Saftey Glasses

[nemt]

Having been apprentice in a major machinefactory in the Netherlands and now having been a technical teacher for about 30 years I've seen it almost all.Luckely I never experienced an accident that was fatal.
A apprentice, drilling 3 mm holes in a steamdryer found his overall caught in the spindle of the drillpress. The old overall luckily gave way in that is was torn apart. Him leaving in his underwear being very lucky.
As a teacher you are not supposed to hit or kick students in Holland. The only time I kicked them in the .... was when they worked the lathe or mill without their safety glasses. It worked very well and they learned very quickly.
Once a students hair got caught in the drill pres: he was scalped! His hair was exposed in a frame over the drillpress as an example for others.
I could go on for some time mentioning almost accidents, but that takes to long.
I myself are sometimes worried working in my workshop under the house. Suppose something happens and the wife is looking TV. I could bleed to death. So I always try my very best to work as safe as I can. And still I get some cuts and bruises.
Nemt

 

[alan2525]

When you are working with machines where there is a very apparent risk, such as a circular saw or a radial arm saw. The potential hazards are very apparent so it's easy to take precautions. With Lathes and Drill Presses most accidents can be avoided by considering the operation beforehand and avoiding the possibility of anything becoming caught around rotating parts, leadscrews chucks etc.

Although safety is of absolute priority over emphasis of some of the most extreme fatal accidents can allso be very off putting!

It's best to use a lot of common sense, if it doesn't feel right it probably isn't and if you have any concerns ask prior to doing it!

When carrying out an operation in your hobby shop it's always good to think:


Is it worth the risk?
Is this a shortcut?
Is there a safer way of doing it?


If you can say Yes to any of those do it some other way! Afterall at the end of the day it's only a piece of material worth a few pounds which is easily replaceable. fingers and eyes aren't!

 

[nkalbrr]

I work as a emergency department nurse and we has people coming in all the time with foreign objects in their eye(s). I always ask them if they had safety glasses on or available to wear and most people reply they have them to wear but neglected to do so. It was drummed into my head to always wear safety glasses when doing work around machinery

 

[alan2525]

I was using my lathe yesterday, wearing goggles and still a piece of hot swarf went into my eye. It hurt like sticking needles in your eye! I think the swarf just bounced off my eye and must have burnt a little as the soreness took a good 24 hours to go away...

Full face shield next time!

 

[joe d]

Can you get junior sized safety specs for kids in the workshop? I don't remember smaller versions when I was at school.
Al

Lee Valley Tools here in Canada has some...
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=44169&cat=1,42207,42216&ap=1

Joe

 

[wareagle]

This is my son, at age three. Anytime he is out in the shop, he has his safety glasses on. No exceptions! Loud machinery running, the headphones go on, too. Shoes, pants, shirt, and of course his PPE are required for him to come out. These rules apply to everyone who walks into my shop. No excuses; no exceptions!
There is a criteria when my son, now age four, can hang out in the shop. He has to have on his PPE as soon as he walks in the door. He is not allowed when there is any heavy lifting , welding, grinding, or flame cutting, use of chemicals, painting, or machining taking place. As he gets a little older, those rules will relax a bit so he can see more of what goes on out there.

He knows the rules, and will enforce them himself! Such as when I go out and am grabbing a screwdriver to bring in the house, he'll tell me that I have to leave or put on the glasses! Good habits start young....

The glasses for the "smaller machinists" are available at the larger home improvement centers, as well as otehr places, and are about the same price as a full sized pair.

I have had eye injuries in the past from flying debris, and ironically each time I was wearing safety glasses! They don't guarantee that something won't get into your eye(s), but it sure as heck will cut down on the frequency!

Safety is the most important part of EVERYTHING we do. At my place, it's a culture! Adopt it at your place, and reap the benefits!

 

[alan2525]

You've got your son doing the hoovering with the shop vac too!

Learning important safety habits and clearing up too! Good to see!

 

[tmuir]

I've got a 3 year old son that loves coming into my workshop too.
The only down side is he wants to wear all my PPE even though I have his own hanging up.
He says mine are better as I usually wear a full face shield and he likes that better than safety glasses so work usually ends up stopping when he 'visits' me in the workshop.
Probably explains why I do most of my work after he has gone to bed. :big:

 

[alan2525]

At the school I work, we purchased some wrap around safety glasses as they are a little more trendy than the old ones. The kids like to wear them - all the time, apart from when they are actually using any machinery!

Have to constantly remind them and get the expected huff and puff in response and some under the breath comments...

:

 

[wareagle]

You've got your son doing the hoovering with the shop vac too!

Learning important safety habits and clearing up too! Good to see!

He want's to help out so badly, but can actually do very little 'safely' at his age. The shop vac is a great thing for him because he can do something constructive, it makes lots of noise (always a plus!), and he can "see" the results. I am trying my best to get him engaged with the happenings out there and hopefully have him with me more than him sitting in front of a video game, TV, or computer! He has We have a lot to learn out there, and I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge with him!