Hazardous thing happened at work

[fezder]

Okay, first of all, nothing ''bad'' happened, but it could'hve been much worse.

at my current job, we assemble solar-heaters. all heater areas are well-cleaned with asetone before applying special coating.
now then the thing what happened was rather simple, (and could have been avoided, if i had used safety glasses) small amount of asetone splashed on my EYES! i can tell, pain was, terrible. it was like sand, only worse.

I now tell you all this, WEAR SAFETY GEAR. i now wear mask, glasses, and rubber gloves, just because i care about my health! and also hearing-protection (along radio, you know what they look like, just to pass time more easily) just due the noise in there

thats all! no worries now, things happen
oh, and feel free to tell your own stories, they teach pretty well.

 

[JoeJester]

Remember... The ass you save may be your own.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I worked in a research lab and I could "get away" most of the time with just regular glasses, but I always adjusted my PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) accordingly.
Chemistry in the lab always uses goggles.

At home I always use boxes of Vinyl gloves. Hearing protection most of the time. Goggles when required. An an occasional Tyvec suit.

What will help you and your company, is to do a "job hazard analysis" for the process your company does. If you can't specifically target the process, target the machine or area.
e.g. High vacuum equipment, machine shop or in one case "changing a light bulb". Yes, changing a light bulb. It can be a 10 atmosphere glass bomb where fingerprints can destroy the integrity of the envelope. I only changed the bulb once a year and I think I did it nearly every single time.

The "job hazard analyses" determines the PPE and the hazards associated with the job. It could contain the MSDS for Acetone in your case. It might contain clean up instructions. it might suggest that you purchase a "spill kit". It might suggest that an "eye wash" station is appropriate.

There should be a central accessible library for the MSDS's of chemicals used in the workplace and there could be on on file for that job.

Experiencing a "horror story" and living to tell about it, re-enforces the necessity of PPE.

 

[Overclocked]

I was machining stainless steel a few nights ago (303), I didnt have my glasses on because the chips werent going near my face at all (on my hand as I was turning the handwheel-they were hot so I eventually used auto feed). What do you think happened? A chip flew into my eye. I was the only one home. I hit the E-Stop on my lathe and found my way up stairs. Luckily the chip wasnt hot but I got it out.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I know about that one. A machinist where I used to work got a small sliver of something in his eye when using the mill. He probably was wearing safety glasses without the best side shields. I keep a pair of these ST-14 tweezers (**broken link removed**) around the house. It didn't work, when the wood splinter was in the bottom of my foot.

One of them turned on the mill with a wrench attached to the shaft used to tighten the collet, so I made a foam wrench and presented to him as the "SAF-Wrench"

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

I have few memorable ones:
1) started sliding off a roof. -- I just layed down and stopped.
2) The chainsaw kickback - Nice cut on a finger. (I took care of it)
3) Pinching my pinky with a strinking hammer - really nasty scar. Should have had stitches. (I took care of it)
4) Filing a custom lathe tool - my hand slipped into the tool
5) Not securing a piece of sheet metal in a drill press correctly - It makes a nice cutter. Close call.
6) Dropping a quartz tube containing red phosphorous and zinc while I was sealing it under vacuum. - no big deal. briefly caught ton fire which I smothered.
7) Exhaust system cuts when I was a teenager.
8) When a bridge up ahead was solid ice. The other guys crashed into the wall, because I didn't panic or try to stop.
9) Driving on a long double decker interstate bridge that turned solid ice at like 4 am in the morning.
10) Chancing a trip across a 20 mile (Bridge-Tunnel) with a slipping clutch.
11) Working witch concentrated Hydrofluoric Acid - No incidents.
12) Working and fixing high voltage, high current supplies: 100 kV at 0.1 A, 15kV @ 1.5 A; No incidents
13) RF, 1000 W tube amp, 3000 VDC plate current, No incidents.

Then there was the one I missed, but my safety system worked. A lab blew up and made nice holes in the drywall and took out the suspended ceiling. A safety device failed causing the operator to think that the cylinder of Hydrogen was empty. So, a 2000 Lb burst of Hydrogen was sent into an acrylic enclosure through a line rated for vaccum or about 30 PSI when he opened and closed the valve to check the seating. Why vacuum? Because the gases used were high purity and toxic at low ppm values and the lines and regulators had to be vacuumed and purged when a cylinder was changed. Hydrogen was probably the safest nasty. The other gases were Hydrides, such as Phosphine, Phosgene and Silane. Management had the hydrogen sensors and the alarm system in a box and not installed. Oops! The burst killed the ventilation monitoring sensors. No evidence of fire was found. Lots of procedures changed after the analysis.

 

[JimB]

Bad stuff
A hand to hand shock of 500v DC due to a mechanically faulty PSU (Broken capacitor mounting clip)
Trod on a board with a nail in it. I was dismantling an old shed and did not bother to put on safety boots. Idiot!
Working under the engine of a very old car, which had a thin drain pipe from the manifold to prevent flooding. A single drop of petrol dripped into my eye. Wow that stung, luckily there was a water tap about 10ft away and I was able to wash it quickly.
Metal sliver in my eye. A tiny little piece of metal carried by coolant which was thrown up into my eye. We did not wear safety glasses in those days (year 1965).

Deja vu
I had a splinter of metal in my finger, no big deal, just pick it out with tweezers, did that no problem. Then the splinter jumped out of the tweezers and straight to my eye! Lucky I had the safety glasses on! (year 2000)

Most frightening
Working in the "pipe shop" at a shipyard, fixing an ultrasonic cleaning machine.
In this room were also BIG vats of who knows what chemicals for pickling and cleaning newly built pipework.
All of a sudden I was aware of being showered by "stuff".
Thinking that I was about to be covered in sulphuric acid, I pulled up the hood of my work jacket and crouched down behind the ultrasonic machine.
The pipeshop foreman and the rep from the ultrasonics company just stood there.
I only got up when the foreman started to give a bunch of apprentices a "good bollocking".
They had just run a wire brush up the inside of a pipe and blown out the bits with an air-line. The fact that the pipe was pointing in our direction was a a cause of great amusement to them.

JimB

 

[Misterbenn]

Had a friend working in an environmental testing lab, when an intern emptied out a large sample of acidic water/soil sludge into a steal drum. Acids and base metals don't mix very well and the lab had a new doorway when my friend got back from lunch!

Doing some development testing on a new 5kW motor controller, supplied from 3phase 125A PSU. The lab technician had failed to set the PSU current limit so when the unit failed short circuit we had a very effective arc welder and 1m high flames! The technician promptly ran away (completely ignoring the E-stop and CO2 that were both right next to him).

5) Not securing a piece of sheet metal in a drill press correctly - It makes a nice cutter.

been there done that.

And last weekend at a friends fireworks party, when one of the larger rockets failed to launch.

 

[Mosaic]

Hmm.. using a dremel cut off wheel to shorten a 6-32 screw.... catches on the wheel and bounces off my safety glasses before I could blink. Never found it.
Got a brown burn on my arm from 3 days ago fixing a hot laminator, with the cover off.
Regular glasses saved my left eye, as I turned around as I stood up and bumped the lens into the edge of a window unit A/c... Got a 1" groove cut into the plastic lens!
Been working on lead acid batteries for 2 years @ up to 60C electrolyte temps, no damages other than numerous cotton clothes destroyed from tiny acid splashes.
Been etching PCBs with conc. nitric diluted down to 1.160SG for 30 years...no harm either.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

You also need to be aware of your surroundings. My cousin lost an eye when her husband was using a leaf blower and it threw up a rock.

 

[fezder]

Been etching PCBs with conc. nitric diluted down to 1.160SG for 30 years...no harm either.

what? english please

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

It is: "been etching Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs with concentrated Nitric acid down to 1.60 Specific Gravity (A measure of acid strength) for 30 years...no harm done.

 

[Overclocked]

I think he means specific gravity, but thats not really a measure of how strong/dilute an acid is (I could be wrong, Im not a chemist). A better measurement would be using percentages (ie 50% Nitric Acid, 90%, etc).

EDIT: Someone got to it before me, I stand Corrected

 

[fezder]

ah, now i get it, thanks!

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

SG is ph relative to pure water. if I remember my chemistry right.

 

[picbits]

I have few memorable ones:
5) Not securing a piece of sheet metal in a drill press correctly - It makes a nice cutter. Close call.

I did the same when I was drilling a centre bore in a timing pulley - the drill jammed and the pulley span slicing through my finger.

 

[tvtech]

Can you believe it

I have never been injured in any way on the job ...sure shocked with EHT but OK. Staff are fine. They come first.

After hours is where stuff kicks in....or I relax..Nobody else to worry about.
Only me.

Then I relax and I wound myself rather..

And no EHT anywhere. I don't play with Electricity after working hours....my free, relaxing time until the next Morning...when I have to guide again.

I am a good guide. I have had no losses...

Today, I took a good fault finder to a new level.....absolutely blown TV SMPS... This Guy is trying his best to help me knowing that my partner on the Bench probably will not be coming back....he does not know TV's...but he knows how to sniff out faulty components..

I just have to show him the broad area to look....than he sniffs them out. Let me clarify this: blown Chopper stage...all discrete...but all components have to be checked.

I think maybe the worst blow up I have seen in a while. Proudly brings me the repaired board. I look at the four Diodes in the Bridge Rectifier...I see one is replaced...I ask what about the other three??. I teach him today that if one Diode is faulty...you replace ALL FOUR. He did not know that.

Any disagreements here from anybody???

Anyway, the Variac gets hauled out. I am teaching him to be wary/carefull/respectfull of how a SMPS starts up....not just plug it in and hope for the best..

I monitor. it starts switching at around 40VAC and quickly goes to ballistic levels with my Yew sitting monitoring B+.... shut it down. Saved replacing everything from scratch again.

Tell him...something still wrong. Fault find it...

Trues God, he found the problem. 15 Nan Cap open in/on PSU Primary...I mean I have fixed thousands of these Supplies here in my time...never that.

Brings the Cap to me....and it is indeed OPEN. Check it on my Cap Tester....open. I shake my head.

He finds a replacement Cap...I check it. Reads correct. I say put it in.

We start this Baby up again on the Variac....bingo...hundreds. Perfect SMPS repair. Everything is good

He is the very first one who has actually listened and learned here where I am in Africa....not just plug into Mains and hope for the best...

I wanna keep him.

Regards,
tvtech

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Trues God, he found the problem. 15 Nan Cap open in/on PSU Primary...I mean I have fixed thousands of these Supplies here in my time...never that.

Brings the Cap to me....and it is indeed OPEN. Check it on my Cap Tester....open. I shake my head.

tvtech - They are designed to open. They are either an X or Y capacitor and need to be replaced with the same for safety reasons. Did you do that? I just read a very informative professional publication with an article on X and Y caps. There are single digit numbers after the X and Y's. Some caps can be rated for both. e.g. X1Y1 caps.

 

[tvtech]

Hi KISS

I know X and Y suppression and safety caps respectively. And extensively....this one was a little green 15 Nan rated at 100V and is part of the actual SMPS start up circuit.

Regards,
tvtech

 

[4pyros]

tvtech - They are designed to open. They are either an X or Y capacitor and need to be replaced with the same for safety reasons. Did you do that? I just read a very informative professional publication with an article on X and Y caps. There are single digit numbers after the X and Y's. Some caps can be rated for both. e.g. X1Y1 caps.

Can you post a link of the artical?