Safety Reminder

[JA5544]

Got a little reminder last night. When using power tools, or any sharp tools for that matter, if you drop it just let it hit the floor. Was using a jigsaw last night, and when I went to pick it up off the bench it slipped out of my hand. My right caught it near the blade and my left caught it by the handle. Of course I pulled the trigger when I caught it. Luckily, I just ended up with a fairly superficial cut. It could have been a lot worse though. If the saw would have hit the floor the blade probably would have been bent, but I doubt any real damage would have been done. Even if it had completely destroyed a $130 jig saw that would be way better than a potential trip to the ER. Instinct is to always try to catch a dropped object, but in some instances it’s best to try and resist.

 

[Mikeske]

That is one of the first thing you learn as any type of mechanic let it drop. Far cheaper then to spend time in ER

 

[4 Ever-Fish N]

Thanks for the safety reminder. All of us can benefit from these.

 

[850xpeps]

Ya my reflexes tried to catch a digital caliper a couple years ago. One of the pieces went into my hand and cut some nerves. My pointer is now numb.

 

[SuperCat]

Glad you are okay, I would have done the exact same thing. It is really hard to stifle that impulse to grab the falling item before it gets away. And that impulse gets a lot stronger when the falling item is a big dollar tool. I'll take your advice and apply it the best I can, we all have to keep ourselves in "thinking" mode, not "autopilot."

 

[FigureItOut]

After 17 years in the restaurant business in my previous career, I have the correct reflex pretty deeply ingrained in me. It doesn't matter what I drop, could be a set of keys, my arms go out to my sides and I take a step back.

 

[ezover]

depending on the tool and if it is running or not I will try and catch/kick it with my boot to break the fall.

 

[milwaukeephil]

That's one of the first things the graybeards taught me when I started as a gopher on construction sites at age 16. If something heavy is falling, get out of the way and let it drop. Number two is don't run around working during lunch break ;-)

 

[X1 Mike]

I worked as a surface grinder for years and if a part hit the floor you had a good chance of scrapping it. Being that we basically finished the part and it was as expensive as it was going to get by the time I touched it we tried not to drop things. I still to this day have what I consider amazing foot reflexes. I've dropped some pretty heavy hunks of iron and never hurt myself and 99.9% of the time saved the part. The trick is just redirecting it or slowing it down.

And not working barefoot in the garage.

 

[southalabama]

Just out of high school I worked in the grocery store. I stocked the glass isle. This was back before almost all of the bottles were plastic. If you dropped something you stuck your foot out and kinda tried to catch it with your foot. It slowed it down enough that most often you didn't have to clean up salad dressing or barbecue sauce.

I did that in the shop once out of reflex habit. Almost broke my foot. I still catch myself wanting to stick my foot out.

 

[MushCreek]

I've been building plastic injection molds for 40 years. The individual mold plates can range from 20 lbs on up to many hundreds of pounds. If one topples, you jump out of the way. I tend to get out of the way of anything that is falling. As for surface grinding, I work on a rubber mat, so parts rarely get damaged.

 

[mike93lx]

depending on the tool and if it is running or not I will try and catch/kick it with my boot to break the fall.

I did this recently with my phone. Ended up stomping it on my driveway would have been better to let it fall.

As the saying goes, a falling knife has no handle.

 

[crewchief888]

one thing i always try to get across to a new mechanic is, if slips or starts to fall, get the hell outta the way.
"stuff" can be repaired, tossed out, or picked back up.

broken body parts are a little harder to repair.

back in november, we had a younger co worker smash his thumb while trying to re position a pump inside the machine he was working on. 2 of us had loked at what he was doing and warned him about what was going to happen, he didnt listen...

the pump slipped, his hand was between the pump and frame...

caught his thumb and smashed it pretty good.. 2 surgeries and 3 1/2 months on workmans comp.
we hadnt had a lost time accident in our shop for over 10 years
as a result of the "investigation" new policies, procedures, ect are in place

 

[Mark in Indiana]

Back in my highschool electricity class, when dinosaurs roamed: Some of the students would charge a motor capacitor, pitch it to someone and yell "catch". The victim would catch the charged capacitor and get a shock. To this day, I step back and let the object hit the ground that's tossed to me. BTW: I don't play ball.