Shop Safety ....Two prominent artist woodworkers loose their shops

Rob Keeble

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GTA Ontario Canada
After just having had the Chief Fire inspector round for a visit. Seeing these articles as a result of Fine Woodworking I thought highlighting it here would help us all keep shop safety front and center especially with winter and heating on the go right now.

Here is a link to the article
http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/23927/10-ways-to-avoid-shop-fires

None of us it seeems are ever too wise to learn as far as this subject is concerned.

Here is John Brookes that lost his shop in January.
and the next one was Mark Levin ( the link for this was down ) he also lost his shop.

Now John has an online fundraiser but i ask the question of the pros and semi pros out there that are part of the family, how many of you have insurance.

John it says lots all including pieces of finished work.

I got my smoke detector, two fire extinguishers and removed the chemicals from my shop.:thumb:

Whats your situation?:D
 
My insurance covers me as long as it's only a hobby. I don't keep any flammables in the shop aside from carb cleaner and the like. I have a sealed metal can for finishing towels. Fire extinguisher is mounted right by the door.

Four years ago, I had a close call in the summer months. I was cutting steel pipe for a lumber rack when my then-wife started screaming "fire!!" Those Peltors really work pretty well as i just barely heard her. :D Turned around and saw that the pool of gas around the line trimmer was aflame just about 3 feet below a stack of lumber. I won't get into who didn't tighten the gas cap on the line trimmer as that's not what this is about. But, the whole incident did make me more conscious of safety in the realm of fire prevention. The line trimmer did not survive.
 
I do not plan on storing fuel or solvents when I get my shop finished.

As far as insurance goes, I have insurance on it now, but I checked a little while ago and "other structures" is currently limited to $17,000.00 on my policy. I will be upping that to about triple that value this week.

Glad you got me thinking and checking into it.
 
Rob, I hate to move this in a different direction, but the donation thing has me questioning it. If this man was a pro, why should he not have the funds to rebuild? I know, starving artists and all. This just bugs me to no end. Oh, I have fell on hard times, lost everything, somebody give me a hand. Everybody is always looking for something.

Take it with a grain of salt, please.

Yes I practice safe shop. Yes I have a wood stove for heat. Worries me to death, the first few nights I fire it up.
 
I couldn't agree more Steve.
I can't stand whining and hand wringing and the everyone feel sorry for me so give me something attitude.
I feel bad for the guy but do like myself and many others have done. Pick yourself up and start over and don't expect others to give you a free ride.

My shop is in the basement. I don't officially sell anything so I assume my homeowners policy would cover any mishaps. I do have a fire extinguisher and smoke detector down there. The only heat I have is from 2 holes I cut in the forced hot air duct work that heats the house. It only warms up when the upstairs calls for heat so it gets chilly but not too bad.
 
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Rob, I hate to move this in a different direction, but the donation thing has me questioning it. If this man was a pro, why should he not have the funds to rebuild? I know, starving artists and all. This just bugs me to no end. Oh, I have fell on hard times, lost everything, somebody give me a hand. Everybody is always looking for something.

Take it with a grain of salt, please.

Yes I practice safe shop. Yes I have a wood stove for heat. Worries me to death, the first few nights I fire it up.

I couldn't agree more Steve.
I can't stand whining and hand wringing and the everyone feel sorry for me so give me something attitude.
I feel bad for the guy but do like myself and many others have done. Pick yourself up and start over and don't expect others to give you a free ride.


Steve and Bob i could not agree more.:thumb: My point of the post was more for a heads up to those who will check into making sure they safe and for those that are pros checking they have policies to ensure against accidents.

I aint no insurance saleman, dang i hate the whole extortionist insurance industry (and my wife is a lifetime member of the brotherhood of insurance people:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:) but its one of those things that get cut when times get tough and then you have scenes like this with asking for donations.

Seems every time you look left and right there is someone with their hand out. I dont say we should not be charitable etc and care for our neighbor but they also have to act responsibly.

I am sad for these guys but i have benefited tremendously by the constant posts here on safety and thought this would be an alarm bell for the over confident "it will never happen to me" kinda pro.

David i am delighted that this post cause you to examine your policy. Ok now tell your insurance guy he has to send me a cut on his commission.:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
This thread could quickly move into the political arena describing differences in governments for various countries.
Inspectors from some countries, or even U.S. states, would have knippshin fits if they saw my shop. Gallons of acetone for stabilizing and about twenty pounds of black powder and another ten pounds of modern gunpowder. I live in the county where 'authorities, traditionally, and wisely, leave us alone.
 
Ah Frank, I have the same problem with the powder. I reload all my own. Local FD knows about it and it is on record with them.

Back to the reason of the post. I checked my fire ext and it needs refilled or replaced.
 
I feel bad for the guy that lost everything, and if people want to donate to him, well good for them :dunno: But I'm like you guys, I'd not even ask.

Health issues, that is a different thing, but if these guys were really pros, why no insurance, I mean, that is part of doing business, isn't it? If your business is in such a bad shape, that you can't afford basics, like insurance, them maybe you should look at doing something else for a while.

I know some people who do not carry insurance on things that they don't have to, by law, so they are taking the risk, they choose to spend that money on other things, they are betting that they will not need the insurance, their choice, no?

If they do have insurance but the insurance company is slow to pay, or tries to wiggle out of paying well that is a whole other ball of wax.

As you know, my workshop is in a hole in the ground, I checked my two fire extinguishers and they are good for another year, but then I'll replace them, they don't cost that much. I do my best to keep the mess under control and I use a steel bin for my cyclone dust collection, not plastic. I do things down there most would frown on, but I mitigate the risk as much as possible, I weld, but only after doing a VERY good cleaning and vacuuming, and I NEVER leave the shop after welding for at least an hour. I could say I've been lucky and I've not had a fire, and I guess that would be partially true, but the reality is I've also been very diligent, and I think that counts way more than luck.

The artist John Brooks who lost his shop, the cause of the fire is not known yet, they are saying that heavy snow caused the main power lines to pull away from the building, exposing bare wires and that water got on them causing sparks. Well, anything can happen, but I come from a snowy place, Canada, and my father was an electrical inspector with the government for 29 years, and I've never heard of that kind of thing, I wonder if something was not done right or had rotted away on the mounting point of the wires :huh: :dunno: My Dad often got called into house fires and such to see if they were electrical, and he said that most of the fires that they cannot find a cause for, the knee jerk reaction is to place the blame on electrical, but it is very seldom an electrical fire, just easy to place the blame there. I'm not saying they don't happen, just they they are rare, if the house is up to date and in good repair. Electrical fires that are caused by stupid people having way too many things plugged into an outlet, or an old damaged extension cord, well those are not really electrical fires, more a "Stupid People Fire" than anything :D

I'd hate to lose it all with a fire, that would suck, and I hope this makes us all check our shops and clean up or fix anything that is questionable, I know I'll be doing that down in the Dungeon in the morning.

Stu :wave:
 
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I checked my shop and 1 fire extinguisher needs replacing and I forgot that I took the battery out of the smoke detector long ago when it kept on going off while I was making dust. I replaced it. Now that I have DC it should help.
And as usual my first aid kit is short on band-aids :rolleyes:

Thanks for the post Rob, It got me thinking safety again.:thumb:
 
It's a good topic to think about on a regular basis. I have my wood shop in my pole barn, sectioned off and heated with hot water. No worries with that part. But on the other side of the wall I have chainsaws, trimmers, and all the other gas operated machines one uses. I also have a welding table with all the equipment. I always do a can and gas cap check before welding and whenever the weather permits, weld with the doors open. I try to keep everything segregated.

Second, I try to overkill the electrical installations. My primary concern is the wandering rats that sometimes figure my barn looks like a good home. No matter how well you run wiring those darn critters could chew on something bad for all of us. I just spent the morning cleaning up a big mess from rats getting into some rabbit food. I use traps and poison but you can't kill them all.

I am in a major cleanup phase right now and am trying to get things spruced up prior to the insurance man visit. I have one fire extinguisher but am going to upgrade and get a couple more.

I am also keeping my eyes open for a flammables storage cabinet. I have seen those in salvage yards a few times.

I would sure take a beating if the joint burned down.
 
Good topic Rob,
I generally make it a practice to unplug all tools before I leave the shop... I used to be better about sweeping, but have gotten lax lately... guess I better tighten that a bit...
I don't have fire extinguishers and need to get a couple... I store small quantities of chemicals in my shop... a little DNA, Acetone, Naptha and paints... not much though. No place to store it outside the shop either, so it will have to stay on the shelves there... my shop is a stand alone, about 50 or 60 feet from the house, wood framed building with metal sheathing and roof. I need to check, but I think my homeowners insurance covers the shop... I know I asked the agent to list it on the policy and remember giving him an estimated value for the tools.... definitely something to keep in mind though.
 
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