The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Truck Safety Update

No ... this didn't have anything to do with Fred ! But I'm plodding thru the final touches of the newsletter and thought I'd turn loose what's done so far.

We had some good input for a much-needed up-date on Shop Safety . It's a good read. Feel free to contribute if you like!

Thanks,
Peg

read through it again got some good updates, one can never be to safe, the life you may save will be your own. keep up the good work peg..just a update the doc said i'm on the up swing things will never be be the same but with the new meds. things are getting better. take care mike j

Very good, lots of info. that bears repeating lest we forget. One thing that I think of when it comes to shop safety is the actual vehicle that you are working on! If you're not experienced in a certain aspect of your vehicle, and you decide to jump in with both feet, that can be as dangerous as anything else. Never removed a transmission before? You might find out the hard way how heavy it is, or maybe there aren't as many bolts holding it in as you thought. Or brakes, "Oh, you can't step on the pedal when the brake drum is off?" And finally, the one that absolutely irritates me, when guys will stand or kneel directly in front of there split ring wheels while the're airing up their tires!!! Get off to the side and just stick your arm out there, not your head. You don't look down a rifle barrel, do you?

Just wanted to throw that one in there. Certain things just bother me and the wheel thing is one of them. My lovely bride says I'm obsesive/compulsive, but in the shop we could all stand to be obsesive to a certain extent.

Pakrat47,

Thanks. What an awful image ... on the split tire thing.

auggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Yes, everyone be careful.

Peg

You might want to mention safety boots/shoes with steel toes. They are not expensive and really nice to have when you fumble something heavy!

They were required when I took my welding course at the local college.

Having suffered home fires at a young age I'm a lil anal bout that. My thing is welding. It's amazing how long it takes for a spark to smolder into a raging inferno. Biggest culprits...carpet insulation, shop rags, corrugated cardboard. Even more than welding sparks, grinding sparks will ignite stuff quickly due to their super-heated nature of flying through the air. We should also remember that Linseed oil and cotton rags are a wonderful recipe for spontaneous combustion. I never studied why, but a linseed oil rag will ignite when wadded up and cause one helluva fire. I try never to weld alone and keep a helper on "fire watch" making certain that run-away sparks don't cause problems through the night. I never weld something 1hr before leaving. Or I'll simply wait and have a coffee or whatever and assess what's done and what's next, simply to "tend" the area making sure nothing smolders. Many of us have worked on cars with automotive grade carpet insulation showing. Your best bet is to wet it down if it can't be removed from the area. This is more for the grinding aspect of things...you know, that last minute screw thread that's too long, or the thingamagig on the firewall that needs trimming before that hot new accy gets installed. Like the safety thing said...common sense. It goes a long way.

My personal safety tips:

Never use pvc pipe for compressed air. If metal breaks, it will simply split. PVC will shatter, sending shrapnel through the shop.

Safety glasses, shields, etc. no matter how small the job. Having your eye numbed and a metal sliver removed is no fun, regardless of how lucky I was that it was no worse. And don't blow away metal shavings with your mouth. That's what lead to the eye-numbing.

Fire extinguishers: Buy high quality! The Blank-Mart brands are adequate for indoors, but never for a vehicle. The valve mechanisms are plastic. Over a very short time of temperature changes (like being in a truck) the plastic warps, the valve leaks, and the pressure goes away.

I had a grass fire get out of control while I was welding. I got about 5 seconds of spray from 4 different plastic extinguishers. Never again! I now have all metal, and I have a lot, and I have big ones.