Safety gear in historical recreation setting

[JHCC]

I took my son to the pediatrician today, and we got to talking about blacksmithing (surprise, surprise). He posed a question to which I had no answer: he and his wife had been at a historical recreation site down south somewhere, and he noticed that no-one was wearing any kind of eye or ear protection, even the teenage apprentices. He was wondering, do non-profit educational/historical demonstration facilities have different rules for workplace safety than industrial, for-profit facilities, or is it just a matter of time before OSHA comes crashing in?

Anyone with experience in this particular field?

[ThomasPowers]

Is it a job?  OSHA doesn't apply to hobbies until you start paying employees and then the number of workers is a factor.  I once worked in a custom wood shop full of 100 year old equipment and the Boss/Owner was very careful to never exceed the number of employees that mandated OSHA visits.

Me I would wear safety glasses and get flesh coloured ear plugs!

[JHCC]

Makes sense.

[Frosty]

Yes. I was demoing at a SCA event and the Heralds became insistent safety glasses weren't period and not allowed. I started packing my kit and the Baron came by to see why. No PPE, no ME. Point blank and Period. Hugh's face turned red, he summoned the Heralds and made them my thralls for the duration. 

If you visit or demo at a historical site insist on PPE. Even or maybe especially if you're a spectator! Too many people in period were blinded in one or both eyes by accidents.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Having been in the SCA almost 39 years now my usual reply to such folk is to ask them to come over the forge as they have way too many teeth and I can make them more medieval in *seconds* with my tongs and hammer.  (Or as I tell folks: "If I was alive in medieval times; I'd be dead!"  Probably the pneumonia at age two; or measles or strep throat or ...) 

[John McPherson]

The Colonial Williamsburg smiths do not ever seem to wear eye or ear protection. I, on the other hand, have had to have a specialist remove a sliver from a wood splitting maul from my eye on a weekend, many moons ago. Without insurance, it cost me enough to buy a lifetime supply of PPE. I don't even buy sunglasses now that are not safety rated.

Yelp Rated -0- out of 10, would not do again! Not an experience to repeat in this lifetime. And that, boys and girls, is how Uncle John became a Safety Nazi.

[ThomasPowers]

So many people say they can't afford proper safety equipment yet are willing to spend thousands of dollars more on ER/A&E visits.

Safety equipment is one thing on my *buy* list if I find it at the fleamarket---often unused and in the original packaging!  (Though the set of lime green coveralls rated against molten metal splashes with a large radiation trefoil on it came from a thrift store...)

[JHCC]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

Safety equipment is one thing on my *buy* list if I find it at the fleamarket---often unused and in the original packaging!

Good to keep in mind.

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

 (Though the set of lime green coveralls rated against molten metal splashes with a large radiation trefoil on it came from a thrift store...)

Impossible to get out of the mind.

[Copper Elf]

Interesting comments about ear protection.  I use a 300 year old anvil, don't use noise protection because it doesn't ring like more modern anvils, it is a solid lump, it works lovely, just no ring.  We have some anvils in the storage in the workshop that sound like a peel of church bells when hit, I think I would be inclined to use ear protection with them like I do when I grind for any extended period of time.  It is quite possible that noise reduction PPE was not required before the 19th century, and I would argue that if you are demonstrating a period you should use a period anvil.  Eye protection is a matter of choice I suppose, I generally find that (again it may be my ancient 5th foot) that very rarely does anything come near my face, but get the grinder out and the so do the safety glasses.  I am a massive fan of steel toe caps and mid-soles, which is a problem doing "period", stepping on sharp or hot stuff in a turn-shoe is no fun, nor is dropping a hammer or something heavier on your feet, that is where I draw the line.

[SLAG]

Cu Elf,

I suggest that you Wiki or Google, "tinner's ear". And occupational medicine for a heads up on the subject. 

Regards,

SLAG.

p. s. I would love to see some pictures of your 300 year old anvil.

[Copper Elf]

I do work cold metals in dishing forms and on stakes, I also wear ear protection for that because it hurts if you don't (unless it is a quick job).  My point is that when I am working on my anvil the volume is very low and more of a thud.  There are some machines I work with in another job I do where I insist on all operatives using anti-vibration gloves and ear protection.  A level of common sense is needed; today I did a job wearing ear protect and eye protection (cutting nuts in a confined space), the same job in a different environment (outdoors for example) the ear protection from a battery grinder may not of been needed.

 

[JHCC]

Copper Elf, I see that you're using a steel stand under your anvil. Such stands are well known for reducing the ring of an anvil, but a more period-correct (for the original scenario) stump or other wooden base doesn't damp the ringing nearly as much.

[Copper Elf]

I used to use it on a stump for around a year until the stump split during a workshop move, it was the same then as it is now.

Earlier this year I was at a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon village which has a forge, the anvil there is an old block anvil sunk into a massive stump with a bick also sunk into it, these didn't ring like modern anvils either.

[Frosty]

Ear protection is an ancient practice documented in the Illiad (or was it the Odyssey?) when Odysseus plugged the crew's ears with wax to prevent the Siren's song from effecting them. 

If you feel period is  more important than not crippling yourself, how about using good ear protection and hiding it under a dew rag? Something dirty, unbleached, home spun wool should cover the last 12,000 years or so.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[JHCC]

6 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Ear protection is an ancient practice documented in the Illiad (or was it the Odyssey?) when Odysseus plugged the crew's ears with wax to prevent the Siren's song from effecting them. 

The Odyssey, Book XII: "...I with my sharp sword cleft in pieces a great circle of wax, and with my strong hands kneaded it. And soon the wax grew warm, for that my great might constrained it, and the beam of the lord Helios, son of Hyperion. And I anointed therewith the ears of all my men in their order..."

[ThomasPowers]

Of course in a period forge you would be more likely be wearing wooden soled clogs than turn shoes---or barefoot with a lifetime of amazing calluses built up (see Velasquez's "Apollo at the Forge of Vulcan" for example...)

[the iron dwarf]

here I found out today that you can buy wooden soled leather shoes / boots suitable for some periods of historic reenactment with added steel toe caps to meet modern safety needs

[Frosty]

Current day 3rd. world smiths work barefoot. I'd say more but I'm still getting my head around anointing ears therewith and how to work it into conversations.  Or would that be anoint conversations therewith? This'll be fun, thanks John. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

 It's a whole different kind of earwax! 

[Frosty]

Indeed it is, Constrain that ear of wax I SAY! 

Frosty The Lucky.

[John McPherson]

Are we waxing poetic, or is that poetic wax? Or maybe wack poetry?

[JHCC]

You disparage Homer at your peril, sir!

[Lou L]

JHCC is going to go all Diomedes on you!  I don't think you want to be a part of his aristeia...

[JHCC]

I'm thinking more Odysseus chastising Thersites, but whatever.

[ThomasPowers]

"You disparage Homer at your peril, sir!"

He and Jethro might make a song about you----or "Doh!"