Accident at work today

[atgcpaul]

We've been getting a bunch of safety lectures at work recently. Wear your
safety goggles, wear your lab coats, don't mix this with that or risk explosion,
etc. Unfortunately, these lectures don't extend to the engineers who come
to service our equipment.

I was in one part of the lab when one of the engineers and his sales rep come
rushing out of the tissue culture lab and race out the door. Shortly after, a
postdoc who shares the space with the instrument the engineer was
servicing comes out with this "Oh S***" look on his face. "Dude, they just
went to the hospital. There is blood everywhere. I hear the guy make
this, "Unnnnnnhhhhhh" sound and then he tells his buddy that he needs to go
to the hospital. He just grabbed his hand and clamped down but he was
just dripping blood." Luckily, the hospital is right across the street. The
postdoc, Scott, starts to clean up the lab and I make a 10% bleach solution
to help out.

Scott then says, "Oh man, I think part of his finger is still in there." I could
definitely feel the adrenaline pumping by now. I got one of the lab assistants
to fill a styrofoam cooler with ice and I filled a baggie with ice. By then the
coworker had come back and started to clean, too. I donned some gloves,
took a deep breath, and peaked inside the machine. On top of this metal
platen was the first 1/2" of the underside of the guy's left middle finger. I
picked up the spongy piece of flesh, dropped it in the back, and handed it
to the coworker to bring to the ER.

Scott and I finished cleaning up. It was like CSI. There was some definite
spray happening -- some of the drops landing 2 feet taller than me on the
hood.

Well, I hope the guy is alright. His coworker came to clean up inside the
machine. I use a similar machine and I can totally see how he could have
lost the tip if it moved unexpectedly. The whole thing is one big pinch point.
The coworker said his buddy was still waiting for the hand surgeon to arrive--
4 hours later. I don't know if the finger tip is still good at that point.

Be safe out there--even at work!

Paul

[leehljp]

Sounds like me and about 1/2 inch of my thumb about 30+ years ago.

[cabinetman]

What exactly happened?
.

[atgcpaul]

What exactly happened?
.

I can only surmise because the injured person is not an employee here so I
don't expect a report will be issued to our lab.



This is a picture of the instrument similar to the one he was working on. You
see the beige top, large flat black block, a thin black metal plate, and a blue
metal block.

On their instrument, his figertip was on the thin metal plate which is wider
on theirs than mine. Ours has a protective shroud; theirs does not.

Anyway, I think he had his hand on that plate to steady himself as he looked
into the machine. During operation, the thin metal plate is squeezed
towards the large black block to move up and down with pneumatics running
at 60psi. He probably forgot his hand was there and he allowed the
instrument to move causing his finger to be pinched/sheared off.


Paul

[cabinetman]

So he not the machine was at fault...right? You would think that if he was qualified to stick his head in to look around, he would have known there was no shroud.
.

[atgcpaul]

So he not the machine was at fault...right? You would think that if he was qualified to stick his head in to look around, he would have known there was no shroud.
.

I never blame the machine in these situations just as I don't blame the
program, but the programmer. These are very precise instruments with very
predictable movements (this thing is over $500K). If anyone knew this
machine, it was this guy. I think most accidents happen when you get too
comfortable and complacent. This is probably an example of this. I don't
know if his coworker was involved. Maybe he was "driving" the machine and
inadvertently had it make this movement while his buddy's hand was in the
wrong place. In any case, his hand shouldn't have been there.

Paul

[cabinetman]

I think most accidents happen when you get too
comfortable and complacent. This is probably an example of this.

Paul

The same holds true for woodshop type accidents. Rarely is it the fault of the tool or machine. Many boo boos are during repetitious procedures. I think mainly it's a lack of concentration.
.

[crokett]

The same holds true for woodshop type accidents. Rarely is it the fault of the tool or machine. Many boo boos are during repetitious procedures. I think mainly it's a lack of concentration.
.

Yup. The closest I've come to a serious injury in my shop with a power tool is I was making a rocking horse for my daughter and was rounding over the corners an all the parts - so both sides of a dozen pieces. I was doing it free-hand, that is to say a starter pin in the table to bear against but once it was on the bit, just following the edge of the piece. Anyway, at one point I got some chipout so shut the router off to clear it and made the mistake of reaching my fingers in while the bit was still spinning. I ended up with a shiny spot on my fingernail from the bearing. That was just lack of concentration and my thinking ahead to the next step as opposed to what I was doing then.

[jabe]

I always had a sign in the Woodshop i taught at "Respect the Machines". Whenever I get tired or start making some mistakes, I just stop working and clean up. Everyone stay alert and be safe, there is always enought time to do it right safely. I hope that guy is alright.

[jussi]

The same holds true for woodshop type accidents. Rarely is it the fault of the tool or machine. Many boo boos are during repetitious procedures. I think mainly it's a lack of concentration.
.

Yah some of the videos of professionals using their ww machines scare's the s**t out of me. They're moving so fast and do almost everything free hand except for a fence (no featherboards, push blocks, etc). I don't think I could ever be that comfortable with any machine. I experienced one incident of kick back and that was enough for me.

[Rich P]

Sounds bad but bottom line you can't fix careless or stupid. I personally have a few scars (no missing digits TG) to testify to this. Anytime you are around something sharp, fast, powerful, spinning, etc. take a deep breath and realize you are in harms way and BE FRIGGIN' careful please.

Our local plastics store (Tapp Plastics) apparently has swapped out all their Unisaws for Saw Stops. Aside from the fact that they are trying to sell off the Unisaws for way too much it is probably a good investment in their workmans comp costs.

[cabinetman]

Yah some of the videos of professionals using their ww machines scare's the s**t out of me. They're moving so fast and do almost everything free hand except for a fence (no featherboards, push blocks, etc). I don't think I could ever be that comfortable with any machine. I experienced one incident of kick back and that was enough for me.

I guess I'm one of those guys you don't want to watch. I will say I do use featherboards for critical procedures or narrow cuts. I use (most of the time) a push stick of some sorts when the cut is a hand or less from the fence. I'll add that I wouldn't use those plastic ones they sell, as they can be destructive when caught by the blade. I make mine out of wood or plywood.
.

[cabinetman]

Sounds bad but bottom line you can't fix careless or stupid. I personally have a few scars (no missing digits TG) to testify to this. Anytime you are around something sharp, fast, powerful, spinning, etc. take a deep breath and realize you are in harms way and BE FRIGGIN' careful please.

One of my more severe gashes was from something sharp and pointy, but not moving. Drilling hinge cups, while off, I reached over the top of a door to clear out some debris at the fence, and even though the bit wasn't running at the time, the spur did a number on the back of my hand. Gotta say, blood makes for a great stain.
.