Cautionary tales about safety

[ishium 80439]

We are always talking about safety on the job and I heard 2 related stories recently that I wanted share to illustrate how problems can pop up anywhere and have huge consequences. They both have to do with slipping on ice.

My journeyman met a mutual acquaintance about two weeks ago at the supply house and his leg was in a cast. No big giant story just that he went down on some ice walking away from his van and busted his leg.

Today I went into the supply house and my usual guy wasn't there. I knew he had been out for a bit and was curious what happened to him. It turns out that he was walking across the pipe yard and slipped on a patch of ice. He apparently cracked his head so severly that he needed surgery. To make matters worse the surgical team made an error w/ the intubation and damaged his trachea so now he is in the hospital for another few weeks.

I don't know that I have a real point here, just that the most common situations can have dramatic conclusions. Also anyone who walks onto a job (or allows anyone else to walk onto a job) without insurance is nuts.

 

[ultramegabob]

I was loading 1000' reels of Romex onto a truck one winter many years ago, and slipped on the ice and fell on my back hitting my head, and to top it off landed with the reel of wire on my chest knocking all the air out of me and bruising my chest really bad, I think I may have cracked a rib also, but I never got it checked. It was a bad way to start a work day.....

 

[ceb58]

This is not related to ice but one of the worst things I have saw was a reenactment of a accident an elect. had. Elect had a right angle drill with a 14'' auger bit in it, he set the drill on the floor with the bit sticking up. He was then working off of a 6' ladder next to the drill, he lost his balance and fell. The bit went through his eye.

 

[jaylectricity]

There have been a number of times where my eyelid shut just in time to prevent a roaming cable from puncturing it. You know, like a piece of romex hanging down through a hole above my head before it got terminated in the panel or a switch box swings back after you move it out of the way.

Another time I climbed out of a crawl space under a deck and didn't realize how low the deck was. I went to stand straight up and whacked my head good and fell to the ground. No concussion, but I laid there for a bit trying to get my stuff together.

 

[LarryFine]

. . . I laid there for a bit trying to get my stuff together.

Yeah, wirenuts and staples scatter when that happens.

 

[sii]

Our POCO's meter reader tried to climb a pile of snow yesterday to get to one of the meters at our plant. The pile was roughly 9' high and when she got to the top down she went, tumbled all the way back down and nearly knocked herself out. Luckily someone found her and helped her into one of the break rooms to gather herself, it was -2 and I'm not sure how long she would have laid there if someone hadn't come along. Why would a ~55-60 year old woman even attempt that?

My two all-time best (or worst):

Slipped on a patch of ice while out in the iron yard and my knee came down right on the corner of a 10" I-beam that was hidden under the snow. I had a sore knee for the rest of the winter that year.

Once I was running conduit on the ceiling with a scissor-lift and had come down to cut a pipe. I hopped back in the scissor lift to grab something (therefore didn't fasten the safety chain) and someone came by and talked with me for a minute. They left; I proceed back up the the ceiling and realize I forgot my pipe. To the back I went and jumped out, about 12' to the floor.

 

[ptonsparky]

I am getting old. Forgot that I was two steps up on my step ladder when I stepped off with my right leg. Left knee that just does not bend under normal conditons worked real well for several weeks after. Once the soreness went away.

 

[jeremysterling]

Yesterday, I climbed on to the roof of a BBQ joint using my 24' ladder. I placed ladder on a side entrance porch. A car ran into ladder (hit and run) knocking it down and stranding me on roof. Luckily, I was on roof and not on ladder!

 

[ultramegabob]

Yesterday, I climbed on to the roof of a BBQ joint using my 24' ladder. I placed ladder on a side entrance porch. A car ran into ladder (hit and run) knocking it down and stranding me on roof. Luckily, I was on roof and not on ladder!

When I have to work around Drive-thru windows, I park my truck in front of my ladder with the hazzard lights turned on. I also lock the doors below the exit lights when I am working on them, its amazing the people that will see you on the ladder and still push the door open and try to squeeze past you.

 

[One-eyed Jack]

Our POCO's meter reader tried to climb a pile of snow yesterday to get to one of the meters at our plant. The pile was roughly 9' high and when she got to the top down she went, tumbled all the way back down and nearly knocked herself out. Luckily someone found her and helped her into one of the break rooms to gather herself, it was -2 and I'm not sure how long she would have laid there if someone hadn't come along. Why would a ~55-60 year old woman even attempt that?

My two all-time best (or worst):

Slipped on a patch of ice while out in the iron yard and my knee came down right on the corner of a 10" I-beam that was hidden under the snow. I had a sore knee for the rest of the winter that year.

Once I was running conduit on the ceiling with a scissor-lift and had come down to cut a pipe. I hopped back in the scissor lift to grab something (therefore didn't fasten the safety chain) and someone came by and talked with me for a minute. They left; I proceed back up the the ceiling and realize I forgot my pipe. To the back I went and jumped out, about 12' to the floor.

I saw one of my co-workers do your last one. He flapped his arms on the way down. He did not get hurt and we laugh about it still.

 

[ishium 80439]

I was thinking about it and realized that I also had a run in w/ ice. About 5 or 6 years ago I was walking across a canopy at a gas station with box of 4 reels of #12 on my shoulder. It was early morning in October so there was a sheen of frost/ ice everywhere. My foot came out from under me and I landed ribs first into the corner of an I beam (with the weight of the wire adding to the fun and momentum). The beams happened to form an "X" at this point of the roof so I mean the corner, not the edge. I'm pretty sure I broke a rib on that one.

Again it just shows that constant vigilance is required. And again insurance. For this incident I just sat down for a while and took it easy for the next week or so but this very easily could have been much more serious requiring medical attention and time off of work.

 

[dduffee260]

My step son tried to light a fire in his new outdoor fireplace he got for Christmas this year. He used gasoline to start it. The fire went up to the can and exploded. He has recieved 3rd degree burns on both hands. We will not know how bad they are until the next few days. He knew better, he never thought it would happen to him. Anytime you stray from basic safety rules it seems you almost always pay. This all happened last night at 1:00 am by the way.

 

[daleuger]

There have been a number of times where my eyelid shut just in time to prevent a roaming cable from puncturing it. You know, like a piece of romex hanging down through a hole above my head before it got terminated in the panel or a switch box swings back after you move it out of the way.

Took me a few times of that happening to get in the habit of folding the ends back. It's pretty rare that I'm on a romex job though.

 

[dmagyar]

Hacksaw damage

Hacksaw damage

I worked with a guy back in Detroit that cut the tendons on the back of his thumb with a hacksaw, when he went to the hospital to have it repaired they gave him a sedative. When he woke up from the surgery his front teeth were laying on his chest. Four implants and six months later he was back almost to normal.

 

[ceb58]

My step son tried to light a fire in his new outdoor fireplace he got for Christmas this year. He used gasoline to start it. The fire went up to the can and exploded. He has recieved 3rd degree burns on both hands. We will not know how bad they are until the next few days. He knew better, he never thought it would happen to him. Anytime you stray from basic safety rules it seems you almost always pay. This all happened last night at 1:00 am by the way.

That's a bad one to hear about. I hope every thing will work out for him. We are all guilty of the "it wont happen the me" syndrome to bad something this bad has to happen to prove us wrong.

 

[Kdog76]

Working one handed with a right angle grinder. I've seen lots of masons do it while cutting tile or cultured stone. I was on a extension ladder on the side of a straw-bale house. My job with the angle grinder was to even up the sides of the bales. Grinder had a 'lanceolot' blade (looks like a chain-saw blade).

I had one spot to get in a hard to reach place to the right of me. Left hand was on the left side of the ladder. Outstretched my right hand with grinder in motion to get this one spot. Grinder bound up, kicked back, rolled across in front of me and right across the top of my left hand index finger. Left about a 1/4" wide gash about 3" long straight up&down with my finger. Wound was wide across but not deep, too wide really for stitches. What felt better was then they scrubbed that b**** out at the ER. Any deeper they say I would have needed micro surgery to repair tendons. Luckily, no tendon damage, no long term problems. Nasty looking scar.

 

[dduffee260]

That's a bad one to hear about. I hope every thing will work out for him. We are all guilty of the "it wont happen the me" syndrome to bad something this bad has to happen to prove us wrong.

Thanks, he is doing about as well as can be expected by the way. He is in a great burn unit at the hospital. We will know more Monday about how bad the damage is and how long it will take to heal.

 

[Kdog76]

Thanks, he is doing about as well as can be expected by the way. He is in a great burn unit at the hospital. We will know more Monday about how bad the damage is and how long it will take to heal.

My thoughts & prayers do go out to your son.

 

[petersonra]

Ice is nasty. Last year I went out side to get the mail and on the way to the mail box took a little trip to the pavement nose first.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Running cable above a suspended ceiling, move the ladder pull the cable, move the ladder pull the cable, going along when all of a sudden I realize that the suspended ceiling is moving, BLAM down goes the ladder. Luckly I landed on it standing up and didn't get hurt. I'm notorious about checking my ladders when I set them up, but the one time I don't......