Grinding and Health and Safety - contains images of injuries

[type2tattoo]

Good day folks

I know as soon as anyone mentions H & S it makes us all switch off and only scaredy cats and girls wear safety gear because it just doesn't look cool, Its a bit late for me but I have rethought it :?

I seem to have gone deaf and it is seriously not cool, I keep saying 'what?' have to use subtitles on the TV or have it so loud I'm sure it pees the neighbours off. I got myself checked and it seems I have lost the higher pitch part of my hearing so cant hear ss's and tt's etc and everyone seems to be mumbling :? I also have tinnitus

They asked me if I had been subjected to any loud noises in the last couple of years and as I havn't been out much the only noise has been grinding, at times this was so loud it really made my ears ring so I think thats whats responsible.

I am now going to have to get a hearing aid and I'm not 50 yet

So people don't take chances, protect your ears x x x

 

[gninnam]

Wise words about protecting your ears.

My right ear is really bad (been told I should really wear a hearing aid!!) caused by too load noise over the years and using any power tools over a prolonged period is not clever if you are not protecting your ears (and eyes).

 

[ozziedog]

Oh mate, so sorry to hear that. I just thought that was something from years ago when I was a youngster that we didn`t bother. I think nowdays most people actually do bother. I`m not gonna bore you with all my grinder related visits to the eye hospital back in my building days, but I do wear my eye protection now and if I`m grinding for more than a few seconds and I really mean 1 , 2 , 3 , then I`ll have my ear plugs in and my defenders over the top. We haven`t had a Health and Safety thread on here for ages and ages and maybe we could do with one every so often and peeps tell there horror stories. From memory there was one last year about a wire brush on a dremel that lost a bristle into someones eye just prior to a trip and all because the dirty bbq and the dremel caught his attention at the same time. I had one a while back where the grinder grabbed as I was cutting / grinding something and whizzed off slicing up the middle of my thumb as it went, luckily I had my gauntlets on and they took the brunt of it and ended up with a two inch gash that could have been a loss of thumb. But there ain`t no prizes for being in control of power tools etc etc etc without some protection. I`d like to think that other peeps will add to this thread, perhaps we could re title it ??

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Just think about it, :mrgreen:

 

[gvee]

I've already got tinnitus in one ear and the noise of the grinder is essentially painful to me because of this so I use either earplugs or big ear defenders. I need to buy myself some new eye protection though because last time I used my goggles a spark managed to sneak it's way underneath and singe my lower eyelid. Stung like a...

As my dad always tells me: you only get one pair of eyes, cherish them!

I guess the same goes for ears too 8)

 

[wookie]

I'm a private Hearing Aid Audiologist and see many people each week who have a hearing loss due to industrial noise etc and I can only echo what type2tattoo says you need to wear hearing protection. These days health & safety is all over noise levels at work so I expect I will see less people in the future with a work related loss but more from leisure type losses such as car restorations. I must admit that I cringe the number of times that I'm on the train and hear someone with an ipod blasting out music which everyone can clearly hear! I always think to myself that I'll be seeing them in the future and fitting some hearing aids to them!

On the plus side it's more business for me! and hearing aids are so much more advanced than people think with Bluetooth etc but no matter how advanced hearing aids become there is no substitute for your own hearing and when it's gone, it's gone! Anyway I'll get off my soapbox and stop ranting :!:

Actually I won't! get some hearing protection guys ! we can do some really cool custom made noise reduction plugs for musicians, motorcyclists etc but if you're grinding and panel beating for long periods then double up with some of these or some earplugs and some headphone type hearing protection, you can't be too careful !!

 

[antoine]

got to agree with you all, i paid minimal attention for a while then remembered all my H&S training from working on building sites, coupled with various pains i ended up investing in all sorts of nice new PPE and i can safely say from the state of my goggles that iv missed out on all sorts of agony, I gave my dad the lecture when he decided to fix my bumper and as usual he ignored it and ended up paying a number of visits to A&E, you would have thought he would have learned after the first time.

so stay safe kids, goggles and ear defenders may not look cool but its better than missing out on being able to see your lovely shiny van or hear the freshly rebuilt engine.

 

[moler]

I work in the petrochemical industry, and we have some of the strictest H&S rules, especially when it comes to PPE. I've used hearing protection for most of my working life when in a noisy environment, but I still suffer from some lose to my right ear, power tool related I'm sure!

Having these rules instilled into me means I insist on the people around wearing PPE too, sharing a lock-up means we can sometimes have quite a few visitors, so either I don't grind, they have to go outside, or they wear ears plugs.

On the PPE front I'm lucky because at work we have free issue PPE vending machines, gloves, glasses, goggles, masks, etc, etc, and we're allowed to bring it home as we're expected to protector ourselves at all times while doing DIY or whatever too.

So eyes, ears and hands have been mentioned, what about your lungs? we've all had 'black snot' haven't we not? I always use a good dust mask when doing any sustained grinding, and so should you.

 

[ozziedog]

Very good point with the black snot :shock: :shock: :shock: Now there ain`t too much grinding going on without the accompaniment of the aforementioned black stuff. Does look rather cool sliding down the wall of your shower though :roll: or is that just me then :lol:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,WAIT a minute,, some of that is in my lungs , right next to the golden V , :shock: :mrgreen: :shock:

 

[Gadget Boy]

Just to reiterate whats already been said , I have tinnitus from using a angle grinder at 16 yrs old ..... When ever I hear a loud noise etc it comes back......

Just so you know an angle grinder at full speed emits 114 decibels .... That means that with it running and grinding for 7 seconds then your hearing is getting permanantly damaged .

I also have a 3 inch scar on my left wrist which was caused by an angle grinder .... I wear full PPE when in the workshop i.e long gauntlets , good eye goggles ( Not glasses) and fully enclosed ear defenders and when grinding a face mask.....

Yes its a pain to put it all on but having suffered various injurys over the years I never do a job without it

Gadget

 

[jjbay79]

as far as health and safety goes its never worth the risk to ignore it and for all the care and attention we lavish on our vans we tend to neglect the most important thing which is ourselves.

 

[bertiethebus]

Remember even a dishwasher can be seriously dangerous.....

Best left to the house professional (our lass)

And when she says its infected,,,,,,

Shes usually right!

Stay safe guys and gals, stay out of the kitchen :lol: :lol:

Makes scary reading above thread as i have tinkered on my bus and really took the piss with personal protection

 

[ZedBed]

and tinnitus... Mine was rehearsing with a band in a 12 x 10 ft room with a nutter drummer.

 

[bertiethebus]

Mmmmm 1mm cutting disc?
:msn4:

 

[lcfmonkey]

Great advice and reminders on what we should be doing but those pictures really put me off me tea! I'm going wrapped up in a suit of armour next time!! :msn4:

 

[ozziedog]

Great advice and reminders on what we should be doing but those pictures really put me off me tea! I'm going wrapped up in a suit of armour next time!! :msn4:

^^^ that`s probably a good idea, metaphorically speaking of course, :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,, P.E. is the modern version :mrgreen:

 

[Pete B]

Nice one fella, done much the same myself several times! Isn't the human body just so amazing at how it can repair itself following such abuse??!!

The recomendation for masks when using a grinder has woken me up a bit, have always thought the black bogies were just a part of the game, but of course the rest of that shit has entered your breathing tract and contaminated your lungs big time.
The only problem I have with dust masks relates to the last time I used one and removed it from my mouth to place it on my forehead for a breather. Somehow one end of elastic came loose along with the metal staple which twatted me in the right eye big style. Three days off work (self employed so no income) and no sleep for that time due to the discomfort have made me think again. A full face screen has to be the way forward. And then goggles behind the screen....

Have to say though, sometimes when needing to make accurate cuts, big cumbersome gauntlets can be a hinderance due to the lack of 'feel'. Getting comfortable and having your arms rested on something sturdy pays huge dividends whether cutting, grinding or welding.

 

[gvee]

Ugh, those pictures make me want to vom..!

I've done some gnarly stuff myself but have never had the opportunity nor desire to document it :lol:

 

[moler]

Yeah those dust masks with elastic head straps are pretty awful, I use ones very much like THESE they last much longer, and no pesky elastic to snap

 

[Telford Mulisha]

Had a nasty accident a few years back involving compressed air at work (one side of a cylinder was still energised after isolating the supply), a few of us have compressors at home and lot of guys are using air now for suspension set-ups so please show it some respect.

It cost me a broken jaw and 2 teeth. Cost my employer £4k on dentist bills.

Seriously compressed air can be dangerous.

I'm not prone to accidents honestly, but............. I made a nice new door for my shed, and you know when a wood saw flexes and bends sometimes on a down stroke? Well it did and my nice new door got blood stained!!! This honestly hurt more than my mouth, I was a service engineer at the time and I couldn't go out on any breakdowns cause i couldn't hold a spanner, my gaffer at the time was well impressed! :lol:

Stay safe :!:

 

[Pete B]

:shock: Wanna hurl.