Aaron Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I remember Dwayne's post about his melon VS a 08 Super Duty hood. Who else has got stories? I'll tell mine last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 The last and most memorable one, I was trying to mark a transmission drum and hub to put back together in the same orientation. I decided to use a center punch just to put a dimple on each piece. The damn metal was so hard the center punch would just glance off it. So more pressure was applied then it sparked but didn't even leave a scratch. Sooooo more pressure then all of a sudden my left hand was bleeding. A piece of the center punch actully broke off and glanced off my hand. Still no mark to be found on the drum. A trip to the bathroom and a band aid later, I was back at work. Long story short the metal tip of the punck actually embedded in my hand and got infected and healed over before I decided to fix it. Had to get it lanced open and 3 stitches to make it right. Missed a day of work over the deal and it was my own stupidity for not digging the metal out of my hand when it happen to begin with. Ended up black boxing the trans so it was a complete waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Not sure if this qualifies more as a stupid human trick... I was a young pup back in 1988 when I first began working at the Ford dealer I am with now. We were in a smaller building just up the hill from where we are now, a much smaller and closer shop. I was performing a brake job on an LTD wagon and I had just cleaned the wheel bearings in the parts washer and proceeded to dry them off with compressed air. Yep. Pretty cool noise those bearings make when you spin them up with shop air! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! Just as the bearing came apart I heard someone in the shop say to me "don't do that!" Even cooler is how when the bearing cage breaks all of the rollers disappear as if they vaporized. Cooler yet was the way that cage continued to spin around the fingers I had stuck the bearing on to dry it off... and sliced up both fingers. Moral of the story kids? If you want to make funny noises in the shop buy a kazoo. Don't spin roller bearings with compressed air! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Many years ago, I was young and impetuous... caused myself a certain amount of grief - sometimes ending in stitches... One I'll never forget had me as a bystander, though... it involves a socket, an impact wrench and a pinion nut.... He was fidgetting with his hands as he talked with a workmate... It took several minutes before we could convince him that reversing the impact and winding the nut off his finger was the only option.... I remind these guys that if they hurt themselves on my watch - I will KILL them!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Amacker Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I've sent more guys to Urgicare for stitches than I can count. One memorable incident is where one of my best guys was on a ladder and backed down the ladder, carefully and slowly, hooking his ass on the little "table" thing on the bench grinder. (The little square doodad where you rest your chisel while sharpening it). It ripped his ass open like I've never seen before and the local hospital referred us to a plastic surgeon who charged me over $1000 to clean the would and put in ONE stitch. I did/do have BWC, but I'm a fanatic about having a clean record and never claim stuff on my insurances or BWC. I painted a big mean Halloween face on the bench grinder after that, which is still there to this day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 This was back in 1995 when I was working at a Lincoln dealer. There was this one guy putting front coil springs in a Town Car, and the spring compressor let loose and basically cut off his pinkie finger. When the medics got there, he let them see his finger. He was holding his hand palm up and I could see the front side of the finger because it was twisted all the way around and only holding on by a little piece of skin. This by the way was the most anal mechanic I have EVER worked with. Yes he was using the proper tool and the workshop manual. Another one was in the same shop about a year earlier. A service writer got into a old grand marquis to move the car down the service drive that went right through the shop. The floor mat was all scrunched-up, and when he pressed down on the brake pedal, the accelerator pedal went down too. He squealed the tires and nailed the service manager who went over the left fender and then got run over by the left rear tire. His arm was broken really bad and he was flopping around like a fish out of water. I have never in my life heard a grown man scream and cry like this. I was two stalls down putting a trans into a Subaru Justy, and I can still remember the sound very vividly. The messed up thing is the service writer that just ran his boss over with a Grand Marquis, walked over to the manager who was crying like he was about to get his head cut-off, shrugged his shoulders and then walked back to his work area to write-up another vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastendpowerstroke Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 The list of minor injuries(cuts,bumps,and burns) is endless but the one that stands out is smashing the middle and ring finger of my left hand while moving the deck of an old press at a dealer I worked at. It took two surgery's to put them back together, and 4 months of physical therapy till they work good again. it's been about 12 years and they still ache when my hands are real cold but at least they are still there to ache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekanik Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Many years ago, I was young and impetuous... caused myself a certain amount of grief - sometimes ending in stitches... One I'll never forget had me as a bystander, though... it involves a socket, an impact wrench and a pinion nut.... He was fidgetting with his hands as he talked with a workmate... It took several minutes before we could convince him that reversing the impact and winding the nut off his finger was the only option.... I remind these guys that if they hurt themselves on my watch - I will KILL them!!!! Thats awful. What you get for tightening a pinnion nut with an impact!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LARRY BRUDZYNSKI Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 This would be a good thread to put Keith's "EYE" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Yeah as long as you could freeze the screen on the pretty lady section of the ad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabfoes87 Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Very freeky how 1 day after this post was created, I get a peice of Focus rotor stuck in my cornia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 How the hell did you get Focus parts stuck in your corn hole? What? Oh, you said cornia.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Dude I just got censored. I put the word corn hole together and it looked like a Beetle Bailey comic strip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Insert the eye ad here? I have a face shield at each grinder station and the shop supplies safety glasses.. no exceptions. The brake lathe never seems to get the same due dilligence... I gues this is straying away from Aarons original question but I believe that we entrust the wrong people with our safety - ourselves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Adema Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I take exception to that last statement, Jim. If the individual cannot have the sense enough to protect themselves, than no amount of top-down dictation or compulsion will effectively substitute. Educate the individual in safety, and he'll wear boots and glasses, but compel him and he'll resent it and rebel. Anyways, that's just a kneejerk reaction from me, having worked in a Detroit/Allison shop where we techs were subjected to weekly "safety" meetings. The receptionist was our "safety officer", and she proceeded to show us pictures of third-world welders and other laborers with their varying degrees of idiocy-inflicted injuries, and lecture us on proper usage of everything from tape measures to pant zippers. It wasn't long before there were two or three page laminated instructions on everything from bench grinders to fire extinguishers. As far as actual injuries: dislocated left knee from slipping on ice in lot, requiring surgery to remove three dollar-coin-sized pieces of cartilage; chipped tooth from four-foot pipe wrench, with help from stubborn Mack truck not wanting toe-adjustment; re-chipped tooth from slipped wrench trying to cage an air brake chamber; re-chipped tooth from slipped hose-pick trying to repair wife's power windows (enough already!); burned the palm of my hand as a young apprentice, absent-mindedly grabbed a shaft after cutting off bearings.....ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Look at it this way, Jeff..... ever thought to yourself "I just need to touch this on the grinder to get rid of that burr... I don't need to go get safety my glasses"... "This ladder is too short... I wont need a longer one if I stand on the very top"..... "There's enough room for me to squeeze into that lane...." I'd guess that 99% of the "accidents" that happen in the workplace aren't "accidents"... they are lapses in judgement. We 'allow' the opportunity for something bad to happen - and act surprised when it does... And every last one of us is guilty... some much more than others - and, quite amazingly, too many times, the guy that takes way too many chances is spared and the guy that only ever took one chance can pay the ultimate price (nobody ever said life was fair). We loudly proclaim that we will take responsibility for our own safety.... and we will continue to gamble with it - every chance we get. There is an element of risk involved with everything we do (does that sound paranoid?)... from stepping into the shower in the morning and for the rest of the day... Did you drive to work? NHTSA states that nearly 40,000 Americans die in mvas each year - that's Americans... us Canucks have our very own statistics to become. We can minimize our risk (how many of you guys check the knob on the carbon pile before connecting the AVR?) or we can momentarily lose track of our situational awareness (a VERY human condition), perhaps never having lady luck draw our attention to the oversight. None of us is perfect - none of us is immune.... and the sooner we take notice of that, the safer we might be. Now.... without thinking about it... where is the closest fire extinguisher to your bay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Adema Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I hear ya, Jim. The way I see it, most of the injuries I've sustained at work have been from my own monstrous stupidity, but I've learned from them. If I am too stupid to put on safety glasses before quickly grinding off a burr at the bench grinder, and it's my own eye that turns mushy, then I deserved that, whether I like it or not. Taking responsibility for one's own actions is a lost form these days, I believe. That is the sole reasoning behind my mini-rant concerning "legislated" safety requirements. Without thinking, I couldn't be as befuddled as I am. But I'll tell you, the nearest extinguisher is one step to the right of my tool stash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 And the penny is beginning to drop.... I knew a man... he was injured at work... he took a workers compensation payout and opened a video rental store. FWIW, I am one of many donors to the WCB system... He was a shitty businessman (typical blue collar worker - just like most of us) and soon ran the business into the ground... The taxpaying citizens of the republic of Alberta paid a Sheriff to track him down and sieze his assets. TYhese same taxpayers suffered him the costs of his subsequent bankruptcy. This man has an injured back... >AHEM< and cannot work - as such he is now drawing public assistance... again, funded by the people of the republic of Alberta. Yes, you might turn an eye into mush.... but the snowball has only begun to roll down the hill... the ramifications can be astounding... There's going to be the finacial "hit"... the stigma of social assistance, what about your kids? How solid is your relationship? (Do you have a you, pretty wife willing to accept a downturn in your life? or worse, an ongoing physical limitation?). Something like this can go far beyond only being able to count to nine... but we never consider those until after the event has faded in to memory and find that things will never return to the way they were... In the late 70s, I took a sabbatical from these endeavours.... I bought a 1976 Mack R700 - with the 375 MaxiDyne and the Mack 15 speed (the one with three countershafts) I was on top of the world... In less than a year I saw two friends expire from useless, senseless, preventable accidents... And the best thing you can say about it is dead people don't cost as much as live ones... Debilitating accidents aren't a joke... while one might suffer a cut on the finger, it might just as easily be a little more severe.... We have workplace safety rules because people don't take safety seriously... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The tech directly across the shop from me had just finished the safety on a used Taurus wagon, including installing new brake pads. It was overdue in the washbay as the sales department had promised to the buyer later that day and the guy who washed cars at this dealership then was in a great hurry because he didn't want to stay late to clean it up. It had no sooner been lowered to the floor and the hoist arms kicked out when the wash gut hopped in it and immediately started it up, threw it in reverse and found NO BRAKES.(was what he yelled) As it rocketed backwards, another tech just managed to throw himself out of its path before it slammed into the upright of my hoist. Luckily, there was nothing in my bay and I was in the tool room, just steps away when it hit. The rear end hit the hoist upright dead centre and bent the bumper as well as the tailgate severely. The bolts holding my hoist into the concrete were pulled 1/2 inch out of the floor. The customer didn't get his car that night, and all becasue the brake pedal had not been pumped up to bring the new pads in contact with the rotors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Guy's never heard of reachin' for park, or using the parking brake? LOL Gotta love rocketing across the shop backwards in something the last guy didn't pump the brakes on. You only do it once though, every car I get into gets the brake pedal leaned on before I even start it. I managed to snake my way through a busy parking lot while pumping the brake and not hitting anything, when it happened to me some years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Guy's never heard of reachin' for park, or using the parking brake? LOL No, this guy was a little bit mentally challenged(to be politically correct). He was a good car washer but would never be able to handle a more demanding occupation. I remember when he was being instructed on how to undercoat cars and you could see it was beyond him. He was a scary driver. I only rode with him once, and I am pretty fearless(ask anybody who has been a passenger with me). He was a 2 footer(one on each pedal), and liked to alternate between them randomly. He would creep to within an inch of a car already stopped a a red light before stopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I pulled my back and kept pinching nerves in my back after trying to lift a torqueshift onto or super tall trans jack. The apprentice didn't hold up his end and i felt the worst pain in the world. I was off 1 month, only got paid 2weeks vacation, and have been going to the chiropractor the past year and half at my expense. The thing that fixed me was getting outta the business. The weirdest one was when i was on a drive up, slipped on the end of the rack and my hand caught the 3 studs holding the map sensor onto the evap box. That was 5 stitches... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I was off 1 month, only got paid 2weeks vacation, and have been going to the chiropractor the past year and half at my expense. The thing that fixed me was getting outta the business. Don't you have Workman's Comp and state disability insurance in Ill? IF that happened to me I would have gone to the clinic for evaluation and filed a workman's comp claim. If I were out that long state disability insurance would have kicked in. I also have supplemental disability insurance (no, it's not AFLAC) that insures me for the difference between what my benefits are and my insured yearly salary. Sweet. But I do hope that I never have to use it and at least if I were to be injured and be out of work I have the comfort in knowing I will not suffer financially and my family will be provided for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrunoWilimek Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Back when I was an apprentice, one of the technicians was doing a tune-up on a Ford from the 70's, one of the ones with the flex fans(anyone else remember those?). He was standing under the hood with the engine running when suddenly there was a loud noise and he screamed and yelled for the service manager. I looked over and saw him holding his hand to the side of his head with blood pouring through his fingers. One of the fan blades let go and sliced his head. He was off work for a month and had headaches for a long time after that. That shop has had its share of injuries since I left there. One of the techs(not wearing safety glasses)had a piece of metal go in one eye, pretty well losing sight in that eye. About a year later, it happened again, but in his other eye. He now wears glasses, due to the injuries, but he is still working, luckily. Another tech there lifted a forklift on one of the car hoists. We have one here and it is smaller than the one they have and ours is waaaay too heavy for a car hoist. The tech was working under the forklift when the hoist broke, crushing him. I never did hear an update on that incident, so don't know if he was able to go back to work or not. All these "accidents" could have been prevented but human nature is such that most people take chances, or are ignorant to possible hazards around them. We have a safety policy in the shop and one of the techs is responsible for making sure things are safe around here. However, accidents can happen so quickly that it is important not to get too complacent and careless when we are at work. There are numerous dangers lurking around that must not be ignored. I instruct all our helpers, be they apprentices, co-op students or otherwise to wear safety glasses, work gloves etc., and also repeat the old message: Safety First, Accuracy Second, Speed Last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Clayton Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 It drives me ape shit when guys bring their small children inside the shop. THAT IS ABSOLUTELY NO PLACE FOR THEM AND MOST GROWNUPS TO BE IN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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