ptree Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 When locking out, I usually like to see the fuses pulled, and if there is a buss bar system we usually pulled the fuses at the buss plug and locked those out. We had a sludge dryer, that was steam heated, and looked a lot like a motor mixer, but much bigger. We had to put a mill wright into that bad boy about every year to replace the scraper blades. I was the confined space supervisor for that, and I had the electricians pull the disconnect fuses, the buss plug fuses, and lock out both. The steam line was broken at the flange, and a skillet inserted, and the steam line disconnected at the valve down steam from the skillet to make a block and bleed. We did it on a weekend every time, to reduce the folks around to screw up, and my friend "Brother Bubba" was often the one inside. I kept two of the buss plug and two of the disconnect fuses in my pocket and he kept one each (tight space so he wanted less in his pockets). That was a scarry job. Helps to work with the same guys and build a system and trust over 20 years or so. I really hate Tag Out" instead of Lock Out". In Kentucky where I now work, "If the device is capable of lock out, if must be locked out" KY OSHA> And I fully agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Ironsmith- Hope your finger heals right- Wow! You couldn't pay me enought to be placed in a drum replacing the mixer blades Lock out or not- all these stories confirm my suspicion- "idiots are ingenious" I hope non of you guys have ever gone around a lookout thinking or assuming you know better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Gomez Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 got my middle finger on my left hand caught in a hydraulic drum dumper at work last saturday , it was flat as a pancake till i got to the hospital, didnt break any bones but got 12 stitches, and kept my finger by shear luck, this got me thinking, has anyone else had a really bad hand injury blacksmithing? or doing anything else? It doesn't always take a monsterous tool to hurt you, being dumb can catch up with you anywhere. 5 weeks ago I was drilling a 1/2 inch hole through a piece of square tubing with a 1/2 inch electric drill when the bit snagged in the hole... Now before you think that I'm gonna blame the tool, I was using a drillbit that was dull and running it faster than I would have if it was sharp... Dumb. It happens in a fraction of a second and without warning. In my 19 years of metal working this has happened to me a thousand times, typically it was a good tug to the arm and a little complaining, but this time I felt the POP.... Bummer. I stood up and told the guy next to me that I was sure that I just managed to break my right hand. A few hours later the doctors agreed. Now mind you Murphy's law was in full effect because this happened days before I was to demonstrate at the AABA/SWABA Blacksmith's Conference. I put off the sugery and managed to make the demo and pull it off (without my right hand which was is in a cast) thanks to some good friends that were willing to help me move and set up the 50# Little giant, a treadle hammer, a rolling mill, and the rest of the things you take to a demo, and still made surgery the day after the demo. A rebroken bone, 3 stainless screws, a dozen stitches, and 5 weeks and counting with a cast on my right hand... Note to self...use your head.untitled.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arceye Blue Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 got my middle finger on my left hand caught in a hydraulic drum dumper at work last saturday , it was flat as a pancake till i got to the hospital, didnt break any bones but got 12 stitches, and kept my finger by shear luck, this got me thinking, has anyone else had a really bad hand injury blacksmithing? or doing anything else? Old Boiler makers saying that always stuck with me,was never put your finger where you would'nt put your willy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 I had one incident that after I was done made me think "never do that again". I had bored a hole that was around 1" in diameter. The bore was a little rough, so I grabbed a strip of sandpaper, and proceed to stick my finger into the hole, with the strip, while it is spinning over 1000 rpm. Polished it up, and then it hit me. What would have happened if the paper had caught with my finger stuck in a hole not much bigger than my finger. Saw what happens when a set up man is in a hurry. This was in a display company that worked with wire products-shelves, book racks, chip racks, etc.He was setting up the front, and back stops on a mechanical press break that was around 50 ton capacity IIRC. Bypasses the palm switch, and steps onto the foot treadle. The ram comes down bending the front bend. He continues holding the treadle down, and slides the part to hit the rear stop. Well he didn't realize how much faster the ram moves on the second go around when you windmill a mechanical break. It stopped on the downstroke with all eight fingers in the dies that were set for 16ga wire. Another setup guy heard him scream, and cycled it off of his fingers. He still has all of his digits, but they don't work the same. Dad got hit on the head by a dropped hammer when he was in one of the dry docks at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. His hardhat saved him, and he found the owner of the hammer, who he chewed out. The guy that dropped it had not even gone to check on where it had gone, or yelled down when it was dropped. I got a couple of bad steam (232 degrees) burns when I worked at the Jelly Belly Candy Co. One on my right arm, and one on my right leg. A drain valve got stuck leading to my arm being burned above the gloves. My leg got hit when a vent pipe vented into a floor drain that redirected the steam up onto my leg. I have some slight tinnitus from not knowing any better growing up. Firecrackers, grinders, routers, loud music, drag racing,working in noisy areas, and various activities made my ears ring. The ringing went away, so no harm done, right?. Found out later it is an accumulative problem. I wear ear plugs for any loud activity now-clubs/bars, mowing lawns, smithing, air tools,etc and all day at work due to the high pitch whine of the CNC screwmachines we have. If you have to raise your voice to talk to someone 2' away you need hearing protection. Really sucks having to hear the constant ringing I do have, so I do not want it to get any worse. Y'all be safe out there. Ya hear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 22, 2010 Share Posted March 22, 2010 Hey Pep! So I got the last sheet of propanel up on the roof of the forge extension Saturday and decided to mount a post vise to the utility pole holding the roof up Sunday---just taking it easy. Turns out that the old Colombian vise mounting plate takes a 3/4" bolt and I'm step drilling them in a piece of large sq tubing that will be lagged into the pole. Guess I was a bit tired/low blood sugar and didn't think of the 1/2" drill plotting against me and managed to catch the bit and flip the chunk of tubing off the stump where I was drilling and onto my big toe on an edge. Don't think it's broke; but it was sure pretty like sunset. So I go get a clamp and finish the job and then go take a break. Some folks just don't learn from the experiences of others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forgemaster Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 5 years ago I was making a new stamping tool for stamping the ends of railway spike removal bars. I was getting tired, it had been a hot day, I had a near miss, a little voice said "Phil you should stop now". I ignored it and though I'll just go one more heat get the edges of this sucker up nice and sharp, put the dummy into the nearly finished tool, one more blow, to seat it properly. Next thing I remember is lying on the floor with the tongs still in my hands and the metalic taste in my mouth. The dummy and tongs had flown up and hit me on the eyebrow, bit of blood not feeling too good, shut down the shop, locked up and drove 20 minutes home holding a piece of paper towel to my head to stem the bleeding. Missus was out picking up the kids from dancing lessons, they come home, "what happened dear" "got hit at work". Into the car and off the the Hos with me protesting, just need a cuppa tea, a bex and a good lie down. Doctor at the after hours clinic has a look and says "mate I can see your skull and its got a big dent in it, you need to go to the big Hos, went there x rays, talk of call the neurosurgeon, I said to the Missus "lets go, they ain't doing no brain surgery to me". Long and short of it was, compound fracture of the skull, 40 stiches (20 internal, 20 external) face and mouth surgeon even took photos as "its not often we get this sort of thing in here, normally its just drunk people who have smashed themselves up". Went back to work late the next day. I will remember to listen to that little voice next time. I have a mate how is an airforce pilot, he talks about the chain of errors, you need to recognise the chain starting and stop it, he says most air crashes involve a chain of errors senario. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 Sometimes you are just "off"; when I worked with the swordmaker; recognizing that you were "off" was grounds to *NOT* use the dangerous equipment but to focus on things that had less fatal/bloody/ER Visit failure modes. (Today I am "off"; had a bad insulin crash last night and so am "hungover" today. Time to triple check my work, avoid power tools and *not* bet that I can out run any trains to a crossing!) Of course most folks say I'm completely round the bend anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasklking Posted March 23, 2010 Share Posted March 23, 2010 My 12 yeard old son went to a hammer-in with me last year and he made the observation, "I noticed that just about everyone here's missing a finger and they all stand real close when they talk." <_< Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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