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Killing yourself in the shop

Good suggestions all around! Great thread, lots to think about here.

I'll third the knowing when to quit. Some days its better just to not start even! I usually try to knock off at the first sign of "should be quitting now", this has the side effect of saving some energy to cleanup and pick up. If I'm feeling especially dense or distracted I'll just spend my time organizing and cleaning up - better than wrecking a piece of work or worse getting hurt and pays dividends later.

Bob Gibson said:
I'm going to order a few of these just in case. My son had combat medic training in the AF and he said these can be life savers.

http://www.bestglide.com/quikclotpage.htm
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Looks good to have. In a pinch Sanitary Napkins (yes those) are also good for bandaging large wet wounds.

I've pretty much given up on using small bandaids. I mostly use gel slow cure super glue for wee owies (the fast cure stuff heats up to much and can actually cause burns worse than the wound). Works amazingly well to close up small wounds. Cuts not amenable to that get gauze and tape (tape holds up better than bandaids). For you DIYers - make SURE to clean out the wound really well before sealing it up, the last thing you want is an infection!!!. Better to leave it open if in doubt, most of the really bad bacteria is anaerobic, our dog had a anaerobic infection from a wee puncture wound and ended up loosing all of the skin from his stomach and spending a week on IV antibiotics (really close to dead)- do not want that!!
 
Mohammad Madha said:
Carol, having a phone close to your body is a good idea. I will try to adopt this rule.

I need to get a first aid kit for the shop as well. Is this any different than a regular first-aid kit?
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Two or three years back FWW had an excellent thread on First Aid for the shop. There was a whole bunch of Posts to this Thread. Many of them had excellent ideas. It is really worth pursuing. It probably should be made into a Tutorial.

In the meantime: Do have your cell phone on and easily available. Do have a First Aid kit that you can open EASILY WITH ONE HAND. Have the kit low. You may not be able to get up.

I repeat; all of us should read or re-read that Thread.

There was quite a bit of info on First Aid Kit contents, location, etc.

Now with all of those cheery thoughts I sign off,

Enjoy,

JimB
 
I am either tempting fate or just plain stupid. Take yer pick. I use my shop as an escape from the rest of the world. My cell phone is in another room as is the land line. And, I sometimes open the land line just to prevent receiving calls. I like silence and solitude. Even if I'm not using noisy tools I wear ear plugs. I do have a fire extinguisher but will have to go in and look to find it. I know it is there somewhere. And, yes, I am at the heart attack/stroke age. Anything is possible. My son is an ER physician and he sees guys like me in his ER almost daily for things from the big HA to amputated fingers. At one level, I do know better. At another, I really value being alone in my own world. Life is to be lived, not feared. But, y'all got me to thinking. I might change some habits. Will let you know.
 
I find no need to worry about heart attacks or strokes, etc...while Im in the shop.
It wouldnt be any better if I was taking a stroll in the woods or driving my car.
I cant worry about things like this.

I do worry about things like amputations and severe lacerations all the time.

I dont believe having a few bandaids or bandages in my shop and fumbling with them when Im in a complete state of shock and panic, god forbid I ever severly injure myself in my garage, will make that much of a difference, so I plan ahead of time and know what course I will follow to improve my chances of survival.

I have a hand signal code with my wife, due to my illness.
while I never expect to use it, she knows when I wave this signal, no questions asked, just rush me to the hospital or dial 911 immediately. I also have a one word phone warning, so if I call her and get out that one word, she doesnt ask anything, she knows Im in the shop and Im hurt, and she dials 911(which I did first), and being she works 250 yards from my home, she can be home in 2 minutes. She will not ask me questions, she will drop what she is doing and immediately come home to assist me and dial 911 while she is on her way.
Overkill? yeah, maybe, but it doesnt take much to have one more bit of safety built in to my shop procedure if I get hurt.

I keep my work area uncluttered, as tripping or falling can be extremely dangerous in a shop, and I check all my equipment before I use it to make sure it looks ok.

accidents happen, but being prepared is alot better for me than to think Ill be level headed and calm if I god forbid take off a chunk of myself, and start fumbling around with a first aid kit.

btw, I have a fire extinguisher in the shop, and first aid kits. I work 20 feet from my home where I keep the typical array of first aid items.
 
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I do not know if it has been said already, but no matter, cell phones, alarms or whatsoever if one faints one will not be able to call for help. Obviously one cannot cover all the possibilities but at least some can.
 
yep, youre right about that toni.
cover as many possibilities as you can and dont do anything stupid is the best chance anyone has.

I constantly go to places where they are working with machines, and wonder why arent those guys wearing safety glasses.
Sometimes Ill say to someone, you really should be wearing safety glasses, and they nod, yeah, I know, or they say, yeah, youre right, Im being careful.
And I walk away saying to myself, idiot.
 
I dont think its something to worry about Stephen, but if you pratice safety techniques, it greatly reduces your chances of making a costly error.
I also view my shop time as my alone time, but I dont mind if someone checks in on me now and then.
btw, tell your adorable daughter she might want a denver shirt now.
 
allen levine said:
I dont think its something to worry about Stephen, but if you pratice safety techniques, it greatly reduces your chances of making a costly error.
I also view my shop time as my alone time, but I dont mind if someone checks in on me now and then.
btw, tell your adorable daughter she might want a denver shirt now.
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Allen i agree that we all need to pratice safety. I've been working wood one way or the other for over 30 years. And yes we all get so over confident some times that we loose focus. That's when we make the dumb mistakes. As far as the grandauther her Daddy(my son) is a die hard colts fan. He don't realize that the only Manning is in NY.:thumb:Go Giants again!:DHe's such a die hard fan he's got his whole chest tatooed.Not Manning, Colts.:eek:
 
Bob Gibson said:
I'm going to order a few of these just in case. My son had combat medic training in the AF and he said these can be life savers.

http://www.bestglide.com/quikclotpage.htm
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Bob i read the site but it says training is needed in their use. I am wondering just what this training is that its so prominently displayed. Do you think you could asertain thisfrom your son and let us know what is so special that we would need to know to use one of these properly. Thanks for the heads up on them.
 
Looked for my fire extinguisher. Can't find it. :huh: Pretty sure I have one, actually two. One is upstairs in the pantry. My shop one whereabouts is unknown. Wadda I have to worry about? Lessee, several thousand rounds of loaded ammunition, about 40 pounds of black powder and several gallons of acetone. :eek: Would I stick around long enough to use an extinguisher? Uh-Oh! I'll still look for it or buy another.
 
Rob Keeble said:
Bob i read the site but it says training is needed in their use. I am wondering just what this training is that its so prominently displayed. Do you think you could asertain thisfrom your son and let us know what is so special that we would need to know to use one of these properly. Thanks for the heads up on them.
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Rob, they also have the "training" on their site...

http://www.bestglide.com/QuikClot%20ACS+%20Training.pdf

[Warning, there are some graphic injury photos in the linked file. Not for the faint of heart.]
 
Mike Stafford said:
Case in point, a friend of mine was turning some yellowheart for the first time. Yellowheart, pequia amarello, is a fairly innocuous wood, or so I thought. Not for my friend. Immediately upon exposure he developed a rash around his eyes, nostrils and mouth and started having breathing difficulties. His mucous membranes in those areas were starting to swell and he began to gasp for air. Fortunately we had some benadryl which he gulped down and off to the hospital we went for a shot of epenephrine. He would not even go back into his shop until I cleaned up all the residues of this one piece of yellowheart.

Here is a photo showing all the ouchies from one day of class......
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This is such a sore point with me I dump PC and tact right out the window. Why on earth aren't people wearing breathing protection and why in the world are they being taught not to use it! You can't react to something if you don't breath it. If skin irritation shows up, then you know and it's a lot easier to put on some Calamine lotion than it is to get am IM of epi. A Trend or 3M is a heck of a lot cheaper than a $1500 trip to ER...trust me, I treat the people that forgot or weren't taught that every day. I know it's a rant, but people just don't get it.
 
Jim you are 100% correct, but people are people. And alot of times, no, Id guess 50% of the time alot of bad things that happen to woodworkers and other machine workers are preventable with a little caution.

People dont use respirators while turning because its uncomfortable for them, especially when the shop is hot.

I hate when I know I have to put on my trend, pressure treated stuff, spanish cedar, and a few more species, but Id rather be uncomfortable for a few hours then suffer later on.
 
allen levine said:
Jim you are 100% correct, but people are people. And alot of times, no, Id guess 50% of the time alot of bad things that happen to woodworkers and other machine workers are preventable with a little caution.

People dont use respirators while turning because its uncomfortable for them, especially when the shop is hot.

I hate when I know I have to put on my trend, pressure treated stuff, spanish cedar, and a few more species, but Id rather be uncomfortable for a few hours then suffer later on.
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I hear ya Allen...I still stand on my feet. It takes one time...an A/C window unit is cheaper. Working on adjusting the headband is cheaper. I'll omit those that choose not to carry insurance so we can pay for 'em. I've found myself allergic to stuff that I never would have thought of...but because I had a skin reaction first. IMO...there are two reasons for not wearing protection...If you are going to be offended...get off this post now, you were warned.....waiting....waiting....ok, your fault. You have to much ego or to much ignorance to protect yourself...You is a generic term...if you have a problem...you were warned to move on...no complaints allowed
 
Rob, he said that he had a lot of training. He is not a medic but had to take to USAF Para Rescue course.

He also said that if you cut your hand off in the shop then open one of the suckers up and tie it to the wound with as much pressure as you can. Then call 911. It will possibly save your life.
 
Well when I was in ny I live in little hick towns and calling 911 was a slow way to go. We had a te phone number for the town fire department dispatcher. For first aid stuff, we allways had two first aid kits on hand. One by the door and one next to the assembly table. Also kept some some gut pads incase a major injury happened.
 
Thanks Bob and Vaughn.

So i guess the key thing here is a water free wound. So priority in a case like this must be stop the bleeding to get treatment then worry about cleaning wound when the injury is in suitably appropriate hands.

You certainly aint gonna be likely to be using one of these bandages without your next move being ER so they can clean etc.

Thanks guys.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2
 
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