Shop Safety rules

[wildun]

[QUOTE
Another common injury is hitting your hand when using a hammer and chisel , O.K its only a bruise and broken skin but it can hurt like hell , wear gloves.
[/QUOTE]

I would add, that you will find that hitting your hand with a hammer over the years will manifest itself in arthritis in later life!

Also if you need to work with someone on a particular job, it is very important to make the other person aware of what move you are going to make next - I lost one third of my left thumb through not being aware!

Now, this will very difficult to do or discuss, but if you consider someone to be mechanically inept, then don't let them within a country mile of your machinery and don't ask for their help, ie if you think they don't understand at least the basic principles. -
This is for their safety, your safety, and for the sake of the machinery!

 

[westender]

As a home machinist the rules we follow are up to us they are not likely posted and not even written on paper. They are in our mind or heart . There are no stupid rules because it is your shop and do things your way. But we need to work safe if we are always getting hurt the hobby is no longer fun. so here is a written set of rules to follow or use as a guide . Again it is your shop you work in so pick what works for you but above all work safely.

Machine Shop Safety

• Safety Glasses
EVERYONE MUST WEAR SAFETY GLASSES IN THE SHOP AT ALL TIMES.
Even when you're not working on a machine, you must wear safety glasses Even hand tools can make chips.
• Wear Hearing Protection as required (If you have to raise your voice to speak to someone 3 ft away hearing protection should be worn).
• Clothes and Hair
• Check your clothes and hair before you walk into the shop.
• IF YOU HAVE LONG HAIR OR A LONG BEARD, TIE IT UP.
If your hair is caught in spinning machinery, it will be pulled out if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, you will be pulled into the machine.
• NO LOOSE CLOTHING.
Roll up sleeves. Neckties, scarves, loose sleeves, etc. are prohibited
• NO GLOVES ON OR AROUND MACHINERY
• REMOVE ALL JEWELRY
• WEAR APPROPRIATE SHOES
No open toed sandals. Wear shoes that give a sure footing. If you are working with heavy objects, steel toes are recommended.
• Safe Conduct in the Shop
Be aware of what's going on around you. Pets and family members may move things or enter the shop at any time.
• Keep Machinery Area Clear. Do not put unneeded items on or around machines.
• Keep Walkways Clear. Remove tripping hazards, and clean spills up immediately.
• Concentrate on what you're doing.
• Don't hurry. If you catch yourself rushing, slow down.
• Don't rush speeds and feeds. You'll end up damaging your part, the tools, and maybe the machine or yourself
• Listen to the machine. If something doesn't sound right, turn the machine off.
• Don't attempt to measure a part that's moving.
• Don't let someone else talk you into doing something dangerous.
• If someone speaks to you while you’re running a machine, keep your eyes on your machine and not on the person.
• If you get tired or are feeling ill, turn machine off, take a break.
• Machining
IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING, ASK read find out.
• BEFORE YOU START THE MACHINE:
• Read the Manual
• Study the machine. Know which parts move, which are stationary, and which are sharp.
• Double check that your work piece and tool are securely held.
• Remove chuck keys and wrenches.
• Use no rags on machinery while it is in operation and/or in use.
• Do not place any tools or other metal objects on machine ways.
• Do not clear chips from machines with bare hands. Use pliers or a chip brush.
• DO NOT LEAVE MACHINES RUNNING UNATTENDED!

• CLEAN UP MACHINES AFTER YOU USE THEM!
A dirty machine is unsafe and uncomfortable to work on. Do NOT use compressed air to blow machines clean! This endangers people's eyes and can force dirt into machine bearings.
• TURN POWER OFF TO MACHINE WHILE CLEANING/MAINTAINING!
• When working alone keep a clear path to the telephone and have it as close at hand as practical and safe.
• Do Not operate Machinery after or while consuming Alcoholic beverages.
• Cease hot operations 30 minutes prior leaving the shop area unattended. ie welding, brazing, heavy grinding, smoking etc.
• Store flammables in a safe place
• Keep a fire extinguisher handy inspect regularly.
• Chemical safety
• Keep all solvents cutting oils and other chemicals in proper storage containers.
• keep all chemicals in clearly marked containers.
• Keep food and chemicals separated.
• Do not use food ovens for chemicals or chemical ovens for food.
( If you use an old oven from the kitchen for chemicals it is now a chemical oven!
• Wash hands before eating drinking smoking or using the bathroom (and after).
• Grinders :Wear double eye protection.
Keep all guards in place
Keep tool rest adjusted 1/8 " from wheel
DO NOT grind aluminum or brass
DO NOT Grind on side of wheel.
Do not stand in line with spinning wheel
Wear a dust respirator Metal and Wheel dust can be harmful if inhaled.
First aid Kit:
Have one
Mark its location
Inspect /restock regularly
)

• Place machines and lighting on separate circuits if possible
if a machine trips a breaker you will not be left in the dark.
• It is your shop you are responsible for your safety.



Tin

How about a couple more.

Wear sturdy, long pants in the shop(jeans, work pants). No holes, no blown out knees. Save the fashion statements for somewhere else. You won't won't like hot chips or sparks burning your legs.

If you've got long hair, keep it ALL under your hat.

Tom

Tom

 

[gus]

Thanks you are right that has been added to the safety rule list as well.
here is the added section:




tin

Hi Tin Falcon,
I agree with you and safety rules were made to protect us.It is for our personal safety.

Having had minor hand/finger injuries,made me more careful.I am not about to incur more accidents.I have seen bad accidents.

One more rule to think about. "No strangers,neighbours,relatives and friends can work on your machine tools. If an urgent job needs to be done,best we machine that piece. I have seen my junior in the plant trying to operate the Leblonde Lathe. I stopped him as he had no training in turning.Put in writing too that he is not allowed to operate any machine tools copied the H.R.Dept.

 

[GWRdriver]

If I observed every single one of these must-do rules every time I stepped into the workshop I would never produce a single chip.

 

[Rivergypsy]

Very true, Harry. I'm not saying workshop safety isn't critical, but there's no substitute for common sense.

 

[gus]

Hi Harry,

I am with you. Make our own rules. Do nothing stupid.Take time to machine our job pieces.
After incurring minor hand injuries 30 years ago,I have become "work safety smart".Dislocated left thumb hurt like the "Dickens". Went to Emergency Ward and was requested to write accident report,told the Rookie Police to go away.If he wants a report,he best hear my dictation and write for me.His boss, the Sargent came along and help write the report of which I expressed my sincere thanks.

 

[Swifty]

One thing that I can't recall seeing mentioned, NEVER use your finger to polish out a bore with wet and dry paper or emery while your lathe is going. Can twist your finger off in no time, I have an assortment of wood doweling with a saw cut in one end that I wrap the emery around and use to polish bores.

Paul.

 

[dmac]

A while back (maybe 12 months ago) was a post that had a image of someone on the board's shop rules that where really funny.

I tried searching for it but with no luck.

Does anyone remember where it is ?

Dave.

 

[Hopper]

Also if you need to work with someone on a particular job, it is very important to make the other person aware of what move you are going to make next - I lost one third of my left thumb through not being aware!
!

Sounds like the story the old man always told us kids about a scar on his forehead. Reckoned he was changing Caterpillar track pins, holding the drift in place with his hands while another bloke swung the hammer. He was having trouble getting the drift into the right position, so told the hammerman: "When I nod my head, you hit it." So he did. Sounds like one of his likely stories to me.

As far as safety in the shed goes, I guess I am not one to crow. It is frequently 100 degrees or so F in there, so shorts and thongs (flip-flops to you Yanks) are standard tropical safety wear. When I go to the recycle yard at the local rubbish dump, full of bits of jagged metal, broken glass, nails etc etc, there is a sign at the gate saying: "Suitable Footwear Must Be Worn. Minimum Standard: Thongs. I kid you not. Must get a pic next time I am there.

Safety glasses all the time? I think not. When using power tools, lathe, or chiseling, yes. But just didling about with spanners and stuff, no more likely to suffer eye injury than walking down the street or cooking in the kitchen.

One more "rule" I haven't spotted would be:
Never bang two hammers together, face to face, or face to ballpein or whatever.
Reason is hardened steel splinters can fly off into your hand or eyes.
I have seen this one discussed on a motorbike forum and amazing how many people say, "oh I've done it dozens of times with no problem, it must an urban myth".

No it's not. There is a reason that when toolmakers make a tool such a a cold chisel, it is hardened and tempered at the cutting end and left soft at the striking end. So hardened shards don't break off and spear your hand.

Which brings up another rule:
When the striking end of a chisel gets mushroomed, grind the mushroom off and dress down the end..
This will stop work-hardened fragments spearing off into your hand or eyes.

Of course, chiseling, like scraping, is becoming a lost art so not many people will ever mushroom the end of a chisel. We used to cut keyways in 12-inch shafts with them when I were a spotty faced boy.

And remember, the screwdriver is the most dangerous tool in the shop, causes the vast majority of injuries. And the drill press is the most dangerous machine, causing the most injuries. Use a vice, clamps, bolts, stops, whatever it takes to stop work spinning if bit digs in. And keep your hair away from the spinning chuck. I saw one long-haired apprentice end up half bald in about three nanoseconds.

 

[ConductorX]

My one serious injury at my home shop was because I broke the rules. Lots of them.

I was working at a height greater than 1.3 meters without a safety harness.
I was working off of ladders that were not secured.
I was climbing a ladder and trying to carry something up the ladder with me.
I was offered help and refused it.

All of these rules I followed for years at work but I didn't follow them at home and I fell, I was injured and it was 12 weeks before I returned to work. A week in the hospital and another two in rehab and 6 weeks in a wheelchair.

The rules are important.

Here at work we have 12 Lifesaving rules.
1. Work with a valid work permit.
2. Conduct gas tests when required.
3. Verify isolation before work begins.
4. Obtain authorization before entering a confined space.
5. Obtain authorization before overriding or disabling safety equipment.
6. Protect yourself against a fall when working at height. (1.3 meters)
7. Do not walk under a suspended load.
8. Do not smoke outside designated areas.
9. No alcohol or drugs while working or driving.
10. While driving do not use your cell phone and do not speed.
11. Wear your seat belt.
12. Follow the Journey Management Plan.

I work in an office and many of these rules do not apply to me right now, but in my shop many of them do apply.

Stay safe everyone. "G"

 

[Tinkerer58]

I think an other very important thing to remember is that most of us work alone in our sheds, please get someone to check on you at regular intervals. If something goes drastically and we get knocked unconsious by a lump of metal, or get a bad cut causeing severe bleeding we can pass out and bleed to death. Also as some of us are getting on we could easily suffer a heart attack and no one would know. So please have someone check that you're ok on a regular basis.

Also never never use gloves when using a grinder, yes the job may get hot but don't let it get too hot to handle, leave it cool down and then continue if you can't handle the job. It is too easy to get a finger if the glove caught in the grinder pulling your hand in and before you know it disaster strikes, it happend to an apprentice some years ago and he lost 4 fingers, it was the end of his tool making career.

I always wear steel cap shoes and tight fitting shirts, many years in my school days was filing a job in the lathe my rolled up sleeve came down caught in the job, ripped half my shirt off and all the skin off my forearm.

When drilling sheet metal clamp to drill press table, DO Not use pliers to hold the work, again a valuable lesson from my school days, held it with pliers, drill got caught metal plate spinning in the drill, I ducked then tried to reach switch as I stood up felt the piece skim my hair as it flew out at high speed through a glass window, a few mm more and I would have been scalped.

SAFETY is No laughing matter, it is your well being at stake, and you are responsible for your own welfare as well as everone that enters your workshop!!!!!!

 

[tornitore45]

to flick this light switch

My wife has her own shop and startles easily.
I always flick the switch from the outside before entering.

 

[Tin Falcon]

I think an other very important thing to remember is that most of us work alone in our sheds, please get someone to check on you at regular intervals. If something goes drastically and we get knocked unconscious by a lump of metal, or get a bad cut causing severe bleeding we can pass out and bleed to death. Also as some of us are getting on we could easily suffer a heart attack and no one would know. So please have someone check that you're ok on a regular basis.

Interesting point. Another option would be a web cam or CCTV and or an intercom.
Few of us are fortunate enough to have someone have a human shop companion.

Another option would be a mercury switch activated alarm that goes off if the wearer goes horizontal.

Tin

 

[Tinkerer58]

A web cam Tin?? I don't want people perving on me when I'm working naked in my shed on a really hot day then it becomes porn LMAO.

Seriously that is a good idea, but who would you stream it to if you're alone? Maybe a wireless emergency devise that hangs around your neck and dials an emergency number. We have devices here that are about $300 and will call upto 5 telephone numbers of your choice including 000 (or 911 in your case). A very worth while investment I think. They are used a lot for the elderly here that live alone.

 

[wildun]

When I used to work in a machine shop, "common sense" was the most important phrase, - "by the book" often infuriated us.
We were often visited by safety inspectors who just wandered around looking for something to jump on. One guy came across to me and asked why the linisher belt did not have a guard around the end of it and I replied that 90% of linishing work was carried out using that end and it didn't make any sense to have it covered. His reply was that I should make a guard anyway and have it hanging on a chain (just to satisfy regulations and allow him to tick boxes I guess).
Another request was for me to make a strong storage cupboard with a padlocked door to store all the cutting oil, including the unlabelled plastic squirt bottle which I kept handy on my lathe to occasionally squirt a water/soluble oil mixture on the work, for lubrication and cooling.

The excuse here was that a child might mistake it for milk and drink it! - Considering the fact that it was our policy not to have children in the workshop at any time anyway, that was not a sensible request.

I also lost part of my thumb in a large butterfly valve (trying to help a salesman get the valve out in time, he was in a hurry and couldn't wait till I got it properly secured in the vice so he put the air hose on the actuator while I was still holding it, this opened it and then the hose slipped and it slammed shut taking my thumb with it! Then of course, the accident (accident?) attracted the dreaded safety officer who was used to factory safety and didn't really know what a service workshop was, came to deliver a lecture on factory safety and make suggestions, this time a big lady, who suggested setting up a production line, then I knew that there was no use talking anymore as we were on entirely different wavelengths!
She delivered her lecture on machine safety which I listened through, then she turned around, pointed to the lathe and asked "what does this machine do?" - then I knew that it was no use saying anything!

Again, thinking carefully, knowing all that can go wrong and exercising common sense is the best way to avoid accidents.
Lectures and rigid rules go right over most peoples heads and often cause people to rebel, especially when delivered by over zealous "officers".

 

[Tinkerer58]

I hear you wildun, I agree, but the BIG problem is that today Common Sense is NOT Common anymore. Over zealous safety officers straight from Uni with no life experiences and no knowledge of industry make decisions so we all have to be wrapped in cotton wool. Seriously which rock did these people crawl out from under, all stairs in public places now state "Mind your Step". You mean to say that stairs are a new invention and no one knows how to use them. Here in this country the education system is run by lefties whom want controll over everything and blame everyone else for their own infalibilities. As an employer you can put up all the warning signs you like but if someone ignores them and gets hurt due to their own stupidity the public servant safety bloke and also known here as Workcover a Gov. body will say the employer is wrong and at fault because the idiot that got hurt was not suppervised properly or the writing on the sign was not big enough to be able to be read from a distance of 2 miles. No wonder our manufacturing industry is dyeing a rappid death, with laws like this adding additional costs to industry we can't compete. COMMON SENSE needs to a subject in schools all on it's own these days because we have lost it.

 

[old-and-broken]

The guys at work who cut lots of ACME thread parts, have been in the habit of putting a 'bypass' in a safety shield door switch, so they can touch up the threads with some sandpaper. This is needed to get the threads clean and burr free, for a three wire measurement operation. The new safety girl in the tool making cell, saw someone operating a machine with the safety guard open and threw a hissey fit. The man was written up and verbally abused by her for a full thirty minutes. I think we all know the sounds of that scene.
At the end of the ladies tirade, the gentlemen got a piece of paper and asked her for a pen. he said he was going to give her a list of 'other people' who knew about this safety rule being broken and had not stopped it. He told her they were responsible for the continued risk of worker safety as well since they knew of this procedure and never objected to the bypassing of the safety switch on the guard panel. The lady walked off happy to have a list of more guilty people. She never came back in the tool making cell after that.

The list contained the names of the vice president of HS&E(safety division) and the plant supervisor among others.

 

[tornitore45]

The wireless mercury switch is a clever idea, however I often go horizontal to look for the little screw, part, spring or doecky that fell and disappeared.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Seriously that is a good idea, but who would you stream it to if you're alone? Maybe a wireless emergency devise that hangs around your neck and dials an emergency number. We have devices here that are about $300 and will call upto 5 telephone numbers of your choice including 000 (or 911 in your case). A very worth while investment I think. They are used a lot for the elderly here that live alone.

A web cam could be steamed anywhere that is the beauty .
my first thought is simply into your own house where the wife girl friend , daughter daughter in law etc could keep a watchful eye without actually going to the shed every 15 minutes or whatever to check on you. The other possibility would be stream it to friends or family members house next door across town across the state or province or wherever. you just need a set of eyes with a brain attached that can call for help if they see large amounts of blood or a body on the floor.

most of us have devices that are carried that can be programmed with phone numbers it is called a cell phone.

Here in the USA there are several service companies that will gladly monitor your safety and security and you home for fire for a monthly fee. ADT is one that comes to mind and web cams is part of there deal these days.

The other one is the First alert company IIRC of I fell and cant get up fame.
Forgive me if the name is wrong I watch very little TV.


So there are many options.
Tin

 

[Tin Falcon]

She delivered her lecture on machine safety which I listened through, then she turned around, pointed to the lathe and asked "what does this machine do?

OOOH I hate mindless robots spew regurgitated safety protocols but have no understanding of how anything works .
Tin