Shop Safety

D'Mann

D'Mann

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2007
Location
Clayton, NC
Ok,

That thread about using Jack Stands (the Mechanic getting crushed) got me thinking about shop safety. I admit that I have been in a hurry and used cinder blocks to increase the height of my jack stands, and work fast and careful because of it. After looking up "Crushed under car/ jack falls on mechanic" and seeing hundreds of deaths and injuries due to unsafe practices, combined with someone mentioning how easy it is to fab up some safe jack stands at the shop, I thought I should do something.

My rig is too tall right now (I'll be lowering it about 4 inches with the next suspension upgrade), but this week it's sawzall time. I'm going to do tube fenders up front and comp cut in the back to get ready for the suspension changes. The rig is 31" to the body,27" to the frame (awesome break over, full width axles, so not too scary off camber) I decided to use some of the scrap square tube I have sitting at the house and make some safe Jack Stands for a tall rig. Design took about 30 minutes, measuring and cutting about two hours, and welding...Like I said I'm getting ready to do my tube fenders so I wanted to shake off the rust and get some good beads down... I had some rust too:eek:, so I am taking my time on the welding. Also fighting the welder because someone forgot to make sure the wire feed was tight and the wire kept stopping spuradically on me. So I'll finish the welding tomorrow or Thursday (outdoor shop so if it rains it'll be Thursday).

Anyway, since it's square tube and no bends, it's kind of fun to do. I'll get them exactly the heights I'll need. And I paid $0 for the square tube, so the only cost is the time I'm spending not being on the computer (plus wire/gas/cutting disks/flapwheel).

Anyway, here is what they look like got one almost complete, just need to box the top, drill the adjustment holes, and finish the paint so they don't rust up right away.
Jackstand1.jpg


Jackstand2.jpg


They will be adjustable from 20" to 30" using a half inch bolt through sleeved holes in the top insert bar. At the 20" height the insert sleeve is sitting on the base (no bolt needed there). The base is 24" by 24". I figure since I'm not paying for the steel I might as well make them as stable as I can.

Now what I'm wondering is...

Does anyone have any other cheap ways to improve the safety in our shops?

I don't want to hear about anyone getting crushed or blown up trying to work on their rig.
 
Here is one that I am kind of picky about. Not necessarily free, but for many folks can be done cheaply.
How many of us crank up too many tools (e.g. using a grinder under bright shoplight while the air compressor is powering up) at once and pop the circuit?
But if you are working in a garage or basement... think about this - how dark is it w/o any lights? What happens if the circuit you are on pops - do the lights go out too?
This could be a pretty dangerous situation. My old house had the garage in the basement. No lights = really dark. If I'd ever had a grinder or cutoff wheel in my hand and the lights went out, that could be very bad for the few moments while it's still spinning!
So - I always make it a point (if at all possible) to ensure that my shop lights are on a differnet circuit from the tools. if you have to, run an extension cord for the lights. unless you are running many crazy halogen lights, they don't pull much power. Or, if you cannot do that... at least put your tools on a power strip with a breaker that is LESS than what is on the main breaker.
Or, get a basic cheap battery backup (UPS) for $30 or so. It dosn't need much, flouyerent lights are only like 80 watts (2 bulbs), and doubles as a surge protector and poert strip.
 
Saftey, Protect your eyes!

Y'all ever need some incentive to wear safety glasses, stop by my house. I'll let you look at the place on my left cornea where the doctor at Will's eye hospital (Philly) ground the rust ring away. I was actually wearing safety glasses & a grinding spark flew in over the top. Felt like something was in my eye, but I couldn't find anything that night. Next morning there was a big round thing on my eye. Looked kind of like a whitehead with a blackhead in the center. Went down to the hospital & doc got the sliver right out with a tool that looked like a small hockey stick. He said, if this was yesterday you'd be on your way home now. I'm not that lucky. He had to use a really tiny ball bur to "polish" the rust ring off. Only numbing drops, or I'd need a ride home. The next ten minutes were the worst ten of my life, & I've had a rough life!
 
buckshot500 said:
Y'all ever need some incentive to wear safety glasses, stop by my house. I'll let you look at the place on my left cornea where the doctor at Will's eye hospital (Philly) ground the rust ring away. I was actually wearing safety glasses & a grinding spark flew in over the top. Felt like something was in my eye, but I couldn't find anything that night. Next morning there was a big round thing on my eye. Looked kind of like a whitehead with a blackhead in the center. Went down to the hospital & doc got the sliver right out with a tool that looked like a small hockey stick. He said, if this was yesterday you'd be on your way home now. I'm not that lucky. He had to use a really tiny ball bur to "polish" the rust ring off. Only numbing drops, or I'd need a ride home. The next ten minutes were the worst ten of my life, & I've had a rough life!
Click to expand...

I just cired for you. Sounds painful!! Im gonna get me some swimming goggles now!
 
Dylan W. said:
Those look good, but I think a cindar block would work better than a wire spool!:flipoff2:
Click to expand...


You are correct sir. But the cinder blocks were stacked and that was already out. I might be safer, but I'm still lazy:flipoff2:
 
buckshot I had the same thing happen to me and I even had safety glasses on like you did. getting that thing out was miserable!!
 
buckshot500 said:
Y'all ever need some incentive to wear safety glasses, stop by my house...
Click to expand...

Eye safety was my first thought, but I knew somebody else would point that out.
Personally I LOVE the Wiley-X XL-1 sunglasses. They come w/ clear pop-in replacement lenses; they wrap around your head very tightly, even have a foam seal so virtually impossible for anything to escape over them.
(I have some extra PT-1s i can sell cheap)

Also, if you're gonna use a grinder or cutoff wheel - get the $8 Harbor Freight face sheild. Prevents having to dig fragments out of your cheeks.
 
Metal in the eye is not fun. I was hogging out a cylinder head with a die grinder, wearing the proper eye protection, but somewhere along the line a piece of metal got stuck in my eyeball, i think it might have been on my hat or shirt or something and ended up in my eye.

anywhoo, after a trip to the E-room, which included 5 hours in the waiting room and 45 minutes of some jackass poking and prodding, I had to go to an eye specialist the next day. He somehow got the metal out, not after I freaked out at him and told him i was gonna kick his ass.
 
Tobers said:
buckshot I had the same thing happen to me and I even had safety glasses on like you did. getting that thing out was miserable!!
Click to expand...
Two things I ask you, did the doc tell you not to move your eye or blink while he worked or you could lose the eye altogether? I don't think I have ever been so intensely focused on anything, as I was on keeping my eye still that day! Also while he was grinding, & aside from the pain, did you notice how it was like looking through a wave at the beach? Weird.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Eye safety was my first thought, but I knew somebody else would point that out.
Personally I LOVE the Wiley-X XL-1 sunglasses. They come w/ clear pop-in replacement lenses; they wrap around your head very tightly, even have a foam seal so virtually impossible for anything to escape over them.
(I have some extra PT-1s i can sell cheap)
Also, if you're gonna use a grinder or cutoff wheel - get the $8 Harbor Freight face shield. Prevents having to dig fragments out of your cheeks.
Click to expand...
I'll look into the shades, thanks. I was wearing a face shield & safety glasses the day that happened BTW. No cheek fragments to dig out? Whats a welder to do with all his spare time? Combing out the burnt hair only takes a few minutes.
 
yeah the doc said the same thing to me but they put a clip in it that made it so I couldn't blink and yeah it was so hard to keep it still when everything was so blurry.
 
You guys are lucky. I have modertate nystagmus (contanl back-and-forth wiggle of the eyes). Physically impossible to keep it still. only way I could do that would be anesthesia, lol.

Buckshot - the nice thing about those glasses is the way the really tightly contour your head, nearly air tight (usable as tubing goggles too!).
 
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