Risks ..

[woodndesign]

... are we only safe when we're asleep .. Life is a risk ... The likelihood of Ison hitting Us over the next day or so is never .. but Earth passes near the orbit and the mass dragged behind it could create a meteor shower or too ...

So our turning risks, just opening the door to the workshop .. not it falling off .. we all work alone .. how do you cover yourself, whistles, bells, lights, phone call !!! when you're out cold on the floor .. can you rely on the wife/someone looking in should it appear quiet, but what's quiet with the lathe/extractor still running, the wife tells me she hears no noise at all should I be working.

I recently read 'what if you super glued yourself to the lathe/workpiece and the de-bonder was across the shop' .. if you even have some .. .. have it next to the glue with the lid off, it's not a one handed job to remove if it happens.

The risks involved with any equipment or tool in our shops is enough, if not for safety and guards, but only so much as we know can be guarded, Jet lathes have a form of guard it comes with a price, but the lathe, as we know it, if not the whole lot we work with could be banded on risk ... everything to be automated .. Copy and CNC turning lathes are out there.

We need to be aware of the dangers before we turn on any tool .. even for that 5 minute job .. that's the one that gets you.

Feed for thought...  David

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Hi David,
          the fact that our members are talking about it shows that they are managing or looking at managing the risks involved with wood turning. But risk assessment is not a new phenomenon, think of the green cross code, that was a risk assessment by any other name.
 I have just done a RA for a forthcoming project that I am involved with, part of that includes the kettle!! Now don't laugh,there must be one or two of us that can remember when kettles had whistles, who though, will admit to nearly lifting the lid ,once it had boiled,on an electric kettle? I know I did. For those of you that demonstrate around the clubs, who hasn't gone for the off switch on the wrong end of the lathe because theirs is on the other end?
     I can remember a few years ago tripping over backwards in my workshop and ending up wedged between the lathe and a pile of wood, unable to reach my mobile to call for help, even if I could have stopped laughing.
But I was young and fit in those days, now,if something similar happened it could end with more serious results.
     So we will never have,and I don't think want,a risk free environment.( I used to be a rock climber) But what we can do, and probably do do,is risk assess subconsciously all day long. I will be wending my way to the workshop any minute now and I know that the leaves on the path are treacherous when wet, I will still walk down the path though but I will insist that SHMBO reassesses the H&S implications of herleaves on my path!!
Keep safe
Regards
John BHT

[Richard Findley]

Health and Safety. What a minefield!

I come from woodworking industry and because I worked for my Dad, I was working on and off there (in school holidays etc) from the age of about 12. It was made very clear however that several of the machines could not be used until I reached the grand old age of 18, for insurance purposes. I was then sent to college to learn how to use them properly.

When I started turning as a hobby and got my first Axminster catalogue I was amazed that you could buy all these potentially dangerous machines with no training and just go and use them!

I know the implications of safe practices all too well. Picking someone's fingers off a machine bed is not something I am in any hurry to do again, and I certainly have no intentions of those fingers being mine!

I think the most powerful tool we can all have in our workshops in knowledge. Knowledge is power as they say. By full understanding how machines work and what can go wrong and the reasons behind this, we are able to make better decisions about how we work and look after ourselves.

Richard

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

 It was made very clear however that several of the machines could not be used until I reached the grand old age of 18, for insurance purposes. I was then sent to college to learn how to use them properly.
Richard I could not agree more, how long did you have to do before being allowed to operate a spindle moulder, and just look what you can just go out and buy now! With no training required!!
Regards
John BHT

[Bryan Milham]

We need to be aware of the dangers before we turn on any tool .. even for that 5 minute job .. that's the one that gets you.

David, my father said it differently 'Familiarity breeds contempt.' I've always tried to remember that when doing a simple job that I've done a thousand times before... they are the ones that will most likely bite you.

Thank you for making us think about it again.

[woodndesign]

We need to be aware of the dangers before we turn on any tool .. even for that 5 minute job .. that's the one that gets you.

David, my father said it differently 'Familiarity breeds contempt.' I've always tried to remember that when doing a simple job that I've done a thousand times before... they are the ones that will most likely bite you.

Thank you for making us think about it again.

Hi Bryan,  yes we can have done any number of the same things/jobs for years and can get complacent with what we do, it was fine yesterday and the same today .. but it only takes a split second.

John, so how do you safeguard yourself working alone.

It is we all are get older, in the 16 yrs I've been turning mine, if not everyones reactions can slow, let alone our fitness or mobility change, something to take into account, it's not to say one needs to quite.

Richard, To most the equipment collected for turning they've never used before, less were of the generation that had woodwork/metalwork at school, then things where a bit vague.

Manufacturers manuals are not the best for clear details, most a basic reference on setup, few on operation.

I'd bought a few good books on the different subjects when I started, today we have the internet an this/any Forum to find helpfull advice, but it's no substitute for training on a machine or turning come to that ..  Any teacher would no doubt say it's difficult to teach someone who already has bad habits, then there are alot of good self-taught turners about.

David

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

 so how do you safeguard yourself working alone.
That is a very good question, and one that I have discussed with members of my family. The only way I do it at the moment is with a mobile phone. It is agreed by all of my immediate family, wife and kids basically, that I will never be too busy to answer the phone. So calls are made at set times of the day when my location should be such that I can receive the call. Because my working day routine is known, anything out of the routine causes alarm bells to ring. If I have to break that routine someone is always told. I am lucky  that there is very good mobile phone coverage where I live and realise that I would have to do things differently if it wasn't so good.
I also keep my mobile in my pocket so as to never to leave it anywhere. On the subject of mobile phones, I also have ICE numbers,ICE stands for In Case of Emergency and ICE 1 is what hospital ER nurses look for to contact your next of kin in case of emergency, so ICE 1 is my other half, ICE 2 is the next number they would ring if unable to get in touch with ICE 1 etc.my phone also allows me to have my medical condition on it and all the wheelbarrows full of spam ignore that I have to take,this allows me to pass on my medication
information even if I am incapable.
So the bottom line of all this is, once again, identify the risks,reduce the risks if possible or if you cannot do that have a procedure in place in case of accident and there again risk assess, where is your first aid box, what is in it and what needs replacing or can you get to the electricians tape? All things like this help to reduce your risks and make lone working slightly safer.
Regards
John BHT

[woodndesign]

Hi John, that's a good thing to know about ICE, don't think I can have it on the intercom.

It's not just having a First Aid Box and that it is fully stocked, is it in date and just in case has it an eye wash.

In an Emergency, will the person who is summoned know how to shut off any equipment still running.
I intend once I get to the funds (always goes elsewhere  ) to have the power supply with a few power cut off switch, one by the doorway a first and elsewhere round the shop built in, may not be able to reach the machines own stop.. An aid for anyone that teaches two or more ..
For me the day I've no longer to run out an extention lead/s ..    ..

Cheers for now ...    David

[bodrighywood]

My main equipment runs through a shut off switch right by the door and the fire extinguisher and first aid kit are all there as well. Main problem that I have is that mobile reception is lousy and there is no main lie into the workshop. I am also fortunate in that I am next to a furniture factory with loads of guys with more experience than I can imagine are within shouting distance if needed. Biggest danger for those of us who have been turning for any length of time is habit and complacency I reckon. So easy to take risks without realising. When teaching I realise as soon as I say 'don't do this...or that' that it is often something that I do without thinking myself.

Pete

[Bryan Milham]

Like Pete I keep my fire extinguisher and first aid kit by the door, not thought about a main power off switch (Pete, I like that and will retrofit sometime - good idea).

As for working alone, I've thought about a cheap set of walky talkies but am currently leaning towards a baby alarm, if I can get SWMBO to keep it near her. The trouble with that is I play my music quite loud so I can hear it over the extraction etc.

[woodndesign]

Like Pete I keep my fire extinguisher and first aid kit by the door, not thought about a main power off switch (Pete, I like that and will retrofit sometime - good idea).

As for working alone, I've thought about a cheap set of walky talkies but am currently leaning towards a baby alarm, if I can get SWMBO to keep it near her. The trouble with that is I play my music quite loud so I can hear it over the extraction etc.

Should it be the whole mains power, you'd not want to be without light, I'd the thought just the ring main to equipment.

It needs to be cautionary of the type of extinguisher and what it can used on.  A bucket of sand could be beneficial, anything hot/burning better dropped there, than in shavings or long run outside.

Getting outside, most of our workshop are likely to be small, with one entrance, your's maybe a unit, small or large with a fire exit, you find your way round fine, how about just in the dark, what if it's smoke .. have you a clear passageway in the first place and able to locate that exit .... I had the task with one firm to paint a chevron directional crawl path to each exit and the need was to keep them clear .. not a real need for a small shop, but all the same how clear is your way out.

Baby alarm ... could listen to the neighbours ...  as for SWMBO listening for me .. I've to listen more to her....    ..

Cheers  David