Kevin this is a great post.

The only thing I could add to this is to keep an eye on your extension cords and air hoses. On the cords check your ends and cords for cuts and nicks often. Nothing like plugging in a cord and have the end short out in your hand. Leaves a heck of a burn. On the hoses look for cuts, nicks and air bubbles in the covers, it is fun to be under a car and have a hose burst(good knot on the head there). And of course keep your floors clean. Clean up any oils spills quickly.
Be safe folks

Found a new 1
I was trying to re-do a pic-nic table and my dad said he had something that would work. Now my dad does nothing the right way and has never had an accident. Well he brings me this angle grinder with a sanding pad on it. Man that thing was doing wonders then it started to vibrate A LOT!. Well I was going for the button to turn it off when something slammed into my arm, HARD! So I do what I am supposed to do, toss the muther down then watched it do 90 MPH across the patio before I could grab the plug. The backing pad came apart and hit me leaving marks and bruises. Well I look on the backing and it says never exceed 3000RPM hum now what does that grinder do? 10,000 RPM Now my dad had used the thing tons but it waited for my dumb *** to come apart.

So I guess some of those warnings are there for a reason

Be sure your lifting chains,come-alongs,chain hoists are in good order,also what are you fastened to when lifting will support what you are lifting.

Also something small but overlooked,what grade of nut,bolts and washers are you using for whatever you are working on.

Be aware of compressed air and air nozzles especially using to blow dust and dirt off of one's body

What type of cleaning solvent do any of you recommend for a parts cleaning tank? Been using diesel and it works well but somehow I don't think it is such a good idea.

Sooner or later I am sure I will leave the lid up when I am welding and then I will know for sure it's not a good idea.

Thanks,

Gary

Hey sweet 53, I have always used diesel and it does work well. I have just got a five gallon bucket of Gunk auto parts cleaner from a buddy of mine that works at a salvage yard, its non-flamable but it does not clean as well as diesel. I'm not sure if it is an item that can be purchest at a auto parts store or if you have to order it from the tool man! But Like I said it doesn't work as well as fuel oil (diesel).

Thanks Trapper Ron,

As long as I am careful I suppose the diesel will work as well as anything else. At least it doesn't ruin the paint on parts.

Gary

If you are realy conserned about lighting off your parts cleaner you should get a fire extiguish for oil. I am not sure the name of the agent used in this unit, but it is made of animal bie products mixed with a foam. They smother the fire and are a snap to clean up. I started a fuel fire with a cutting torch and this thing worked great!

Trapper

Trapper,

Yea, I have one that uses a solid yellowish powder rated for oil and electrical fires near the door. I figure I will be heading that way in the event of a fire anyway. The cleaner has a fusable link that is (supposed) to melt in a fire and close the lid. Not sure I want to wait around to see if it works.

I've seen all these other pre-cautions except one.
"Lift with your legs,not your back."
When lifting heavy objects.
Made this mistake before. Won't do it again.

It has been some time ago since the last post here, so I hope that this topic will come back to live again.

About a year ago I saw someone shortcutting an electrical circuit with a ring, it left a "nice", burned reminder around his finger.
I learned from that to be careful with wrist-watches, rings and necklaces (which means; undo them).

Hopefully more pre-cautions will be posted!

Leen

Good post. All of us have been guilty..., but you should also have:
1)A set of hemostats( a.k.a. roachclip) in the shop for pulling out shavings, splinters,etc.
2)Chemical resistant gloves for parts washing - your hands absorb a lot of that stuff. Mineral spirits made my hands tingle for hours.
3) More than just a 'GI Joe' or 'Sponge Bob' band-aid . I've even got some butterfly band-aids IF i cut myself big-time. they are CHEAP.


49 T&C

One other thing to add....On a bench grinder / pedestal grinder...make sure the spacing between the wheel and the rest is around 1/8" If it is more then it can flip a piece between the wheel and rest and possibly pull your finger in if it does. One person had that happen at work. A grinder cut like that is one of the worst types to have as it embeds many minute particles of metal or whatever in the skin and it takes the hide off as where a laceration will lay the skin back. A grinder burn is hard to get to stop bleeding as there is no skin to pull back over the wound. Also with the same grinder make sure that if it has a plastic shield to use it to protect the eyes.

Kevin

If the job needs safety glasses, get a set of goggles. They are cheaper than glasses that you can see through. They fit over your prescription glasses. They keep the stuff from coming in the sides that are not enclosed by glasses. Safety GLASSES are for spectators. Fully enclosed goggles are for workers. Face shields are a great idea, too. They fit over goggles real good.
Fire extinguishers are great, but a charged hose is better. A trained person can put out a lot of fire with a fire extinguisher, but unless you are trained and practiced, you run out of stuff too soon, even on a small fire. If you look at the rating on the commonly available extinguishers, you will see something like 2A-10 BC. 2A means that it will put out 2 units of an A type fire, wood, paper, cloth. It will put out 10 units of Class B and C fires, which are B) petroleum and flammable liquids, and C) electrical. I don't know how big a fire 1 unit is, but one of those little car sized extinguishers will put out a flash fire on the top of your engine, provided that you shut off the supply of fuel to it real soon. However, if you knock it down, and run out of stuff before you get it all the way out, what do you do now? That is where the charged hose comes in handy. Also the person who can call 911 for you. Believe me, the firemen would much prefer to come and find that you have just got it out, than to have you wait 5 minutes, spread the fire around the place, and then they have to fight the whole building.
If you are doing things that are hot, like welding, don't work alone. What you are looking for is not so much help, although help is fantastic, what really you want is someone who can run and call 911 while you are trying to play with the problem. Cell phones are not all bad. Wives and girlfriends who panic and scream aren't all bad either.
Jack stands are a must. An auto hoist is better. If you have a place where you can put a hole in the ground, and enough overhead room to lift a car, you can get a used one from a service station supply company, and an old gas station sized compressor, which will provide all the air you can use, for a few hundred bucks. You can get the above ground ones new for a couple grand. They can be moved. As you get older, you will truly appreciate the ability to lift your work to fit you.
If you are under the car, don't be there alone. I can't tell you how infuriated I become when my wife calls me from the back porch, just to see if I am OK. Damn it woman, how can you tell whether I am OK if you can't hear me? That is why I have an auto hoist. The safety bar makes it so that the air or oil line can blow off the face of the earth, and it isn't coming down on top of me.

Great advice on all mentioned Pontiac. I do have to say that anytime I have gotten a piece of metal in my eye I have had on safety glasses. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they are the cause because they have save a ton of rust from getting in my eyes, but I have fairly quick reflexes and if I see something coming towards my eye I tend to turn my head somewhat. I have had metal in my eye quite a few times and what happens is that it will hit my face, bounce to the inside of the glasses, then bounce to the eye. So when working with a grinder, under a car, or basically anything, goggles and / or glasses are a must. One of the scariest times was when I hit a nail (16 penny) and the hammer slid off, threw the nail into an upward spiral (it looked like slow motion) and smacked me right in the left eye. Luckily I closed my eye at the point of impact and luckily (very very lucky) the head of the nail was what hit my eye. If it had been the point I would have been blind in that eye. As it turned out it busted the blood vessels but hurt like hell for the better part of a week. I imagine the nail was traveling well over 100mph when it hit. I think that is the reason today the vision in my left eye is considerably worse than the right.

Kevin

Pick up every thing off the floor. That nut or bolt or wrench you left for 'just a minute' will turn into a trip, slip or fall hazard at exactly the wrong time. Don't ask how i know.

If you are working with any chemicals, read the warnings, and if possible the MSDS sheets. Mixing the wrong chemicals or prolonged exposure to something nasty has caused a lot of problems; an unlucky mistake could cripple or kill.

Take off your wristwatch and your rings. After 25 years of working in factories I know way too many guys named lefty and three finger.