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Bump caps

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Jim Warman

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I would have thought that others would have commented on the new Alberta OH&S ruling on the requirement for bump caps by now.... THIS is the progenitor of this new ruling.

 

For nearly 40 years, I haven't needed a bump cap... Now, If I'm not wearing one, I might be denied recompense if something goes wrong... all because a poorly trained idiot allowed himself to be injured... You read that right... "allowed himself to be injured"...

 

Shit happens... often for no discernable reason.... This, however, is one of those times when we aren't surprised at the outcome....

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The pictures do a much better job of telling the story, I got so bored reading that I dozed off and my chair lost balance and I fell backward striking my head on my aquarium, then the floor.

 

At one of my dealer's other stores someone apparently put a hand where is didn't belong when somebody else turned the ignition, or something like that. The loss of a finger supposedly resulted in a lawsuit. The lawsuit resulted in OSHA training FOR THE REST OF US and we won't be allowed to have keys in vehicles in the shop, use lockout boxes and all kinds of silly inconvenient rules and actions. (cant give details because my turn has been postponed 2X due to weather)

 

I am all for safety but sometimes this stuff goes overboard. Stupid is as stupid does.

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Apparently they should have bought a less expensive lift kit ( or none at all?) and maybe worried about repairing the park brake, or the oil leaks, or any of the many other things that are probably wrong with that p.o.s. What would posses someone to lift that thing?

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Here's some photo's of our new safety gear:

 

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Sorry I took so long to get these up here Aaron. I know you've been waiting patiently. Hopefully Kenny will email me our family photo soon of all of us wearing these goofy things. We had to have a family photo taken to send to O.H.&S.

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Consider it this way, Larry... We don't <HAVE> to wear them (it's not yet a dictatorship).... but, if you injure yourself and aren't wearing one, there is a chance that you WCB coverage may be denied... I am one of those guys that is concerned about "lost time incidents" and I don't like it when people get hurt on "my shift".

 

I also have to wonder when I'm going to be involved in some sort of civil litigation...

 

Sidebar... before I go any further, I have to say that I have also had to remind guys about footwear and eye protection....

 

Anyway, how long before me and my employer are named in a lawsuit... "I told him to wear <YADDA>"... may not be enough tomorrow or the next day... I might be forced into saying "You have to wear <YADDA> or go home"... Might come to that but it will be counterproductive.

 

Bottom line... shit happens and some guys attract it... I don't want to see anyone get hurt, but I can't force him to do anything... But you can bet your sweet ass that some bleeding heart liberal will say it is my fault that somebody else didn't wear some protective gear.

 

I wear mine trying to set an example. The company supplies the caps to avoid an employee saying there wasn't one to be worn...

 

Being an old timey guy, I always believed that the man that was willing to work, came to work with boots, gloves and safety glasses.. Now-a-days, it is "I will make myself blind if you let me...".

 

Where does it end? I don't know... but I am trying, desperately, to cover my ass in an insane world.

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I hear ya. At my former place of employment, we had to sign a document stating that we will wear safety glasses and steel toe boots. We also had to sit through a safety meeting and take a test once a year. I totally believe in protective eyewear and boots, but that place was way more interested in covering their own ass than the safety of its employees. We had several hacks that were dangerous to work near.

 

If I was in your predicament, I would be wearing the special ed hat too. I have been told for years that if I get something in my eye and I wasn’t wearing safety glasses insurance wouldn't pay for me to be off work or doctor's bills.

 

I have never thought that is was necessary to wear a helmet when fixing cars and trucks, but I have seen a couple instances where it may have prevented an injury.

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Love the hats, unfortunately with my xxxl noggin I would need one this size of Rick Moranis's helmet in "Spaceballs" (if anyone remembers that movie)

That is one of my favorite movies. Posted Image

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I have been wearing a bump cap just like the one Jim is modeling for a couple of years now. I would have preferred one of the soft "baseball cap" style ones with the plastic insert, or even a plastic insert that would fit in a regular ball cap. The reason for wearing it is bumping my noggin way too many times while working particularily on trucks that require higher pads on the hoist arms and the hoist arms then hang down well below the truck frames, making them easy to bang your head on, especially if the truck is slightly lowered as when access the bellhousing bolts or other components higher up is required. My search for one started about ten years ago when I was installing a clutch in a truck that would only lift to a height where I had to sit to work on it due to the high box contacting the crossover bar on our only truck hoist(at that time). I bumped my head painfully several times until I decided to use the construction hard-hat that had been left inside the cab of the truck by the owner.(I cleaned it up afterwards, of course) I liked not hitting my head so, shortly thereafter, while attending an industry trade show in Toronto, I grabbed a brochure for a bump cap of the baseball cap style from one of the vendors, intending to buy one locally. The price was reasonable, but I thought I could get one closer to home for less. Posted Image Unfortunately, I was unable to find anyone locally who had even heard of such a thing, let alone could sell me one. I finally(after bumping my head many times more)tried to contact the company in Quebec, but their website was no longer in service, and Google searches failed to turn up any in the vicinity. I could get one from USA online for about $5, but to get it here would cost me several times that amount. I finally located a company online in the Toronto area that I tried to get one from, but they never responded to my inquiries. I finally got our Matco tool salesman involved and he got me the blue hard plastic hard-hat looking cap that gets me called "Bob the Builder" whenever I wear it. It cost way more than I would have liked to spend, but it was well worth it. Oh yes, Princess Auto came out with a flyer several weeks later with one of the ball cap style ones for only a quarter of what I paid for mine, Posted Imagebut I didn't need another one then. It has kept me from being(having) a sorehead, so all kidding aside, it it worth all the hassle. Posted Image

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My problem is I'm too tall for my freakin hoist. The arms don't go over my head. I was wearing my Napa Baseball bump cap today while I had a cab lifted in the air. I smacked my head twice on those freakin hoist arms. Thank god for that cap. I used to get so freakin mad when I smacked my head on those damned arms. Now it just doesn't seem all that bad.

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You know, this would be a great marketing item for companies like Ford, Snap-on and Mac. I would be alot more proud to wear any of those names on my hat rather than wear a freakin Napa hat. Napa on my hat just seems a little degrading. Not that it much matters though, because my give a shit button is so damned broken it just doesn't matter how much it gets pushed anymore. But I will wear that Napa hat before I wear that damned "Nob The Builder" hat.

 

I'm laughing me ars off at that "No it's Fucked" caption Aaron.

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