Latest HSE bulletin

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

So long since I have done this I hope I have done it correctly.
Please find below the link to the latest H&SE bulletin, this one covers wood machinery


https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKHSE/bulletins/1fc3dec

[Derwent Woodturning club]

Hi John,
Yes the link worked fine and being self-employed I always take an interest in events that have happened to other businesses. However, I still think it is unfair  that the HSE class these as woodworking incidents sinces three of the four could have occurred in any industry. I am not trying to trivialise serious accidents but linking them to our specific industry is misleading. Does anybody else agree?

[John Plater]

Yes, three out of the four have a generic feel to them but they occurred within the woodworking industry so were reported as such. Accidents which occurred elsewhere might have been possible in a woodworking context so I guess it cuts both ways. I know that the thread is not about me but in my experience and those of others I have spoken to, H&S can be a minefield. I had a proper job for over thirty years in which H&S played a significant part. Now that I play at being a woodturner I carry that experience with me and choose not to have others work with me or in my workspace. I have removed the risk.
ATB John

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Paul I think because the sideloader is a forklift peculiar to timber yards I imagine an accident involing one just becomes a "wood working"
accident. I have been witness to some horrible accidents in my time and had a couple of my own. But the bottom line is that accidents do not happen with woodworking machinery but negligence does. I lost the tops of 4 fingers on a surface planer when I was 21 years old but it was my own fault for not making sure the fence was in the correct position and again on a bandsaw I cut the knuckle of my thumb and that would not have happened if I had not been pushing it in the direction of the blade!! It only takes a split second and you end up scarred for life.
     Perhaps I should start running courses on the safe use of machines.