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Jobsite / Tool Safety Horror Stories

user-18092 | Posted in General Discussion on October 6, 2006 04:08am

Greeting to all,

I am an instructor at a small college in MT. and I am looking for example/stories concerning jobsite/tool accidents to present to my class. I am thinking that it might help drive the point better if there is a story that they will talk about, and as hollywood knows horror/gross sells. So please, send me your stories asap, as this is the topic for next week’s class.

Thank you for all your help.

Kevin Marengo
Salish Kootenai Colllege
Pablo, MT

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Replies

  1. User avater
    BillHartmann | Oct 06, 2006 04:22pm | #1

    Did you see the article in the current JLC?

    1. user-18092 | Oct 06, 2006 05:09pm | #3

      I have not looked at the current JLC but will run over to the library today, Thanks.KM

  2. User avater
    ToolFreakBlue | Oct 06, 2006 04:24pm | #2

    http://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/accidentsearch.html

    While not as colorful as the presentaion here on Breaktime you can find all sorts of boo boos on the OSHA site.

    Especially if you need them fast.

     

    TFB (Bill)
    1. user-18092 | Oct 06, 2006 05:12pm | #4

      Bill,
      Thanks for the reply, I had the students try to look up information on osha's site without much success, I guess i am going to have to see what I can dig up there.Thanks again,KM

      1. User avater
        ToolFreakBlue | Oct 06, 2006 05:20pm | #5

        I couldn't get the search to work (sounds like Prospero here at BT)

        Click on the KEYWORD letters below the search fields.  clicking  "A" you can a list of keywords like "abdomen" click on it and you get a list of all reported incidents fatal and otherwise where someone took one in the gut.  Click on one of those and you get the reported description of the incident.

         

         TFB (Bill)

  3. Norman | Oct 06, 2006 05:28pm | #6

    Find the recent thread, why women live longer than men. A good start and your class will be amused.

  4. MikeHennessy | Oct 06, 2006 06:06pm | #7

    I tried to find the article about the guy who was standing under a ladder while a coworker with a nailgun descended and nailed his hat to his head when the nailer hit him. Didn't find it, but saw this

    Mike Hennessy
    Pittsburgh, PA

    Toothache man finds nail in skull

    A Colorado man who went to the dentist complaining of toothache found he had a 4-inch (10cm) nail in his skull. Patrick Lawler had been suffering pain and blurry vision since a nailgun backfired on him at work, AP news agency reported. The machine sent a nail through a nearby piece of wood - but little did Mr Lawler realise another nail had shot into the roof of his mouth. The nail was embedded 4cm into his brain - barely missing his right eye. Six days after his 6 January work accident, Mr Lawler decided to visit the dental clinic where his wife Katerina works because painkillers and ice failed to stop the pain. "We all are friends, so I thought the [dentists] were joking... then the doctor came out and said, 'There's really a nail,'" Mrs Lawler said, according to AP. "Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to helpthe swelling." Mr Lawler remains in hospital following a four-hour operation to remove the nail. (C)BBC
    See also: Chapter 19: Language and Cognition
    Posted: 01.17.2005
    1. FastEddie | Oct 06, 2006 06:17pm | #8

      From an OSHA report:

      Employee #1 was preparing to change blades on a skill saw. He did not unplug it. He was kneeling with the saw between his legs and using a wrench to rock the nut holding the blades. As he did so, the saw started climbing up his pants leg and lacerated his genitals.  

      "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

      1. CAGIV | Oct 07, 2006 11:43pm | #39

        ouch

        1. allaround | Oct 08, 2006 12:24am | #40

          You thing you've had a bad day - in August the owner of a Kenosha, WI tree trimming service was pulled through - that's right, not INTO, THROUGH, a wood chipper. He got caught trying to kick a stuck log loose and the safety bar that's supposed to reverse the feed rollers didn't work. Here's a link to the newspaper report.http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=484801

          1. cliffy | Oct 08, 2006 04:08am | #42

            Wow, almost unbelievable and tragically sad

            Cliffy

  5. User avater
    McDesign | Oct 06, 2006 07:18pm | #9

    I am the lead-off guy in that August '06 JLC article ("Four Foot Fall"), with the titanium and stainless sticking out of my broken arm.

    I have some extra copies (free) of the mag if that would be useful, as well as more gore pix I could e-mail.

    Forrest

  6. User avater
    McDesign | Oct 06, 2006 07:38pm | #10

    Yeah - the kids called it "Daddy's Spring Break"!

    Forrest - $26,000 to fix my arm; $175 for the article - I'll make it up on volume

    1. Piffin | Oct 06, 2006 07:49pm | #11

      i'm sure the price of arms is going up every day.my first finger accident cost me fiftyu bucks and a few days off workMy second finger cost me seventy five and a few days off workMy third finger cost me four hundred bucks and a week off workMy fourth finger - I was lucky on this one only taking a snip offf the end on the TS - only cost four fifty and I got right back to work.I don't play guitar any more but I can tyupe, sort of.For the OP, most of it boils down to be alert by getting enough sleep and taking breaks, and follow all the safety rules taught to you.
      almost every single accident I have had or seen came from trying to do too much, too fast and working long hours that dulled the brain.A brain awake AND functioning is the best piece of safety equipment you can have. 

       

      Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

      1. FastEddie | Oct 06, 2006 10:50pm | #12

        but I can tyupe

        News flash to Piffin:  No you can't.

          

        "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

        1. Shep | Oct 06, 2006 11:28pm | #13

          He didn't say he could type well.

          And he definitely didn't say he could spell.

          1. Piffin | Oct 06, 2006 11:51pm | #15

            Ah kin so tiepe! 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          2. Shep | Oct 07, 2006 12:56am | #19

            Hey- I was defending you. LOL

            FastEddie was the one questioning your typing abilities

      2. Jer | Oct 07, 2006 01:21am | #20

        Jeez Pif...you only have 6 more to go!!

        1. Piffin | Oct 07, 2006 12:52pm | #29

          two were the same finger, and the saw kerf the second time took out a lot of scar tissue from the first so it ended up in better shape than it had been for a few years once they sewed it back on and healed up 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

      3. davidmeiland | Oct 07, 2006 04:18am | #23

        I was wondering what the hell was wrong with yer typing! That explains it.

  7. junkhound | Oct 06, 2006 11:46pm | #14

    A. Had to take the rops/fops off dozer to change the clutch.  1974

    Snowstorm, needed to pull over a couple of trees, had not yet replaced the rops/fops, figured I was using a long enough cable.

    Cable was too short, git hit in head by tree which smashed face into dozer hyd controls

    2 weeks in hospital, 37 skull fragments,  you cna' probly tell i aint yet fully recoverd.

    Moral - always use rops and fops on big machines

     

     

    B. Cutting steel 2x2 cart apart with oxy/propane torch, no gloves

    Cut edge fell, cantilevered backinto back of hand, 13 stitches.

    Moral- be aware of where cut parts will fall and how they will fall.

    1. Piffin | Oct 06, 2006 11:57pm | #16

      A friend here was cutting a tree down, something he had done a good thousand times before, so no novice.As it fell, he killed the switch and stepped about three steps aside. The trunk fell across a small humock, enough to make it bounce up at his end and roll. Smacked him a good one in the thigh.
      He hobbled into thehouse and called for a ride to the doc. nasty bruise but no break.But a week later, a blood clot gave him a minor stroke.he's up and walking again now though. talking is a little slow. 

       

      Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

  8. highfigh | Oct 07, 2006 12:11am | #17

    A friend of mine was finishing some trim work at his father-in-law's house and was using a Paslode. A bad storm was rolling in and he started rushing. While he held the trim in place, he compensated for a little warpage by keeping his left hand behind the piece and shot a nail into the second joint of his index finger. The wood had split and the nail went right through. Separated the joint of the finger and since it was glue-coated, it didn't want to come out.

    I narfed my left index finger with a new T&G bit on my router. Didn't hurt as much as I would have thought. Mashing my thumb with a hammer hurt a lot more.

    "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
  9. ward121 | Oct 07, 2006 12:54am | #18

    This was posted here a while back.   I liked it so much I saved it

     

    http://www.break.com/movies/hadabadday.html

     

  10. try50772 | Oct 07, 2006 01:30am | #21

    Hi, I'd din't have time to read all the posts in reply to you, but...
    http://www.woodworking2.org/AccidentSurvey/search.htm
    if no one suggetsed the woodworkers central page with the accident surveys your missing a good list of don't examples.

  11. FlaCarpenter | Oct 07, 2006 01:54am | #22

    Oh let's see here....Had one guy cutting a shingled roof in pieces and the sawblade housing got clogged up with roofing tar and materials. He set it down while the guard was wedged up and it ran over his foot.

    Had a framer recently locate a stud behind a sheet of plywood with his hand so he could nail it. He missed and shot his thumb. Isn't that what tape measures are for?

    Had a helper nail in some outlooks for me so I could get the aluminum walk plank on it to frame a shed roof over a window. Plank falls out from underneath me and I am hanging from the window sill. The gun had 8d nails in it and no one checked.

    Had another guy who decided it would be a good idea to hold the metal studs against the drywall from the back side of the wall with his hand. Seems the studs were deflecting because the drywall hanger was starting in the middle of the stud. Helper ended up with a 1 5/8" fine thread screw through his finger and the finger nail. Worse part is he instinctively ripped his hand away. Left a nice hole.

  12. alrightythen | Oct 07, 2006 05:00am | #24

    OK here are a couple that your students should all take heed and listen to.

    I watched as I guy had his arm pulled into a radial arm saw. (loose long sleeve shirt)

    blade just missed the bone so he got to keep his arm.

     

    My buddy's wife asked if I could come over and clean up all the blood from when he cut off his ring finger and mangled his thumb, when his hand got pulled into the table saw. ( was wearing his wedding ring)

    EDIT: oh yeah .. I also have a 9 fingered friend via  the router.... I really never cared to ask him for the details.



    Edited 10/6/2006 10:02 pm ET by alrightythen

    1. Piffin | Oct 07, 2006 01:00pm | #30

      tell your students that it helps to learn to read.I got hired onto a job and had my old saw with a sticking gaurd. I had been working alone for years so it was no problem for me, but when I got around others, I took my sharpie and wrote on it in three places "Gaurd Sticks".A plumber came on the job and picked it up to use. I was seventy five feet away when I happed to hear it running and looked over. He set it down with the gaurd up and it skipped acrtoss the deck and his boot toe, luckily not doing any serious damage. I went over hollering at him about fist using MY saw, and second about reading where it warned him that the gaurd sticks. He mumbled something about, "I thought that was somebodies name or something so I didn't pay attention to it." 

       

      Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

  13. cliffy | Oct 07, 2006 05:26am | #25

    Hi tool safety

    I teach part time at the college here as well.  Yesterday I brought ti the August issue of JLC and had the students in my class read a couple of the horror stories in there. 

    Have a good day

    Cliffy

    1. User avater
      McDesign | Oct 07, 2006 04:57pm | #35

      I know they were impressed with my erudite writing!

      Forrest

      1. cliffy | Oct 08, 2006 04:04am | #41

        Hey I just dug out the mag to see which  story was yours.  You are the first one.  I read it but it was the story about the guy who cuts on his knee I made a few guys read, but they passed it around  the class and a few commented on the bionic device attatched to your arm.

        I had a small fall on a ladder a few months ago with a different result.  I had a sore shoulder form playing hockey last March and it was dragging on.  I fell only about 2 feet or so.  I slammed the shoulder on the way  down and ever since that day it started getting much better.

        Glad to read that you are almost back to 100 percent!

        Have a good day

        Cliffy

  14. Bob_the_cartoonist | Oct 07, 2006 05:53am | #26

    I added a two story addition to my house, alone.  When it was time to tie the roofs together I hired a guy and his helper in order to hurry up the joining of the roofs.  I didn't want  any rain problems.  They didn't bring any ladders, so they used mine.  On the third day, while they were off work, I decided to clean up after them.  I used my blower on the roof to clear off all the saw scraps and ashphalt shingle granules from their tear off.  I only had the upper half of my extension ladder, the part with no rubber feet, just the flat aluminum square ended part.  They had my other sections in various places and I didn't want to mess up their work area.  Even though I had the proper angle on the ladder, when I put my foot on that first rung, on the second floor, my weight caused the bottom of the ladder to slide on those granules which now were all over the brick and concrete porch.  I crashed to the bricked concrete porch and  broke a bone in my back, broke my pelvis, broke my hip and crushed my left elbow, a compound fracture, sticking through the skin.  I had a little pool of blood under me when the medics came.  Neighbors called them after hearing me yelling for my not-at-home wife.  I had two major arm surguries with damage to the radial nerve in my arm.  Two weeks in the hospital, three months in a rented hospital bed and a wheel chair.  A lot of cadaver bone put into my crushed elbow along with two six inch steel plates and sixteen screws.  The ocupational therapist who came to my house regularly, tore my rotator cuff, which required a $1300 MRI and more rest.  The total hospital bill was over $140,000.00.  Thank God for insurance, even $5000 deductible insurance.  This happened November 9, 2005.  I still have limited use of that arm and lots of pain in it.  Since then I've heard many, many ladder horror stories, three from very close friends and five ladder deaths! And I don't even do this for a living like most readers.  I'm a cartoonist! 

    1. Piffin | Oct 07, 2006 01:03pm | #31

      Man! You cartoonists break easy!Sorry for that pain, seriously. Has the lost feeling in arms given you rtrouble in your work? 

       

      Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

      1. Stilletto | Oct 07, 2006 01:13pm | #32

        Yeasterday was a great day for my company.  I was running up and down the basement stairs,  with about 6'6"  head height.  Last trip down the stairs I hit the top of my head it knocked me off my feet and onto my azz.  Left a nice lump on me skull. 

        Then my helper Ron is running baseboard up to a bifold door,  nailing on a return.  He proceeds to shoot through the base,  the return,  his finger,  and the bifold door.   Luckily he had a little pry bar on hand to free himself. 

        His finger was a train wreck,  the 2-1/2" nail went through the finger nail and into the door.   

         

      2. Bob_the_cartoonist | Oct 07, 2006 05:56pm | #36

        Maybe THIS cartoonist landed harder because he weighs 270 pounds!  But it's mostly muscle!

        Forunately the break was in my left arm and I'm right handed, so it only partially affected my artwork.  I do have a lot numbness in that arm and have been told by the surgeon it will be permanent and that I'll undoubtedly get arthritis in that arm.  But I'm back at work finishing my house, but no high work now.  I can't hold on that well any more with my left arm.

        1. Piffin | Oct 08, 2006 04:53am | #43

          work is good for younumbness goes well with arthritis, seems to me 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          1. danski0224 | Oct 08, 2006 07:36am | #44

            Someone leaned on the railings of a scissors lift wile it was in the down position. The platform was about 40" above the floor. The safety pins were not in properly and the railing gave way. Several hours later, the person died after falling to the ground.

    2. DougU | Oct 07, 2006 06:23pm | #37

      Bob

      Sorry to read about your mishap!

      I was helping to do a resturant remodel one weekend and the new resturant had all there new help to do little jobs, fetch stuff, clean........

      One of the young waiters to be crawed up a ladder that was missing its rubber feet, and was sitting on a tile floor. He got 2/3 the way up and the ladder kicked out on him. He landed with one elbow and one knee hitting first, it was not a pretty sight.

      I heard some similar stories about his treatment/rehab that you told.

      Never crawl up a ladder without the feet firmly planted, of course I dont need to tell you that though.

      Doug

      1. SteveFFF | Oct 07, 2006 10:16pm | #38

        Here's one from a Habitat for Humanity build. Three pump jacks on the side of the house about 15' apart. One ladder goes across the left and center supports. The other ladder is a little short and goes from the right support to a bit short of the center support and lays on top of the left ladder. It works until all three guys decide to stand on the right ladder. Luckily it wasn't too high up when it happened.Steve.

  15. User avater
    RRooster | Oct 07, 2006 07:22am | #27

    True story.

    Many years ago, I was working a job framing a barn.  The owner, rich lady with more money than sense, was "helping" doing her thing.  She owned all the best power tools, sometimes two of each but had no clue when it came to using them.

    I was nervous working around her.  She was not very big or stong but was there non the less.

    It came time for her to move her Dewalt sliding compound mitre saw from one spot to another and she lifted it by the handle, pulling the trigger to start the saw.  I look over and there she is carrying the saw across the slab, with the saw blade running under power.  Holy shhiitt!!  She could have cut her leg off!!!!  I couldn't believe it.

     

    Another story about ladder safety.  Most of us are hurt when using ladders so ladder safety is very important.  A comrade, who shall remain nameless, was painting facia board on a six foot stepladder.  The ladder was on uneven ground and was not stable, but this painter decided to step on the very top of the ladder to finish the last of the painting, thinking that holding onto the roof for balance would be sufficient.  Guess what?  Yup, he fell, and very hard, right onto his shoulder (and covered with spilled paint).  The result was one year lost to hamburger shoulder, 9 months of therapy and very painful surgery.

    Let this be a lesson to those out there who think they are invincible.  That's what I thought.

     

    http://grungefm.com

     

  16. burns | Oct 07, 2006 07:36am | #28

    I have two stories, first when I was 13 years old I was let loose in my grandfathers workshop. I jumped on the table saw and proceeded to reach over the blade not high enough and rip the end of my index finger off. Blood coated me and I ran in the house yelling "Mom, Dad I cut my finger off!". At that point I learned what a power tool could do. Second was a friend of mine who's father owned a masonry company. I worked for his father and " John" was home for the summer from college. We were up three flights of scaffolding and he fell off. He landed on his head. He was not hurt, but, he was always a quiet and mellow guy. Now he has an explosive temper. I've read that a brain truama can do that to a person. What I do now with a new employee, is show them how to use a power tool and what can happen when things go wrong. I always try to check my personal life at the door and tell my employees the same thing. If there's a problem in your life and your heads not in the game come talk to me. I have an old issue of Fine Homebuilding that outlines jobsite saftey and it teaches whatever you doing, clear your head and focus on the task at hand. Most important as a boss or supervisor create a calm work environment.

  17. User avater
    maddog3 | Oct 07, 2006 01:57pm | #33

    this happened on a job I worked on...

    it's a dead short in a 4160 volt compartment .you can see the arcing fault in the first one....there were IIRC twelve more faults before things quieted down

    The start-up senior EE was supervising a test of downstream equipment , and was in a hurry ( relatively speaking ) to test some hardware that had been out-of-service for emergency repairs.

    when I asked him about the state of the dis-connected cables, he waved his hand and stated the cables "are not my problem....

    since I had my camera with me ......once the explosoins started, I was able to snap a few of the faults...alas I have misplaced the whole series but these were placed on a CD

    .

    .

    .

    .Wer ist jetzt der Idiot

    ?

  18. junkhound | Oct 07, 2006 02:35pm | #34

    Here are a couple of links to fairly extensive threads on accidents, first on falls,

    http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=9670.1  and on

    and on electrical shock.

    http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=77731.1  and more

     

    PS:  The top link only shows latter day replies "post Prospero"  .. anybody know how to access the entire original thread?? ..  recall a lot more stories there



    Edited 10/7/2006 7:40 am ET by junkhound

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