Shop and home safety

[trukcrazy]

Here is a topic I thought was worth bringing up. Having been exposed to industrial construction and its safety programs, I have changed the way I work on projects around the house. Whereas i used to crawl under vehicles supported by bumper jacks with no eye or hand protection, I consider myself fortunate I never had a major incident. It may not amount to much, but at least wear Z87 shatter resistant eyeglasses and, if you can stand them, steel-toed boots. I tend to wear these doing any work around the house( yardwork, home improvement, etc.). It is amazing how much these two pieces of PPE help. Hand protection when possible is a good idea, too. We all know not to get under anything unless it is supported properly. Just in case no one has given it much thought and an opportunity to share ideas with each other.

[crazy larry]

It's amazing to me, that i haven't been seriously hurt or worse, just doing things i do. worst I've had is the good old corneal abrasion from grinding without eye protection. and i've (we've) only got two of them (eyes) to last us a lifetime. I could live without a toe, but i'd hate to be blind.

['75-4x4guy]

ya I too have had things get in the eye from not working with the correct safety gear .
Even had a car fall on me (escort wagon) not fun .
The point of the hobby is to improve your truck/car without bodily injury
Be safe everyone !

[Mohillbilly]

Working around batteries is alot more dangerous than we realise also. I once saw a motorcycle ignited by a spark from an arc welder. It blew parts as far as 30 feet, and nearly broke the leg of a passerby. I'd hate to see what an auto battery could do.

[trukcrazy]

Also, while under anything, either mono-goggles or a full face shield would be a good idea. Also while grinding. I have seen batteries explode and they spray acid and schrapnel all under the hood, so that wouldn't be good either. I am glad you brought that up. Thanks, John.

[greenbank]

This may mark me as a wimp, but I use disposable nitrile gloves for all shop work. Not only do your hands stay clean but there are a lot of chemicals in car work which aren't really stopped by the skin and do great damage to your liver. Laquer thinner is near the top of that list but gas ain't too friendly, either.

I also switched over to using citrus-based solvents in my parts washer, and not only does it stink a lot less, they're benign enough to dunk your hands in (though, again, I wear gloves). There also is not a fire hazard with them.

Cars dropping on me freak me out so I've always used appropriate jack stands...no cinder blocks or just jacks for me.

[flyboy2610]

Never solder while barefoot.

[FORDification]

Here's one: Never weld with frayed-cuff blue jeans! Back in high school welding class I usually wore blue jeans which I bought an inch too long and then I'd cut that inch off, so the bottom of the legs would be frayed. (Don't ask! ) I was wearing those one day, along with a pair of cowboy boots, welding out in the shop's driveway in the sun. My foot/ankle started getting warm, but since I had my welding hood on and in the middle of welding, I just ignored it, figuring it was because my foot was in the sun. After it started getting UNCOMFORTABLY warm I finally flipped up the hood and looked down to see my pants leg on fire!

No injuries here, but I DID have to finish out that day of school with a slighly charred pair of jeans and melted boots.

[Comet]

I've been to the ER twice with stuff in my eyes. I mean real bad stuff, not floating, but stuck in my eyeball! The irony is, both times I was wearing saftey goggles, but the fan from the machines I was using blew stuff in my eyes both times. Now I'm so freaked out I wear a flame suit and crash helmet everywhere I go. Just ask the guys that have met me!

[jor]

Years ago I had a battery blow up almost directly in my face. It was very cold that early morning in New Mexico. The two vehicles in question were a VW Notchback with a dead 6v battery and a 59 1 ton 4WD Chevy 12v. I got the bright idea to jump the six from the twelve. I hooked up the batteries and started the truck. I got in the VW to give it a go. Nothing. I leaned over into the back seat (the battery was under the rear cushion) and (this is where it started going south on me) moved the positive jumper clamp just a hair. Immediately (time was slowing down at this point) I heard a boiling sound and, at the same time, heard a little snap! Simultaneously, the battery exploded. It was like putting your ear next to a cannon. Anyhow, I remember the sound and the feeling of wet accompanied by chunks of plastic hitting my face. Out of the car and over to the water! Washed my face real well and amazingly, no damage. After I recovered my equanimity (and the ringing in my ears became tolerable) I moseyed over to the VW. The whole top of the battery was gone and there were pieces of battery everywhere. Both the positive and negative poles were hanging there, naked from the waist up. I (very carefully, almost gingerly) unhooked the jumper cables. I figured, what the heck, and turned the key. It was about 20 degrees out and at that temp the old VW would usually just ground away for a few seconds but this time, that four banger spun around like crazy and fired right up. I cleaned up all the batter acid, drove it into Albuquerque and bought me a shiny new battery. The guy thought I had an interesting core. Anyhow, ever since I have been pretty careful around batteries.
jor

[67F250CS]

Heres my " Stupid Truck Trick"
About a year after I got my truck, the fuel pump went out. I put on an electric and it worked fime for a few months. Well one day the truck wouldnt start. Just clicking. So I pop the hood and the smell of gas was overwheling and I could hear the pump trying to pump more gas. So in my infinite wisdom I pull 1 plug and sure enough the cylinder is full of gas.
So I pull them all thinking I could use the starter to pump out the cylinders. Well it turned over and 8 fire balls shot out and lit my carport up like a nightime raid on Iwo Jima using Napom . Talk about scary!!. Thank God the only thing hurt was my feelings. I forgot to disconnect the coil and she lit. It turns out the good old worn out iginition switch was left on just enough to let power to the pump and the worn out float in the carb let all that gas right into the manifold and fill it up with premium. I couldnt hear right for a few days. After the fire ball died downthough and cleaning off the fire extinguisher dust. ( I keep one in the truck ALWAYS) , The truck actually started right up and after changing oil and the ignition switch I drove it like nothing happened. So thats the reason our intakes are 390 pounds. Anything else would have flown off the engine.

[Faithful Old Road Dog]

Of all my years of wrenching, I would say that I just started wearing gloves in the past few years. It actually started when I was painting. Just got tired of scrubbing paint off my hands. They also save time cleaning grease of my hands, too. Laquer thinner works, but I know it can be bad news in the long run. When I did my plumbing jobs, other guys would make comments when I wore a dust mask. It didn't bother me a bit 'cause I couldn't stand all the dust the other guys kicked up. I would always wear safety glasses as well. I'm glad this topic came up 'cause I've been getting lazy on the safety glasses. I used to wear them all the time when wrenching. One day I went to a friend's house to rebuild a Holley carb. I didn't bring my glasses. He asked if I needed some and I stupidly declined. Well, of course I got a good stream of B-12 in my eye. Felt like it was on fire. When they say flush with water for 15 minutes, they mean it! It still burned and my vision was blurred. It looked like I was looking through a piece of waxed paper. I was really bummed because it was my shooting eye. I looked in the mirror as my friend drove me to the hospital and my whole eye was brown. The doc put a suction cup deal connected to a small hose and ran two bags of saline through it. My eye returned back to normal in a couple of days. Thanks for this safety post!

[69F110]

In the Army, we have a saying:

"Safety is a combat multiplier". which means that if we apply safety measures as well as preventive measures as the norm, then when we are under fire, and under pressure, those safety measures will become second nature, thus saving not only your life, but your battle buddy as well.

People can laugh all they want about your safety measures, but believe me, when your on a live fire range with your soldiers and employing your weapons, such as the MK-19 40mm grnade launcher, the M60 machine gun (7.62mm), the M249 machine gun (5.56mm), the M4 carbine (5.56mm), and your 9mm pistol (all at the same time by the way). Now throw in crazy scenarios that require you to react to an unknown enemy, engage from the mounted position (in the HMMWV), dismount while still laying down suprresive fire, engage your weapon, knowing when to lift and shift fire, what signals are given for cease fire, lift, shift or lift and shift...and on and on.

When you do that in training over and over and you all come out unscathed...yeah, safety has a big role in everything you do.

Famous last words " I knew that was gonna happen!" or "Crap, I saw that one coming!"

Don't be a statistic, be safe, set the standard, and enforce that standard!

[91Bear]

Whew! I used nitrile gloves yesterday when under my car changing my oil and I was afraid some "real" mechanic would drive by and laugh at me.

I HATE getting dirt, oil and grime on my hands.

Now that I know some of you "real" mechanics wear them, I don't feel so bad.

[Faithful Old Road Dog]

Safety equipment is more common in shops these days. I take no shame in wearing nitrile gloves. Just don't let anyone catch you wearing dishwashing gloves!