Technical Shop Safety Equipment

Cruising the net the other day and saw a pop up for a reasonably priced emergency eye wash station. Got me to thinking about what safety equipment we have in our shops? I'm sure we all have the requisite fire extinguisher and maybe a box of band aids for when we jab our hand using a screw driver for something its not supposed to be used for. But what any other safety stuff is in your shop? Just wondering.

 

I have a pile of not so dirty rags.

 

Brings back a funny story....I'm an old school hot rodder. On the job training in the garage for 60yrs.
Was helping out a 19yr old kid who was enrolled in a auto tech class and needed a garage and some tools
to do a brake job on his car. Everything was going well until he got a drop of brake fluid in his eye, and
right away he wanted to know where my eye wash station was..... Told him to either use some Windex
or splash some water in his eye from the sink in the house. Also had to explain that we didn't have
a first-aid station so if he got a cut, he was welcome to use my paper towels and duct tape. He never asked
to use my garage again.

 

Exactly. Any thing worse...well that's what walk-in clinics are for.
BUT, my garage is attached to the house so I do have 2 up-to-date fire extinguishers

 

I've got an old box of bandaids on the window sill over the bench.

 

I built my garage before I had the house built. The garage has a full bathroom, so I have a sink to wash out eyes or to rinse off the blood before I use a shop towel and electrical tape as a bandage. We lived in the garage and a small travel trailer while the house was built. I do need to put a new box of band-aids in there because the box from 1993 is empty.

 

I usually have more then one pair of safety glasses, there is usually a pair or two of work gloves. Actually probably 3 pair from when my granddaughter was home, her and her friends always wore gloves.

There is a spigot just out the shop door to you can wash something out of you need to. I don't think there is a first aid kit out there, my granddaughter was in charge of Band-Aids she's gone now.

I think that the house is close enough if you get hurt. If you are really hurt there is a small hospital/medical center about 17 miles away (or 25) and my wife is a driving fool.

 

Several fire extinguishers, full first aid kit and cell phone. House is 100 feet away if I need water. Better half is often at work when I work in the garage, but fire dept. is only 2 miles away and the town garage where they fill up is two houses down so they know exactly where my street is. The primary safety thing is I only work in the garage when I am fresh, sober and not feeling pressured to rush.

 

LOL I have been known to be trashed in the garage.

Last time I actually got hurt in the garage it happened in the first few minutes after the wife got home. I said, "Honey I hurt myself." She said, go get in the truck I'll close everything up." In the way to then E-Room I said, "You didn't even look at my booboo." She said, "I did not have to, you weren't cussing and that means it really bad."

 

I was changing the fuel filter on my OT Ford pickup. I bled down the pressure from the EFI or so I thought. I went to use the little plastic clip release thing to get the incoming line off and had the wherewithal to turn my head to the side "JUST IN CASE". Well I don't know how much gasoline went in my ear, but trust me, don't ever do that! I had nothing to irrigate my ear so I drove 17 miles away to the nearest minor emergency clinic in excruciating pain. Two lessons learned. Dont work on shit you aren't sure about, and always have an ear irrigation system installed!

 

I had a kid helping me back in the seventies on a circle track effort in the northeast. The guy was enthusiastic, but new to the shop. Cleaning some parts with lacquer thinner ( no safety glasses) he splashed some in his eyes, panic ensued, running around in a circle screaming, I grabbed him and a water hose coiled nearby, and got him under control enough to stand there while I misted water into his face and eyes. After a bit of this improvised eye wash order was restored, and the guy ended up none the worse for wear. Hard lesson for the kid, and a big kick in the ass for me as far as having shop safety gear going forward.

 

I have a couple of first aid kits, one quite expired, but it has some good stuff in it, and one current. An ex gf left a big box of bandages as she didnt like seeing me using tape and paper towels ( i still do)
and ive got some saline flush syringes laying around, always nice for cleaning your eyes or a cut

 

Earrigation?

 

A box of bandages that are covered in enough dust you'd probably need to sanitize it before you touched the box with any open wounds...... Infact you'd probably be better off to use paper towels and masking tape.

Oh and lacquer thinner if it's a really bad cut !!

 

best there is. Stops blood from “leaking” out...always a roll on my bench. Scotch 33 is its best...

 

Empty fire extinguisher and a door to the house.
Realy, I have a fire extinguisher on my refrigerator, by the garage door, five extinguishers in the garage and all are full and up to date.

 

Krazy glue....

 

I like green masking tape and paper towel, the red blood and green tape look good together. Lol

 

Solo cup dispenser, safety first.

 

Several faces shields, safety glasses, and a Apple wrist watch and an Echo Dot for use as intercoms, "Come get me! I did it again."

 

Oddly enough, a few weeks ago I asked my girlfriend to help me set the back seat in the car to make sure it fit over the new driveshaft tunnel. Somehow she got her finger under the seat when I pushed down and got a pretty nasty cut from her finger nail to the first joint. I had to introduce her to the paper towel/duct tape band aid, and after a cold coors light and the obligatory "cool down time" she has insisted she needs gloves in the garage, and she fully stocked the medicine cabinet with bandaid and other medical supplies. I do however need to get more fire extinguishers and probably set up a sink and eye wash station.

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I bought a first aid kit to hang on the wall in the shop. It's full of razors and paint gun cleaning brushes.

 

I prefer electrical tape. It is more flexible, and let's you get back to work with less hassle!

 

Safety third

 

Dad's shop always had kerosene, clean grease, rags and electrical tape for cuts. Water faucet for eye flushing.

 

Hydrogen peroxide. Wonder Dust is used on horses to quickly clot cuts. Really handy when you are about to bleed out from cutting your self on a piece of rusty metal. Available at any farm supply store.

 

Being a machinist... safety glasses, eye wash, fire extinguisher, bandaids are for wussies so super glue, electrical tape or vet wrap for me but I feel the most important piece of safety equipment is the bottle of whiskey on top of the fridge. That has probably saved my life or possibly someone else’s more than once!


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Also the item I see missing almost everywhere: KEEP YOUR GUARDS ON YOUR GRINDERS. PAY ATTENTION TO THE RPM RATING ON CUTOFF WHEELS. My family refuses to keep the guard on a grinder. And I had an ER visit and multiple stitches leaving a large scar between my belly button and giggly bits from a missing grinder guard. Drives me nuts to see TV shows and such where they're cutting without a grinder guard.

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latex gloves for paint heavier leather gloves for welding and throw the rest away NEVER EVER USE GLOVES WITH POWER TOOLS OF ANY KIND IF GETTING HIT WITH SPARKS BOTHERS YOU GO BACK IN THE HOUSE
fabricator john
miss you dad