Gloves in the shop

Interestingly, I was at a holiday party last night and ran into a hand surgeon. Since he was drinking, I took the opportunity to ask him about hand injuries, specifically what do I do if I lose a finger in the shop. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on that but I think we all realize it is a distinct possibility. He told me that if it was just one finger it was probably not worth reattaching because it was unlikely that it would ever function well and I would ask for it to be removed later. NOT what I wanted to hear. If it was multiple fingers that would result in significant disability anyway so they might reattach one or more. He said to put them in a clean bag and put that on ice. Get to a University Hospital or Level One trauma center. They are good for about 24 hours so traveling is not out of the question. Sorry if this sounds too morbid but it is not the kind of advice you have access to everyday.
He was also very interested in the metal work and what kind of things we make! Be safe.
Robert
 
Yeah, in my neck of the woods, a level one trauma center is 2 hours away! The local hospital would probably sew up the open hole and call it good and send me home. :eek:

Be safe out there in your shop! I try to. It's hard to sometimes. Try to think a step ahead of yourself when making moves. That last step could cost you a limb or two! Or death!
 
Interestingly, I was at a holiday party last night and ran into a hand surgeon. ... He said to put them in a clean bag and put that on ice.
Don't overlook that important detail! Directly on the ice is bad. A severed body part needs to be kept cool, but should not be frozen, even just in points of contact with the ice. The insulation of a bag, or better double-bagged, protects it from cellular damage.

My brother had his hand pulled into a snowblower about a decade ago. The theory is that there must have been loose threads or something on his gloves and those got caught and pulled him in. When I got the call to go clean up the mess he left in front of his neighbor's house while my mom went to pick him up and take him to the ER, I couldn't believe it had happened, because he has always been Mr. Safety. He grew up helping our great-grandfather with his snowblower, and had adopted the same practice of hanging a stick, like a short length of an old broomstick, from a strap on the handle of the snowblower so you won't ever be tempted to try to clear a mess manually. He says he was sure he was far enough away that he was in no danger, and then suddenly his hand was in there. Accidents like that can happen to anyone, and knowing how to handle it is important.

Also the surgeon wasn't kidding. My brother needed half a day of surgery with a couple of surgeons (they described the x-ray of his hand as "cornflakes" rather than bones), and he had to re-learn how to type (was a developer, now an IT director), and he can now predict the weather through the pain he experiences as the barometric pressure changes. They can sew it all up again, but you'll never be the same.
 
Recall hearing from a relative once about her brother losing a digit while woodworking. His mother stuck the finger in half a watermelon that was on the kitchen table before taking him to the hospital. They said that was a good move. Pretty sure that was prior to the plastic bag era. Remember when your lunch was always wrapped in wax-paper, and you had to use a church key to open your beverage of choice? You tell kids that today and they look at you like your from another planet. That may be true, I keep waiting for the mother ship to come and take me home.:) Mike
 
Every time I see a YouTube video with un safe practice I leave them a nice please don't wear loose long sleeves or no eye protection. Just a week ago I saw a man on video get sucked into a running lathe. He didn't look to hurt but he died later that night. It's always better to be dirty or have splinters then to be dead. That machine don't care if you live or die . It's a hard video to watch he leans into the machine his shirt gets caught and he's twisted up n the lathe. Should never had happened. SAFTEY is everyone's responsibility. If you see it tell them if they don't listen tell someone higher up. Un called for in our osha safe times. I'm not sure if the accident was in the USA but still it shouldn't have happened.
 
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What's amazing is how people can react so negatively when you try to share safety concerns like that.
And then you ban them from the shop. Instantly. Forever. Because they have just announced that the rules don't apply to them. Machines are like laws of nature: the penalty for ignoring the rules is death or worse, there's no appeal, you don't get a do-over, and the penalty is imposed instantly without pity.

I admit I'll usually try, once, to make the rules clear; especially today, few have real experience with hard lessons. But- one try only. Argue, ignore, disregard...gone.
 
Feeling the vibrations in a machine running is important to me as you can tell a lot about what is going on. I often rest one hand somewhere on the machine so I can "feel" changes in it running. I think if you don't want dirty hands, you should not really aspire to be a machinist, but that is my opinion.

I'm the same, wouldn't dream of wearing any gloves, one or both hands on the machine at any time.
 
Completely agree, only gloves I wear are anti vibration ones when using construction tools, everything comes off my hands and arms in the workshop. I get a bit irritated when other people refuse.
 
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