Thread: Workshop Safety !!!!!

You know I consider myself rather safety conscious, I have a hook right on the inside of the doorway to my shop, on it hangs a respirator and safety glasses next to that is a heavy apron...
The stuff goes on every single time I go in the shop, I don't miss, I don't say "oh this will just take a second"...

Regardless I just spent since Tuesday night dealing with a wood chip in the eye, finally today it feels normal agian...

I was re-sawing wood for scales on the table saw, did about 15 different woods and somewhere in all that cutting a small piece went around my glasses and ended up in my left eye...

I figured it would work it's way out, at least I am not dumb enough to rub it.. BTW want your left eye to tear up??? rub your right one...

I tried water flushes I tried drops no luck....

Wed morning still had it in there, and by the time I finished paper work at the office, my eye was really red, and I was getting stuffed up sinuses...
Now with all the exotics I was cutting including some spalted woods, I figured I better get to the doctor before I ended up with an infection...

Sure enough the little bugger had lodged on the edge of my cornea and they had to get it out, not too bad, once they gave me some stinging drops to numb my eye...

Needless to say you can never be to careful and I now have actual goggles, since the safety glasses let me down !!!!
BTW I had good safety glasses, I bought those wrap around DeWalt ones....

Stay Safe !!!!

Glad to hear you let the pros take care of it and that it's back to feeling normal.

Stay safe in there!

Good advice Glen. Safety first above and beyond all else.

Even with the goggles, you run a risk. There is always a risk.
If you spend enough time doing something you'll eventually encounter all the dangers asociated with it.

I have a similar shelf and hook, as should everyone with tools effective enough to kill you. I also have a mandatory minute of reflection before getting to work to get me focussed and in the right frame of mind.

I also have been hurt. It comes with the territory, but should never be invited.

I pretty much say the same in many of my posts when it's about power tools. Safety first.

We should made a sticky note of the dangers involved, what precautions to take and what gear to wear to at least be safe to a certain degree.

The G-Man actually jinxed me, cause when we talked a few days ago he told me what had happened. The next day while I was buffing on my wheels the tinniest compound particle ejected against my safety glasses and made it's way underneath the glasses into my eye.

It just got sucked in. I'm sure Gugi will be able to give a more scientific reason to why but it did surprise me. A combination of pressure and the air flow of the buffing wheel against my glasses I presume.

It just stung, and I consider myself lucky, but it shows that even by wearing some kind of safety gear the unexpected can always happen.

Dan, the G and many other of the pros know exactly what they are talking about. Even Alex cut his thumb up really bad a long time ago and it wasn't a pretty sight either. It can happen to the best off us so who says it won't happen to you.

One word of advise. Don't get over confident and think you're invincible. You're not. Never let your guard down and get to comfortable either when working with power tools.

Good to hear you're ok and on the road back to normal.

+1 on that (both Glen and Max). I had almost the same thing happen to me yesterday while working on a brush... tiny piece got around the safety glasses and right in the eye... didn't rub, but it was really hard to wash out. Also, just got my full respirator today!

Safety First... absolutely

Thanks to ChrisL I picked up my Kevlar sleeves today. I plan on using them. Flying blades are kinda scary.

It isn't just about power tools. One of the scariest things for me is still using a clean cloth to hand buff a blade at any stage. It's how I got my thumb that once I believe and I always pay double attention when doing that now. Glad your eye turned out alright Glen. Good thread.

I put on my glasses, respirator and apron when I hit the shop but, things happen. I was at the indoor range one day doing a little target practice with the 22 autoloader. Had a casing bounce off the divider and find its way through a tiny little opening on my glasses. Well the gun went to the bench and those glasses came off fast but that hot little bugger was already singed and stuck to my cheek. Sometimes, regardless of the steps taken, accidents happen.

FYI, after an extended wood working session, especially if I was turning a bunch of stuff, I hit the shower to get the dust out of my hair and off the skin. It helps minimize the reactions.