Should you wear safety goggles? Hmmmmm, here's and example.

[MARTINSR]

We have a company that comes by to oversee our process, they are called "Verifax" and have done a lot of good stuff to keep us on the straight and narrow. One of the things they do is safety meetings and that sort of thing. They recently put a big push on wearing safety goggles, EVERYONE wearing safety goggles. A lot of the guys have reluctently started wearing them, even when the Verifacts inspection guy is here. :rolleyes: Today they REALLY paid off for one of the painters. He did the old trick of putting his finger over the nozzle and pulling the trigger to make the air go back up the gun into the cup and blow out any debris in the passage. He was jambing a hood and probably using an old gun or something. Anyway, we use those plastic mixing ratio cups that go right on the top of the gun after you put the paint in. They have a little cap at the top that you have to open once it's on the gun so the cup has air to allow the paint to go out thru the gun. He had it closed, so when he put his finger over the nozzle the cup BLEW APART! It blew clear all over him, the hood, and everything around him.

Thank goodness he had his glasses on, check them out, how do you think it would feel with clear in your eyes?

And don't say "but he was doing something stupid", we all do every day, we make little mistakes and avoid hurting our self. But sometimes we get hurt bad, it happens all the time.

Wear your safety equipment!

Brian

[Mooch]

We have a company that comes by to oversee our process, they are called "Verifax" and have done a lot of good stuff to keep us on the straight and narrow. One of the things they do is safety meetings and that sort of thing. They recently put a big push on wearing safety goggles, EVERYONE wearing safety goggles. A lot of the guys have reluctently started wearing them, even when the Verifacts inspection guy is here. :rolleyes: Today they REALLY paid off for one of the painters. He did the old trick of putting his finger over the nozzle and pulling the trigger to make the air go back up the gun into the cup and blow out any debris in the passage. He was jambing a hood and probably using an old gun or something. Anyway, we use those plastic mixing ratio cups that go right on the top of the gun after you put the paint in. They have a little cap at the top that you have to open once it's on the gun so the cup has air to allow the paint to go out thru the gun. He had it closed, so when he put his finger over the nozzle the cup BLEW APART! It blew clear all over him, the hood, and everything around him.

Thank goodness he had his glasses on, check them out, how do you think it would feel with clear in your eyes?

And don't say "but he was doing something stupid", we all do every day, we make little mistakes and avoid hurting our self. But sometimes we get hurt bad, it happens all the time.

Wear your safety equipment!

Brian

To me those aren't goggles just safety glasses . I always wear goggles because i wear glasses .

I would hate to know what clear would do if it did hit you in the eyes .

Mooch

[MARTINSR]

You are absolutely right Mooch, they are just glasses, I saw that after posting.

Brian

[ARDan]

Still a very good point. I kick myself everytime I dampen a rag with solvent or thinner and forget (or neglect) to put gloves on.

[Cameron]

I've said this before, probably on this site too... there's a sign in my garage that says

"safety only takes a minute, an accident happens in a second... you do the math"

I think about that every time I'm about to "just do something quickly".

Good post regarding goggles... eyes are for life.

[MARTINSR]

What is really funny Cameron is it takes MUCH less than a minute to put on goggles. I have done some time studies for instance in driving thru traffic at different speeds for fuel economy, this has opened my eyes like nothing else has. The time we spend putting down the die grinder and to walk across the garage to get goggles and put them on and come back pickup the die grinder and get to work? How about 20 seconds! TWENTY SECONDS is what we are talking about! We have such a distorted image of time. Try going to the bathroom or changing your shoes or something, often less than a minute for either!

I just walked over to the kitchen and set a stop watch on the counter. Hit the button, walked to my closet opened the door picked out a pair of tennis shoes, went back to the kitchen and put them on, tying the laces not fast, in fact probably slower than I usually do. After tying them stood up and walked over to the counter where the stop watch was to see 32 seconds. THIRTY TWO SECONDS to go get my tennis shoes and put them on and back to "work".

You are saving SECONDS by not putting on the proper safety equipment to protect yourself from injury. But what is just as important is to put it on to save yourself from exposer to harmful things like dust, fumes, chemicals on the skin, that sort of thing. Those things aren't like a chunk of metal in the eye, they are like building that chunk of metal in your lungs or veins. Building a piece of metal in your body one molecule at a time. Taking the 20 seconds to put that respirator or gloves keeps you from building that piece of metal or pint of paint in your body.

I don't know about you but damn I love this life, I am going to try my best to wear out my welcome on this earth.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

And it comes to more than eyes you need to protect.

To give you an example of what I am talking about I was pulling apart my top frame from my car on a rack out in the driveway tonight. I had been removing parts from the top just standing there unscrewing screws and removing parts. I had to kneel down to remove some rubber pieces and I was about to kneel on driveway to do it. This was "only a few screws" and I could have easily just did it. But I care about my body and went into the garage and got my foam kneeling pad. It's a kids "wave board" for playing in the pool, I got it years ago for one of my kids and one day started using it for this. I keep it in the exact same spot every time I put it back so there is no looking for it. As soon as I decided to go get it I started counting off seconds "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three" and it took me 11 seconds to go and get that pad and drop it on the ground to kneel on, eleven seconds!

We are talking about seconds to protect our bodies, I feel I'm worth it.

Brian

[fireboat]

Safety is one of those things that you will never know in advance if it will make a difference or not, only after it is too late. Too bad we don't acquire wisdom while we are young, it seems it is only through the school of hard knocks that we learn sometimes. Your story unfortunately reminds me of my son's friend who just lost his sight in one eye several weeks ago while working at the local park. He was doing routine work when the grounds crew drove the mower by about 50-feet away and hit a rock that flew and hit him in the eye, damaging his retina and optic nerve from the concussion impact. Here is a good looking, fit and smart 22yo kid but his life is forever changed. I already wore hearing protection and a dust mask when doing my yard, but now I wear safety glasses too. And if a neighbor is mowing their yard, I now make it a point to not to look in that direction.

As far as painting goes, before I even open a can of paint, I put gloves, organic filter mask and eye protection on. Then to paint; a suit, fresh air system and hood, even for small things. If only I did all that when I was young!

[Hot Rod Mike]

I agree w/all aspects of this safety thread. In the old days it was considered "macho" to do several of those jobs w/o any safety equipment, but now we are smarter hopefully & wear gloves or safety glasses/goggles. But what about hearing protection ? How many people do you see wearing no hearing protection when cutting the grass ? or using a chain saw/weed wacker/leaf blower ? I wear my hearing protection any time I turn on an air tool in the garage for the most part.

I still see a lack of wearing ear protection on many of the shows on TV. I don't visit any body shops or have the need to, but I am religious about wearing hearing protection as I am about gloves, safetry glasses & respirators.

Be smart,
Mike.

[MARTINSR]

I agree w/all aspects of this safety thread. In the old days it was considered "macho" to do several of those jobs w/o any safety equipment, but now we are smarter hopefully & wear gloves or safety glasses/goggles. But what about hearing protection ? How many people do you see wearing no hearing protection when cutting the grass ? or using a chain saw/weed wacker/leaf blower ? I wear my hearing protection any time I turn on an air tool in the garage for the most part.

I still see a lack of wearing ear protection on many of the shows on TV. I don't visit any body shops or have the need to, but I am religious about wearing hearing protection as I am about gloves, safetry glasses & respirators.

Be smart,
Mike.

I have a few pairs of these "work tunes" OSHA approved ear protection with an AM/FM radio in them.


They're great for lawn mowing or working around the shop.

I was just looking for a photo of the ones I have on line and I found that they have them now with an MP3. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Worktu.../dp/B006NXZXQE
But honestly there are enough radio stations I don't need that. But I could see someone listening to an audio book or a number of different things like I do on my IPOD when I hike.

Brian

[CoolasIce]

I always ear plugs when I use a 4 1/2" grinder to sand, cut, or grind something because that thing is L_O_U_D.
I usually continue to wear the plugs even after I'm done because the silence is nice.6231-300.jpg

[Cameron]

Yep, safety is probably one of the most important things to me; should be for others too but that's their choice.

With regard to hearing, I have some personal experience in this area. I play bagpipes, and anyone who's been around a piper knows that they're loud. At the end of the chanter (the wooden part that the piper holds to play the notes) it's not unusual for 105 db. I know this, and I've measured so the number is reliable. Anyway, my point is when a piper practices, it's really loud and I practice almost daily.

10 years ago I went to my local hearing aid provider and had custom hearing protection made. Essentially a custom model of each inner ear is taken and a very small, COMFORTABLE insert is made, exactly like an inner ear hearing aid. With it comes a tiny insertable filter that is in 5, 10 or 25 db reduction amounts. I use the 25 db ones. The really nice part about this is that the db reduction is completely flat as is you hear full spectrum sound, just quieter (ie: 5, 10 or 25 db reduction) not muffled like other hear protection. FYI, a 6 db increase or reduction to your ear is an "apparent" doubling (or halving) to sound to your ear. My very long winded comment is, I wear these same earplug because they're super comfortable, you can hear perfectly but just quieter, and they're not like the foam plugs that make your ears feel like they'll burst. When I wear them, I often forget I have them in. The cost of mine $125.00 Think about how much we spend on tools, paints, supplies.. you name it. $125 for a pair, an absolute screaming deal...

So, fwiw, my 2 cents.

Cameron

[MARTINSR]

Yep, safety is probably one of the most important things to me; should be for others too but that's their choice.

With regard to hearing, I have some personal experience in this area. I play bagpipes, and anyone who's been around a piper knows that they're loud. At the end of the chanter (the wooden part that the piper holds to play the notes) it's not unusual for 105 db. I know this, and I've measured so the number is reliable. Anyway, my point is when a piper practices, it's really loud and I practice almost daily.

10 years ago I went to my local hearing aid provider and had custom hearing protection made. Essentially a custom model of each inner ear is taken and a very small, COMFORTABLE insert is made, exactly like an inner ear hearing aid. With it comes a tiny insertable filter that is in 5, 10 or 25 db reduction amounts. I use the 25 db ones. The really nice part about this is that the db reduction is completely flat as is you hear full spectrum sound, just quieter (ie: 5, 10 or 25 db reduction) not muffled like other hear protection. FYI, a 6 db increase or reduction to your ear is an "apparent" doubling (or halving) to sound to your ear. My very long winded comment is, I wear these same earplug because they're super comfortable, you can hear perfectly but just quieter, and they're not like the foam plugs that make your ears feel like they'll burst. When I wear them, I often forget I have them in. The cost of mine $125.00 Think about how much we spend on tools, paints, supplies.. you name it. $125 for a pair, an absolute screaming deal...

So, fwiw, my 2 cents.

Cameron

Cameron, thank you so much, that is really some great info. I never knew there was such a thing, very, very interesting. I may just look into a pair of those.

Brian

[Cameron]

HI Brian

no problem, happy to pass along info. Here's the ones I have.

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/erme.html

There are a few different types on the market but these were the Cadillac when I got mine. There are some less expensive ones but I can say these have stood up for more than 10 years and are used almost daily. They're easy to clean and the silicone material that they're made of has not deteriorated in any way. I've since passed this same info on to several members of my bagpipe band and other pipers have had equally good experiences. I bought the model ER-25, although the filter can be switched to any of them if need be.

For me getting these for piping rehearsal and practice was a "no-brainer". I guess what I've come to realize is that I use them so frequently now during noisy work that they're often the first tool I turn to. (you GOTTA try them on a plane too... talk about GREAT!)

oh, fwiw, I have no investment in this company or any affiliation. I just read my post and it really does sound like spam. It's not.

Cameron

[another2centsworth]

And it comes to more than eyes you need to protect.

To give you an example of what I am talking about I was pulling apart my top frame from my car on a rack out in the driveway tonight. I had been removing parts from the top just standing there unscrewing screws and removing parts. I had to kneel down to remove some rubber pieces and I was about to kneel on driveway to do it. This was "only a few screws" and I could have easily just did it. But I care about my body and went into the garage and got my foam kneeling pad. It's a kids "wave board" for playing in the pool, I got it years ago for one of my kids and one day started using it for this. I keep it in the exact same spot every time I put it back so there is no looking for it. As soon as I decided to go get it I started counting off seconds "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three" and it took me 11 seconds to go and get that pad and drop it on the ground to kneel on, eleven seconds!

We are talking about seconds to protect our bodies, I feel I'm worth it.

Brian

I knew I was saving that for some reason. Thanks Brian. 8)