Michael Cochran Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 While working on a small project that's should save me some money in the shop I had to make a quick cut with my angle grinder. Because it was a quick cut I neglected to don all proper PPE like should have. I did put my earplugs in earlier and still had them in but didn't have my eyes covered. Can anyone guess what happened? As a result of not putting on eye protection I now have a bill for an emergency room visit and have to go back to the eye dr tomorrow. I also missed work today and have to be off tomorrow. If things look good tomorrow when I go back then I'll be able to go back to work Wednesday. They dug out a small sliver of metal and had to scrape out some rust that had already formed. I was also informed that it'll likely scar possibly affecting my vision to some extent. I wanted to share this little downer of a story as a reminder to others. Please wear you PPE at all times. Even if it takes more time to get ready than the task itself takes just remember what your body parts are worth. I've heard of numerous stories of various accident and I remember thinking all those times, 'that won't happen to me, because I'm not that careless.' Well things happen sometimes. It has taken me 3 hours to type this because the light from my phone hurts my eyes that much. When things get better and I can go back to my day to day life I'll try to take a picture of the metal sliver to post but honestly don't know how well it'll show up in a picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Sorry to hear this, Michael, but thanks for posting the object lesson for the rest of us! I hope things heal up soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Your point is well taken and made...PPE is no good in the drawer. Always buy the best and especially the most comfortable you can...that way you will not resent wearing something uncomfortable. Before the advent of presbyopia and varifocals I bought aviator style safety glasses and wore them all day...I had them tied on with a shoe lace so they did not end up on the bench getting scratched if I did have occasion to take them off to wipe my brow. I don't know if this will make you feel better or not...I have managed to get a similar bit in my eye twice over the years. The first was whilst wearing safety glasses, but it was before the days of the side guards on safety glasses. A bit from my colleagues rotary wire brush in an Ø8" grinder hit the inside of the lens and bounced into my eye. The second bit was most bizarre I awoke in the middle of the night with it...the splinter must have got caught in hair or eye lid and awaited its moment to attack. Getting stuck in the eyeball and scratching the inside of the lid. I only ever had arc-eye once and the discomfort was pretty similar. Nauseating. If it is any consolation I had the same rusting you mentioned on both occasions, and received a similar warning, but my sight has not been affected. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Welcome to the club Michael, maybe we should hold a poll and see how many of us have had to have stuff dug out of our eyes and the story behind it. My left cornea has a scar the ophthalmologist notes on every exam. I get dilated eye exams 2x year what with the nerve damage and the shingles on that side of my face. A saying of my Father's I got sick ad tired of hearing regularly is as true as any. "Familiarity breeds contempt." It's what makes us think, "awe this'll only take a second." "I don't need a clamp for this little thing." "It's only 12" I don't need to hold on with both hands." (That was almost exactly what I was thinking when I took a dive off a tilt top trailer. It was a tiny excavator ad a big trailer. Shattered my left arm and elbow trying to drive my elbow into Earth. Earth won.) Alan's right. . . .mostly, the only PPE that should be in your drawers is a cup. Really glad your eye hurts from the light. Beats heck out of poking it out. Be careful out there kids. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 NOTHING is as cheap as expensive PPE! But even wearing it a lot of us have had something find it's way past and cause trouble. I keep a disk drive super magnet to clean my hair and pick stuff out of my eye before it embeds---I was using a die grinder with a carbide burr in it and had one of the razor sharp semi lunar cuttings bounce it's way in. I really liked seeing it on the magnet ASAP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.C. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I wear contact lenses...and was often VERY negligent when it came to eye protection. I usually would leave my lenses in for months at a time. I began to notice SEVERE fogging of my vision in one eye..So I removed my lenses to find one was ORANGE. Under a loupe I could see quite a few slivers of steel embedded in it and allot of rust. I was fortunate. Lesson....CONTACT LENSES DO NOT COUNT AS EYE PROTECTION Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 I have gotten a new pair of goggles that'll sit better over my prescription glasses and thought I might've been getting carried away when I decided I was going to get a good magnet to clear the top of my face before removing them. I don't feel bad about that decision now thanks to Thomas. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night kicking myself for not having the Dr take a picture of that sliver sticking out of my eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Michael Cochran said: I have gotten a new pair of goggles that'll sit better over my prescription glasses and thought I might've been getting carried away when I decided I was going to get a good magnet to clear the top of my face before removing them. I don't feel bad about that decision now thanks to Thomas. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night kicking myself for not having the Dr take a picture of that sliver sticking out of my eye. Goggles are ghastly devices! They are just the sort of thing I meant by things being so uncomfortable you are likely to leave them off. I had my prescription made up into varifocal safety glasses when my arms got too short to focus....I always find goggles most uncomfortable, hot and sweaty....especially when forging. For a prolonged grinding session I would use a face shield over my safety glasses. If you wear glasses all the time it is really a no brainer...have them made up as safety glasses and you will never be tempted to not put them on whilst "just doing that five second job". The only time I use goggles is for oxy-acetylene welding and cutting, and then because I have not found anything better. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 I know plenty of people who cannot stand goggles but I'm one of those few people that can tolerate them. My biggest problem with regular safety glasses is the distortion they give me. Things look like I'm looks through a fish eye lens when I'm wearing them. I will probably be spending time trying more options in the future but for the time being I will be paranoid and go a little overboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwilson645 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Dang Mike. I hate to hear that. Hope it heals up quickly for you. Makes me think about how stupid I was yesterday using my grinder to knock some rust off a piece of round stock WITHOUT my shield on. It happens to easily and quickly to NOT wear it every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I can't count the number of times safety glasses have saved my eyes but it takes 2 hands to count the number of times something embedded in my eyes. Yes that quick little job can get quite expensive if you don't take the time to do it safely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Michael Cochran said: Snip My biggest problem with regular safety glasses is the distortion they give me. Things look like I'm looks through a fish eye lens when I'm wearing them. snip... That is why you should have your prescription made up into the lenses of your safety glasses. I can wear regular (non-prescription) safety glasses if I don't need to focus on anything close, strimming / brush cutting / hedge cutting and chain sawing (just) ...but making things in the forge I always need to! Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 i had been meaning to get prescription safety glasses for quite some time. this past summer i got some extra money ahead and did just that. wasnt as dear as i thought they would be. now wear them 24/7, well not 24 hours a day but every day weather or not im in the shop. couldnt stand the so called safety glasses that fit over regular glasses. too bulky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 My boss at work used to sign off for me getting company paid for safety glasses; didn't need them as a software engineer; but he said the company didn't want the down time if I did eye damage to myself with my hobby. That was 3 jobs ago though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 If you are having glasses made it doesn't cost much different to have them in safety frames...probably cheaper than some designer frames. I thought optics were relatively cheap with excellent service in the USA. Much less costly than over here. My varifocal prescription safety glasses were £150 plus a second pair at £75 three years ago...due another set now. A few years ago (25 actually) when we were on a sightseeing trip after an ABANA conference, Lesley's specs got knocked off by the automatic seat belt thingy of the hire car in Flagstaff...on Friday night. On Saturday morning not only were we able to find a place to make a new lens...he measured the bits of the smashed lens and reproduced the prescription in under three hours, including fitting it in the frame and charged 35 dollars...we were really impressed. When we got home she went to a high street optician to order a spare pair...they wanted over a hundred and fifty dollars equivalent and three weeks to make them! Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 I'm home from my initial follow up from my ER visit yesterday. The Dr scraped some more rust out/off of my eyeball. My eye pain today is worse then it has been ever in my life, that is to be expected with all the poking and scrapping done the last 3 days. I was also told I needed to setup a follow up at the VA. So a week from Friday I'm going to miss another day of work (totaling 3 days) for a moment of ignorance. While I'm there I'll be asking about prescription safety glasses and I'll also be pushing at work for safety glasses for those of us that wear glasses or for them to provide prescription safety glasses. The only ones I've seen there were the one people with good vision can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Shoot they even make prescription diving masks! I'm profoundly nearsighted; but was lucky enough to borrow my Sister's prescription mask when I took SCUBA in college. It did cause problems when they did the whole class ditch and don practice: they collected all the masks and pitched them in together and someone got my prescription one and wasted all his air trying to clear it as it still looked *wrong* when he tried seeing out of it... When I was getting company provided safety glasses they looked exactly the same as my previous set except for the engraving stating they met the code...usually cheaper than "designer" frames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Michael: I have to correct you on one of your last statements. This was NOT the result of "ignorance" you know better and took the chance. This is called "Gross Negligence" Negligence means you didn't do what you were supposed to and "Gross" means you knew better. You lucked out, the pain and inconvenience you're undergoing is natures way of paddling your butt so you don't make the same dumb mistake again. You ARE LUCKY you were NOT blinded! The super magnet is a super precaution, keep it in a Baggie so it's easy to clean after use. If you don't have a super magnet available leave your eye protection on till you've washed your hair in the shower! And wash your eyebrows, they're there to catch crap from sliding down your forehead into your eyes. They're evolved to catch and hold crap, wash them out. Before super magnets I used to close my eyes before taking my safety glasses off and getting in the shower. I've had to eyewash myself I don't know how many times right after taking my safety glasses off. My regular trifocals are poly carbonate with side shields, I wear them all the time. The ONLY comments I've heard are from shop guys and yes I like goggles over them when I'd doing "dirty" work. You only have two eyes and they're actually pretty easy to protect but YOU HAVE TO DO IT! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Excellent advice, Frosty!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 My last reply yesterday didn't show up for some reason. I wholeheartedly agree that 'gross negligence' is much more appropriate than 'ignorance.' I don't believe in luck in any form or fashion. I'm one of those people that believes everything happens for a reason. This was a wake up call for me to make sure I always wear my PPE. Next time something happens it could very well be a piece that very well could be capable of removing my eye. For what it's worth, I'm at work today and so far I'm managing just fine. My vision is still somewhat distorted (which is to be expected since it's been dug in/scraped twice in the last two days and the obvious trauma from the stee splinter). So far I have not had any major issues doing my job as a result. I am suffering from a migraine from the lights today so that's nice. I said something about getting safety glasses and they brought me some. Only problem with them is I have to take my prescription glasses off to use them so I'm wearing my goggles I bought the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Comtois Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Wow man, that stinks. I am a regular wearer of prescription glasses, and I am fortunate enough that my work pays for prescription safety glasses. Even so, I had a similar "quick job" on the grinder and I decided to not swap out my regular specs for the safety glasses. Five minutes later I had to throw out a $150 pair of glasses due to a chunk of slag melted smack dab in the center of where my eye would have been. I was fortunate that the piece didn't hit ay harder, it might have gone right through the regular lens and into my eye. Take care of yourself, hope you feel better soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 I made it through the day with little issue. As the day progressed I've noticed some improvement including the light sensitivity becoming less severe. I'm so thankful it's healing up as quickly as it is and that it was as minor an incident as it was. Attached is the promised picture of the little tiny piece of steel that has cause all this grief. The little black speck is the steel and the little spots on the right of it is the rust dug out the first day. For those who cannot tell, that square is one of those achohol prep pads used to clean a spot before the Dr pricks your finger or gives you an IV etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Evans Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 It is amazing the amount of energy a bit like that can bring to bear on human tissue! And the damage and discomfort it can cause! I am always amazed how many splinters and thorns (over forty on many occasions) I can tug out of the dog's backs when they have been hunting through the brambles and blackthorn...they seem so oblivious to them. Me on the other hand...if I get just one splinter in a finger, I just have to stop work until it is out. Maybe we as blacksmiths need a lack-of-physical-sensitivity gene that we could borrow from Springer Spaniels! Eyes and mouths seem to heal a lot faster than anywhere else I find...glad you are are feeling an improvement already. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 I'm not as bad about splinters lol. I actually carried one around in my finger for about 6 months before I finally gave in and let my sister in law (a nurse by profession) cut it out. I was close to 1/8" around and about 3/8" long. It lodged itself in the base of my finger just above the palm of my hand running perpendicular to my finger. It only hurt for the first few days then it was merely annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 I once had what I thought was a pimple or something on my knee. It was itchy and irritated. After a long while of it not going away I cut it open and pulled out a 3/8" long piece of .025 welding wire. guess when I knelt on it at work I thought it was a little stone or something. Went in the meat beside the bone. That was a strange one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.