Safety First

<steps up to the soapbox>

   Safety First ...

Great to preach but ONLY effective if put into use!  This hold true for most aspects of life ...  We talk a LOT about safety on the water & while driving to/from events but rarely touch base on safety while working on various projects ... such as rigging on your kayak (& such).

WEAR EYE PROTECTION!  I've been working with metal, wood & plastics/fiberglass since I was ~5 years old growing up in my grandparents furniture refinishing business in Salinas.  Safety First was taught, but never REALLY practiced (by me at least).  The years of eye protection on being for those who wear regular glasses & gloves for those who have "sissy hands".  I've had some close calls with things being kicked up in my face & eyes followed by "well, that was a close call".

This weekend proved the nail in the coffin.  Just finished a weld & promptly grabbed the grinder to make a quick touch up/prep followed right up with another weld.  Didn't reach for the safety glasses thinking "its just a quick grind".  Well....  managed to kick a, nearly red hot, spark right into my left eyeball where it promptly "melted" into place.  Another couple mm to the left & it would have been dead center BULLSEYE & that would have, or could have been all she wrote for left eye vision.  Managed to get it taken out & hopefully no long term effects but a hard lesson to learn.

Out of all the protection I'm becoming a stickler for eye & ear & gloves when handling chemicals NOW.  I can't fix the past but I CAN preach for those who have yet to repeat my mistakes!

Don't do as I have done!

Close call buddy  ..........glad you are OK.
I'm nice since I drank this weekend 

Close call buddy  ..........glad you are OK.
I'm nice since I drank this weekend 

Glad you're not a quitter!

Damn!!

Be careful Bill!!

Glad you are OK!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Did the eye doctor use the tinny ice cream scoop to get it out?  That is what they used on me one time.   NOT FUN AT ALL!!! 
Glad to hear you are OK.

Aaron

I've always been the same way, work hard and get hurt.  Well my boss told me no more accidents or he's firing everyone and hiring independent contractors to replace us! (Only half jokingly!!!). This right after he canceled our health insurance!!! Doh!!!  Now I'm all about the safety!

Guess this is why we have duplicates of (most) body parts & those that aren't duplicated can be replaced?!  All seriousness ....  be careful out there guys & gals.  Luckily I'm still in one piece, with 10 fingers, 10 toes & no glasses ... yet

Yikes! I hope you heal up quickly.

I've been guilty too. I used to make pipe stems and nearly put a red hot iron (used to bore the stem out) into my left eye. Managed instead to burn off most of one eyebrow.

My advice on PFDs has always been "get the one you think looks the coolest since you'll wear it".

 I finally put it into safety goggle practice and got some groovy (while properly specc'd) safety eyewear. paid for itself the first time a dremel sanding drum de-laminated and flew into my face at 3000 rpms.

Yikes! I hope you heal up quickly.

I've been guilty too. I used to make pipe stems and nearly put a red hot iron (used to bore the stem out) into my left eye. Managed instead to burn off most of one eyebrow.

My advice on PFDs has always been "get the one you think looks the coolest since you'll wear it".

 I finally put it into safety goggle practice and got some groovy (while properly specc'd) safety eyewear. paid for itself the first time a dremel sanding drum de-laminated and flew into my face at 3000 rpms.

I managed to burn my eyelashes off one eye (the same one as yesterday) earlier this year with a blow torch while doing some large soldering.  Meh, hair grows back ....

+1 on the good reminder, Bill.

...paid for itself the first time a dremel sanding drum de-laminated and flew into my face at 3000 rpms.

I had the same thing happen to me! It made a weird scar that eventually faded away...   

I used to never wear gloves or safety glasses. I wear it all the time now. I'm deaf already, what if I lose my hands or god forbid, my eyes? Deaf and blind is no joke. Good advice.