Shop Safety

[sscsjtcs]

This is my first post here. I'm usually a forum lurker, but I feel compelled to post this. I work for an OEM that builds forklifts. One of our shop supervisors, a great guy, who has spent his life welding, was involved in a home shop accident.

The details are somewhat still sketchy. He had apparently been painting in his shop earlier and a neighbor had stopped by needing something welded. It appears that the either paint thinner was open or fumes were lingering in shop.

Flipping on the welder or striking an arc caused an explosion. He was burned over 90% of his body. In the resulting fire, there was at least 3 different canisters of unknown content that exploded.

We live in a rural part of Mississippi. He was air lifted to a large hospital in Jackson, to then be air lifted to Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga. Arguably, one of the best burn centers in the country.

Four days later, he passed into eternity.

I looked around my shop. Lawn mower with dual saddle tanks, gas cans, paint thinner, carb cleaner, dozens of spray cleaners, solvents. Stuff I haven't noticed in years, hiding under shelves, tucked in corners. Time for me to do some cleaning or at least segregating.

Much like many of you, he was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, master craftsman, work-a-holic. You do things at home, that would never fly in a shop that is governed by OSHA rules. You get comfortable, you get in a hurry, you get sloppy. The worst case scenario never crosses your mind. This was almost worst case. How can I say almost? The neighbor, that was there, was with a young girl. Doug sent them out of the shop because he didn't want the young girl to get her eyes burned from the weld flash.

Yes, the shop safety decisions you make can affect others beside yourself. This is all I ask of you, stop and take a minute to think about how you run your shop.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

A good reminder, and sorry to hear about your coworker. I think we're all guilty of this sometimes and it's easy to mistake luck for "not a problem".

 

[Bronson]

Condolences to friends and family.
I need to police My shop and do a better job of storing flammables and explosives. I did buy and install new fire extinguishers last month.

 

[Thruxton]

It's so easy not to, but you really have to think all the time. "If...then..." has to be the paradigm of staying safe. And alive. It is so easy to screw up, esp as you get older (I'm 71). For instance- I was out scraping our drive today (John Deere 5300, hydraulic 8' blade) which is .2 miles long cut into a hillside. I'm very careful with that tractor, and have years of familiarity with it, and I read the safety reports, and I know the most dangerous situations. Today I wanted to scrape off the downhill side berms of the drive for drainage, had the blade angled out, keeping close to the edge, should be OK, and then in the middle of it I thought, just how close am I to that edge? this is clay soil- if it collapses, and it does readily on the banks of our streams- I'm in the yoghurt. Moved in a little...

I don't mean this to be OT, or irreverent to the loss of a good man, just to add to the idea that although most of us have some skill levels in different areas, the old IBM slogan is right, we still have to "THINK"!

 

[Strouty]

Welcome to the forum. Good reminder for all of us. I have two large flammable cabinets, yet I find flammable stuff all over the place. Sorry for your loss, my guess is it was the fumes ignited.

 

[MN4x4]

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for an apropos first post. Hopefully your sobering experience can help someone else.

I have removed all fuels from inside my shop and store them in a safety cabinet mounted on the outside of my shop (off the ground). I have another safety cabinet inside for finishes, solvents, etc. I also have a rag bin with a self-closing cover.

All that said, I still throw any solvent or similar rags on the concrete floor to dry out before I throw them away or put them in a bin. My wife asked me why I was such a slob (my words not hers, but somewhat valid). I explained spontaneous combustion and she now only scolds me when they have been on the floor for hours and are dry and stiff.

You can NEVER be too careful, and one mistake CAN be fatal. I've been lucky so far, and I keep looking for ways to be even more lucky - and careful. Thanks for sharing your loss and making an important point, especially at this time of year. My best to you and your family for the Holiday season, and - everybody - be careful, OK?!

 

[sscsjtcs]

Thanks for all the kind words.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

Fire is my worst fear. All my oily and solvent rags go outside after I am done using them, and into the burn barrel. Yeah you look at what is in a shop and it's got a potential to go boom real bad.

 

[Thumper68]

Man I hate hearing stories like this.

All my solvent rags, I only use disposable ones for solvent, Go into a covered bucket I used to have one of the safety cans just for this, but it walked off one day.

You can never be to safe.

The reason I use a sepperate covered bucket now is this, One day I was making a jib crane for a small lifting project, after getting all the welding on it done I wiped it all down with acetone and painted it, throwing the rags in the garbage can. I then moved on to the next project, I don't recall what it was but I flipped my hood down and started welding, the next thing I know a huge whoosh sound from behind me I turn and flip up the hood to see the liner from the can inside out and the rags burning and floating down around the shop.

I learned my lesson with no real harm done!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks for posting, condolences to all.

A very timely reminder.

 

[MFolks]

Maybe not related to shop safety, but oily, or rags with linseed oil, can combust. My wife's and I good friends, many years ago, lost their house due to a fire from combusting rags.

The wife of this family, did some staining, using Linseed oil, and rather than spread them out to dry, put them in a plastic garbadge can with a tight fitting lid, and thought nothing of it.

She and her Husband went out dancing, in the social group they belonged too at the time, while enjoying themselves, a phone call came in(before cell phones), telling them, to get home as there has been a house fire where they lived.

When they arrived, the local fire department was putting out the last of the flames, but the house, for all purposes, was a total loss, including contents.

The cause of the fire, was the rags in the plastic container, spontaneous combusting in the garbadge can, blowing the lid off(under the patio roof), and then flames spreading throughout the house from the roof.

The wife did not read the warning label on the can of the stain, about combustion problems, and they did not have metal can for oily rag storage.

 

[Higgins]

Sorry the here about you friend.

Yrs ago, when I was probably around, I was working outside with my dad rototilling part of the yard! I filled the gas tank, and moved the rototiller over to where I was going to use it! When I started it, a spark from the ole muffler ignited the gas fumes, and they flashed all the way over to where the gas can was, and we had an inferno going..... Dad pushed over the can on it's side, and covered it with dirt! Fire out!!!

To this day, I can still visualize the gas igniting, and flashing horizontally over to the gas can. Was truly a scary moment in my life!

AL

 

[buzz4041]

Thanks for the reminder. Sorry about your buddy.

 

[galute]

Condolences for the loss of your coworker and his family. I always toss rags with any flammables on them into the wood stove. Even if it's summer and I don't light them should they light themselves there will be no harm done.

 

[dladcock]

Prayers for you, your friends family and the fellow who was with him during this tragedy. These moments set me back as I think of my own actions and safety.

I work for a company that is very strict regarding OSHA safety compliance as well as company safety policy. Our safety officer has told me in the past that it is her job to identify and imagine the worst possible scenario in any given activity and make rules aimed at preventing tragic accident's.

After 20 years on this job, countless hours of safety training and the desire for my own personal health and safety, I find that I carry this training home with me. I carry it on the road. I carry it on vacation. I carry it to Walmart.

Yes, it's like working in a straight jacket at times and even then there are risks, but ending the day in the same condition I've begin in is part of my job, too. Either for pay or for fun.

Hopefully by your post we will hear less than more of this type of story. If it gets us thinking and sharpens our awareness, you have provided the service you came here to deliver.

dla

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Sharing this is the most positive thing you can do, and it might save a life.

I'm sorry it happened though.

 

[wrench409]

I too am safety conscious - I volunteer at work and catch all kind of flak from my co-workers right from the beginning.

First was Terry......he was using a hammer and punch on a bearing set and a piece broke off and hit him in his forearm, too deep to get out, so he got stitches. Came back to work afterwards, and did the exact same thing and hit the same arm 6 inches away from the first and was able to get that hunk out. He later quit because the company required safety glasses in the shop.

Next was Ken, he jacks up a cherry picker with 800 lbs of starters and alternators in a 100 lb cage - 4 feet off the floor! I was working about 5 feet away when I saw him begin to move it. Down went the cage and up went the cherry picker - it fell right where I was just standing a few seconds before.

Then Wayne.....left me to park his finished tractor at the end of his shift. He'd done a brake job that morning and 'assumed' the automatic slack adjusters would 'adjust' them up. I hit the wheel stops after jamming it down into 1st gear - just three feet from the glass front office. Very narrow escape.

Al, jacked the cab 90 over on a Peterbilt sleeper in the morning and did an 8 hour diagnosis that it needed a piston and liner in #1 cylinder. I took over at 3 PM and was torquing the head at 7 PM when the driver's briefcase crashed through the windshield. The boss tried to write me up for it until I threatened to quit.

I even had one guy track me down on the lot to drag me back inside to show me how someone had plugged in something to the wall and the cord was crossing a doorway. I reached down and unplugged it for him.

You can't be the safety guy for everybody. There are too many of them and they breed.



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[WVBrady]

Sorry the here about you friend.

Yrs ago, when I was probably around, I was working outside with my dad rototilling part of the yard! I filled the gas tank, and moved the rototiller over to where I was going to use it! When I started it, a spark from the ole muffler ignited the gas fumes, and they flashed all the way over to where the gas can was, and we had an inferno going..... Dad pushed over the can on it's side, and covered it with dirt! Fire out!!!

To this day, I can still visualize the gas igniting, and flashing horizontally over to the gas can. Was truly a scary moment in my life!

AL

For future reference, about how far away was the gas can? I have wondered about this happening, but never experienced it.