven, and worked on all kinds of equipment. 33 year military vet with 3 combat tours.

I've found that almost all accidents are caused by one thing.

Impatience.

It drives ignorance. How many times do we get a new piece of equipment and toss the manual in our hurry to unlimber it?

It drives mistakes. In my HS shop class there was a standing rule that all spinning equipment has to be completely stopped before you could leave. I tried to shut down a slowly spinning grinder wheel with my finger because I was in a hurry to get moving. I carry a nice long scar on the pad of my right ring finger from the inertia of the wheel pulling my finger into the guard.

It drives distraction. How many times have we broken something wrapping up a project because we were already working on the next one in our heads?

It drives poor judgement. Just watch and see how many cars run a red light at an intersection because they didn't want to wait the 15 to 30 seconds for it to change again.

It drives stupidity. How many folks do you see texting and driving because the message on the phone can't wait for the destination.

It drives excessive speed. How many times do we "whip" through something just to have to go back and fix what we overlooked, omitted, or broke?

There is an old saying on the military.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
I try to make this my mantra when I find myself getting impatient. Take a deep breath, slow down, and do it right.

 

[OCDXJ]

I'll add to the thread.

I've been disassembling and mostly reassembling things since the third grade (ask my aunt about her train set:frown2. Been a professional mechanic for almost ten years in a local 4X4 shop. Worked in a lube bay, tire bay, stripped brakes, and operated, driven, and worked on all kinds of equipment. 33 year military vet with 3 combat tours.

I've found that almost all accidents are caused by one thing.

Impatience.

It drives ignorance. How many times do we get a new piece of equipment and toss the manual in our hurry to unlimber it?

It drives mistakes. In my HS shop class there was a standing rule that all spinning equipment has to be completely stopped before you could leave. I tried to shut down a slowly spinning grinder wheel with my finger because I was in a hurry to get moving. I carry a nice long scar on the pad of my right ring finger from the inertia of the wheel pulling my finger into the guard.

It drives distraction. How many times have we broken something wrapping up a project because we were already working on the next one in our heads?

It drives poor judgement. Just watch and see how many cars run a red light at an intersection because they didn't want to wait the 15 to 30 seconds for it to change again.

It drives stupidity. How many folks do you see texting and driving because the message on the phone can't wait for the destination.

It drives excessive speed. How many times do we "whip" through something just to have to go back and fix what we overlooked, omitted, or broke?

There is an old saying on the military.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
I try to make this my mantra when I find myself getting impatient. Take a deep breath, slow down, and do it right.

Wise words.

 

[77KW]

I had my eye drilled to remove a rust ring around a piece of metal. I fought it for a couple of days before I went in to have it removed. Bad idea, don't wait if you can't get it out right away.