DEADLIEST WORKPLACE: THE FARM

[Brad_Blazer]

This is a 4-part series on farm safety.

Part 1: Deaths on the rise on Minnesota family farms - StarTribune.com

 

[Wagtail]

Ta Mate. A very good and poignant read.

I received all of my safety training via my 40+ years in the Navy... almost to the point of "eye-rolling, not this **** again, pedantic" repetition. And then you'd see some disaster-waiting-to-happen situation that you'd immediately have to stop.

I've now transferred all of that training to my 'retired' living on my property. And still, it's so easy to forget at a frustrated moment.

 

[lakeside]

I served almost 44 years in the Army and heard all the safety lectures over and over again. I was probably more lucky than smart that I never had a serious accident happen during my career. What really made me see the light was when I was working on a pickup battery. Nothing fancy, just checking the fluid levels when I head a pop and one of the battery covers flew over my shoulder. My face was peppered with grit and my skin starting stinging, all except that is where my safety glasses were. A quick wash with a garden hose and I was good to go. If I hadn't been wearing my glasses I would have been on the way to the ER.

A year later I was tired and cutting wood with a chain saw (fatigue and chain saw-bad combination ) I rested the still moving chain on my left thigh only to have my brand new Kevlar chap get all chewed up. Looking down all I saw was the now stopped chain full of Kevlar strands, not blood flowing down my thigh and cut tendons sticking out from the wound. I always wore proper PPE, safety chaps, helmet, Kevlar vest and gloves and steel toed safety boots and the chaps saved the day. Yes I've had people snicker when they see me all dressed up but hey, that's their problem.

When I see people using chain saws in flip flops and jeans I cringe.

Complacency is the worst enemy for folks who've been doing the same thing over and over. A work colleague's dad lost an eye last year, he was (yea was, as he can't work anymore) a carpenter and was making a last cut at the end of the work day. He'd placed his safety glasses on the top of his head and that was when a saw blade tooth came loose and hit him square in the eye.

 

[Oaktree]

I was working on a pickup battery. Nothing fancy, just checking the fluid levels when I head a pop and one of the battery covers flew over my shoulder. My face was peppered with grit and my skin starting stinging, all except that is where my safety glasses were. A quick wash with a garden hose and I was good to go. If I hadn't been wearing my glasses I would have been on the way to the ER.

I had something similar happen to me maybe 25 years ago. Was changing a fuel pump on an F-150. I guess the needle valve in the carb was good and tight because even after sitting overnight (at least) there was still pressure in the line enough to give me a blast of gas in the face when I loosened the line. Usually in those days I'd be wearing contacts, but that day I hadn't put them in yet and was wearing glasses (not safety, just regular prescription), and they saved me from getting it in the eyes.

Complacency is the worst enemy for folks who've been doing the same thing over and over. A work colleague's dad lost an eye last year, he was (yea was, as he can't work anymore) a carpenter and was making a last cut at the end of the work day. He'd placed his safety glasses on the top of his head and that was when a saw blade tooth came loose and hit him square in the eye.

I cringe when I see the number of carpenters (both pro and hobby) who remove the blade guard from their table saw. Yeah, they're kind of a pain and sometimes you have to go without, but I'm always ultra cautious when that need arises. Many years ago I nicked the tip of one finger on the blade. No permanent damage other than the nail growing back kind of funky but it hurt like **** and took a long time to heal. Always used a push stick from then on.

 

[300UGUY]

I had something similar happen to me maybe 25 years ago. Was changing a fuel pump on an F-150. I guess the needle valve in the carb was good and tight because even after sitting overnight (at least) there was still pressure in the line enough to give me a blast of gas in the face when I loosened the line. Usually in those days I'd be wearing contacts, but that day I hadn't put them in yet and was wearing glasses (not safety, just regular prescription), and they saved me from getting it in the eyes.




I cringe when I see the number of carpenters (both pro and hobby) who remove the blade guard from their table saw. Yeah, they're kind of a pain and sometimes you have to go without, but I'm always ultra cautious when that need arises. Many years ago I nicked the tip of one finger on the blade. No permanent damage other than the nail growing back kind of funky but it hurt like **** and took a long time to heal. Always used a push stick from then on.

I've got a friend of mine who has the blade guard removed on his skill saw. He is a carpenter, and justifies it by saying the guard could fail. Scares me to look at it.

 

[tcartwri]

Scares the crap out of me to see my son do stuff. He's 18...so you cannot tell him anything.

...but then I almost had my head taken off by the bush hog two weekends ago... so

 

[buickanddeere]

Try to tell most people about safety or point out missing shields on their equipment here . They get all cranky when somebody try's to keep them , family, employees or bystanders from being crippled or killed.
The image posted here years ago of an older couple with a teen kid sawing wood comes to mind . No belt or pulley shield. No sheild around the shaft , the circular saw was wide open and there was no carriage , table or backstop.

 

[Garandman]

//Yes I've had people snicker when they see me all dressed up but hey, that's their problem.
//

I don't give a fig about what others think of what I wear, because if it wasn't for the gear I'd already be dead.

 

[Looking4new]

I don't give a fig about what others think of what I wear, because if it wasn't for the gear I'd already be dead.

Well at least you can be seen. All it takes to hide a motorcycle is a pencil.
I see some of those people in shorts no shirt and walk on water boots (aka flip flops), then they wonder why they get hurt when they come off the cycle.

 

[yanmars]

All the gear, all the time.