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« on: December 12, 2011, 11:43:52 am »
I realize that this is probably redundant. But to me its worth 'refreshing' the subject from time to time. Yesterday I was out chopping firewood. My maul glanced off the side of the log I was working on and a piece of wood flew off with such force it totally destroyed one of my wife's large flower pots across the yard. When I was in middle school one of the kids in our class was partially blinded in one eye when a piece of wood hit him in the face when he was chopping wood. Ever since then I've worn goggles when I chop wood because I'm reminded of him.
While there's no such thing as making anything totally safe, there's a few things we can all do to minimize the risk. Here's a few and others can add their own to the list.
1: Wear eye protection. If you're cutting, grinding, hammering, or anything else that could cause things to fly, wear goggles. No- glasses aren't good enough.
2: If you are painting, grinding, sanding, using whatever airborne chemicals, or welding, keep a good fan going and wear a respirator. Those crappy paper masks are only good for very light duty things like sanding wood. Get a GOOD respirator that has canisters and is specifically designed to protect you from the types of chemicals and particulates you're being exposed to. They come with manuals listing what they work for. You'd be amazed at how much less crap will come out of your nose at the end of the day.
3: Wear protective gloves. If you're working with things like cleaners, solvents, gas, oil, and whatever else, well your skin is porous and thus if you get those things on your bare skin, its going right into your bloodstream. Some chemicals we use are potentially carcinogenic so you don't want these in your body, especially if you use them repeatedly. Get a box of rubber work gloves. As an added bonus you won't have to spend forever scrubbing your hands either.
4: Wear hearing protection. I should know because I used to never do this and now my wife has to basically yell at me whenever she's across the room to get my attention. If you're using things like grinders, air wrenches, chop saws, chain saws, or anything else like that- get a good set of ear muffs or some of those squishy foam plugs. If anything- do it for your relatives and save them from being aggravated when you have to constantly ask them to "say that again?"
5: Be careful about keeping oil-soaked rags around. As you all know putting oily rags in a pile can cause a spontaneous combustion hazard. If you keep a lot of rags like that around, get an approved container for them.
6: Clean up spills and grease. Sounds stupid but slipping and falling from a slippery floor is no fun ( ask me how I know this). So if you spill something... clean it up and avoid embarrassing or hurting yourself. Secondly, try to avoid spilling stuff like this out in the yard or driveway. Its of course not that great for the lawn or anything else for that matter.
Anyway... that's what I could recall for now...
Be safe out there.