Shop Safety

[Deleted member 995608]

In this recent thread: https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?246721-Hearing-Aid , it reminded me of a few bad habits that I broke myself of over the last few years.

I do a lot of welding/fabricating and wood working etc. However, for my entire life I never wore hearing protection or eye protection until a few years back. I should have started taking notice years earlier but us men are stubborn.

I've been to the ER twice for flashburn (this was damage to my eyes caused from tack welding without a helmet) and I've been to the ER three times to remove metal shavings from one of my eyes. After the last trip to the hospital, I swore it was time for me to take better care of my eyes and I have.

The other bad habit was not wearing ear protection. Gosh it's awesome to be able to hear after grinding welds all day or wire wheeling metal.

Take care of yourselves ladies and gentlemen. We only get so many cat lives before they run out.

 

[jgillott]

Well, I can comment since I am one of the statistics now concerning hearing loss. When I sat down with the Ear Nose and Throat Dr and also with Audiologist, they went through a thorough review of my work and leasure activities. I work in a very loud environment and didn't start to wear hearing protection until I started to notice some hearing loss....probably 6-7 years ago. And even then, I didn't wear it all the time. Looking back, I wish I could go back and talk to that teenage or early 20's me and tell them what was going to happen to me at this point in my life if I wasn't smarter. It's very frustrating to think that this could have been prevented. It doesn't make it any better, but nobody told us when we were young what could happen. I guess that all I can do now is try and keep the next generation from making the same mistakes.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Like most I never gave saftey much thought, it always happens to the other guy!!!

Where I worked they were BIG TIME saftey conscious. They had a program Loss Prevention Self Assessmennt

Basically take a look at what your about to do

Assess---- the risk
Analyse--- how to reduce the risk
Act-------- to ensure loss-free operations

From their standpoint it was to cut down on workman's comp claims and deaths do to work related things that can and do go on in gas refinery's that never get shown on TV, if they did im sure that Joe Public wouldn't have them anywhere near their homes that were built AFTER the refinery had been in for a bazillion years.

I started to really look at saftey a little better at home, saftey glasses for lawn mowing, weed eating, woodworking all the things that I would have never done before, it just makes since you only get one set of eyes, ears, fingers, toes on one foot!! after awhile it just becomes part of working with things at home.

BIG

 

[fest3er]

Back when I was 18 or 20, I worked in a cabinet shop. Most of the noise wasn't too bad. But cutting the mortise and tenon bits for faceplates was *loud*. I didn't think much of it until my mother remarked that I wasn't hearing her from the pantry just 12' away. I started wearing earplugs in the shop when the noise was somewhat discomfitting or louder. I'd also worked in sound reinforcement in those days. I started wearing ear plugs during the worst of that sound, too. Then the rear end gears in my '84 200SX 'failed'. 45 minutes of highway driving would have my ears ringing; I fixed it.

30 years later, my hearing was down 5-10 dB across the range. Even now (another 5 years), my hearing is still better than most, though my left ear has a notch in the higher frequencies generated by fingers being lightly rubbed together. I think that might've been from my P/U.

So to the younger folks here, don't batter your ears constantly. Learn to recognize ringing and 'hurting' in your ears; they're telling you to use ear plugs during the worst of the noise. Give your ears a chance to recover. Short-term, temporary higher-decibel levels (up to 110-115dB) don't necessarily cause instant and permanent hearing loss. Read the US OSHA exposure time/level graphs; they're fairly accurate: 90dB for up to 8 hours down to 115dB for 15 minutes. Your ears *can* recover from widely spaced episodes; like any injury, you have to give the body time to heal. The cheap foam ear plugs work very well when squished end-to-end and stuffed into the ear, but still allow conversation.

 

[JR]

One day I was using a wire wheel on a 6"grinder to buff some welds out and one of the wire strands from the wheel lodged itself in my pupil. My eye actually started bleeding and to make matters worse I couldn't blink because the strand was sticking out of my eyeball about 1/8". The Dr was able to dig it out but the pain was there for days. I had to wear a patch and flush my eye daily to keep it from getting infected. I've had a lot of things in my eye but that was one of the worst.
It's funny how as you get older you tend to look at the same jobs differently. I used to race MX and there wasn't too much I ever feared. Now a days me and my race buddies from yesteryear putt around on sport 4x4s. We might egg each other on here and there but nothing like what we used to do. My body can't take falling off a bike like it used to.

 

[Woodenhead]

It's fairly cheap to keep ear plugs and safety glasses in your shop, there's absolutely no excuse for not having this stuff around. You can even get safety glasses with cheater lenses for you old guys. Typically in my shop I have safety glasses on my head and ear plugs in my pocket and use them constantly. If they're not handy you'll figure you can get away without it just this one time (we're all guilty if this).

And remember YOU'RE setting an example for YOUR CHILDREN. If I'm doing something that needs glasses and ear plugs and the kids are around the they wear it too. If the boys (6 and 3) are smashing rocks with a hammer, fine, they come get some glasses first.

And another thing, if you go to the race track with your kids (I do all the time) bring some damn hearing protection for everyone. I see people with babies in car seats sitting at the track, straight piped V8 stock cars blasting by with blistering noise and it P's me off!

I've spent my career working in power plants and machine shops and at times as a site manager responsible for crews up to 20 men. I was given a safety award by the Colonel of the Army Corps of Engineers Nashville district for our safety practices. It was a big deal and first time it had ever been awarded to a contractor. I never figured we did anything special, just used common sense and made sure everyone made in home safe at the end of the day.

 

[Killgore]

It was nice to be able to read this because if we were sitting around discussing it, I wouldn't know what the conversation was about. Blam! Blam! Boy, did I use to hate those 3"-150's. Of course I don't have any trouble hearing the ringing in my ears. :{
- Ed

 

[Woodenhead]

...though my left ear has a notch in the higher frequencies generated by fingers being lightly rubbed together. I think that might've been from my P/U....

A lot of times this is caused by driving for years with the window down.

The right side is usually from a constantly nagging...passenger .

 

[BIGNASTY]

A lot of times this is caused by driving for years with the window down.

The right side is usually from a constantly nagging...passenger .

.........:-laf

Now that's a good one, just hope my passenger doesn't see it!!

 

[jgillott]

A lot of times this is caused by driving for years with the window down.

The right side is usually from a constantly nagging...passenger .

.........:-laf

Now that's a good one, just hope my passenger doesn't see it!!

Why do you think I asked the Dr to put a mute setting in my right side hearing aid.......Oo.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Why do you think I asked the Dr to put a mute setting in my right side hearing aid.......Oo.

So far my hearing hasn't got to the point that I need hearing aids, mine is more of a selective hearing loss, I can tell by the way she says my name whether its for something she want's done, or whether its something that I may have forgotten to do, or if its something that IM GOING TO DO AND NOW!!!

 

[jgillott]

See, I sort of messed myself up in that department. Up until now, I could get away with the "Sorry Honey, I didn't hear you" excuse. Most of the time, I really didn't hear her. Now, she is going to expect me to hear her....leading to a whole lot more work for me.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Just something that doesn't work for me is the " Sorry Honey" a dead give away that I did hear it, and im trying to fool her into thinking that I really didn't.

Same when she starts out the sentence with "Sweetie!!" im in deep deep manure when that comes out first.

 

[Deleted member 995608]

So far my hearing hasn't got to the point that I need hearing aids, mine is more of a selective hearing loss, I can tell by the way she says my name whether its for something she want's done, or whether its something that I may have forgotten to do, or if its something that IM GOING TO DO AND NOW!!!

I'm very familiar with the bi-tones my wife mouths emits as well

 

[CPH]

Here is a good one. I was mig welding under my fifth wheel. I was wearing my helmet,gloves, and coat. A piece of slag popped into my ear. It felt and sounded like a flaming meteor traveling down my ear canal! I was jammed under the rig so it took a while to get out.when I got out my wife looked in my ear with one of those doctor look in your ear things. She saw the little round ball just before my ear drum! we used q-tips and ear wash and finally got it out. It is on a magnet on my fridge. It is a little smaller than the tip of a fine tip pen. Needless to say I now wear foam ear plugs when I weld!