Ok, I admit it. I was perusing other WW sites and came accross something that captivated my attention.
Ever feel like you got all the safety practices down pat? Go to http://www.woodworking.org/ and see the accident reports. They are organized really well. Posters summarize their accidents and give a retrospective to how it could’ve been avoided.
I think I have good practices, but I learn a bit more with each one of these reports. I think I’ll go print up some kinda safety mantra to stare at or develop some ritual to perform before I start work each day, like an athelete before a game…makes me shudder reading these…
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I can't read stuff like that! Gives me the creeps just thinking about it. I don't mind some mugger with a gun, fishing offshore for sharks, or other silly things like that, but ants and shop accidents are two things that I can't take!
John
Oh man, I pulled up the first one on the site from bandsaws and quit reading after the 1st line, I'm a woos also can't stand to read stuff like that. I don't even like to watck people get shots on TV!
Thanks for the link - the first ones I looked at were table saws and it made stomach turning reading..... I make my living at woodworking and some of the stuff I read about leaves me cold, but I'm still not too old to learn from the mistakes of (hopefully) others
Scrit
Edited 2/17/2004 7:33:34 AM ET by Scrit
I find it noteworthy that there are quite a few woodworkers who are professionals or consider themselves experts that were injured.
I don't much care for that word "expert" - at least not since I heard a legal type define it..... (the person in a room who knows the most about a subject? ;-)).
But even full-time woodworkers get it wrong, and in our case(s) it's less forgivable because we are supposed to be trained and experienced. I've had a number of near misses in the past which now make amusing anecdotes, but which at the time were less than funny (like time a square cutterblock on a moulder shed a knife.... could have been fatal, that one - not my shop either, thank goodness). I suppose I've been fortunate enough to have only one accident to date which resulted a trip to the ER and needed stitches, about 2 years ago, but it did give me pause for thought and has made me even more safety concious. In defence of the fiull-time wood trades/craftsperson I would say that they do spend a large percentage of their life doing what the insurers perceive to be a fairly hazardous occupation, so the fact that there aren't more major injuries reported is perhaps all the more surprising.
Scrit
At work we are required to go through a safety training course, because on the campus are chemical labs and other hazardous situations. After the moaning about it not being relavant to us white collar folks runing a computer center I realized this was right on, and very simple:
These four states...
Rushing
Frustration
Fatigue
Complacency
can cause or contribute to these critical errors...
Eyes not on Task
Mind not on Task
Line-of-Fire
Balance/Traction/Grip
...which increase the risk of injury.
Every time I've had an accident or close call I try to review the situation. It always leads back to one of the above. I have the info on 3x5 laminated cards and try to review regularly - so I don't get complacent! Food for thought. The program is called Safestart: http://www.elabonline.com/Health%20&%20Safety/ safestart2.htm
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