OT: Knee jerk reactions to safety concerns

[Sliver]

Surge receptacles sold here.


Brian.

 

[mordred]

DOH!!!! here I was being facetious

 

[gas]

I have seen some dumb safety things but I have also seen some dumb things at the other end of the scale.

I recently worked at a plant that makes candles. After a production run a very pregnant young woman had to climb up on a wax covered stool to pull a plug to stop a hot wax pump. All the motors and heaters were controlled by plugging or unplugging, they were all out of reach overhead, they were fed from different sources AND they had the ground cut off.
The whole plant was like that. The OSHA inspector stepped over a 250 volt rubber cord going across an isle (carring 480v) to inspect a machine someone got pinched in. This was one of the few safe machines and they got fined for that. He never looked at anything else.
I couldn't believe seeing that.

 

[Atlascycle]

I have seen some dumb safety things but I have also seen some dumb things at the other end of the scale.

I recently worked at a plant that makes candles. After a production run a very pregnant young woman had to climb up on a wax covered stool to pull a plug to stop a hot wax pump. All the motors and heaters were controlled by plugging or unplugging, they were all out of reach overhead, they were fed from different sources AND they had the ground cut off.
The whole plant was like that. The OSHA inspector stepped over a 250 volt rubber cord going across an isle (carring 480v) to inspect a machine someone got pinched in. This was one of the few safe machines and they got fined for that. He never looked at anything else.
I couldn't believe seeing that.

I think that in some states that if you pass a state saftey inspection and you have a accident that OSHA can only come in and inspect the equipment in question and not inspect everything.

 

[LadderLogic]

I couldn't believe seeing that.

Any lawers in the house willing to make an easy buck? Sounds like a juicy case to me...

 

[Buster]

Forklift driver Klauss, the first day.

http://home.astrakan.hig.se/sax/rokka/files/staplerfahrer_klaus.wmv

It's in German but stick with it for at least 5 minutes.

Buster

 

[jstolaruk]

Is that a training film? Its like something from Monty Python!

 

[elevmike]

Is there a subtitled version of this? I want to show it in next Monday's safety meeting.

 

[MikeW]

Wouldn't it have been easier/quicker/cheaper to wrap the mechanic's head with a foam cushion?

They call them "Hard Hats" and are used in many locations (probably where too many people bumped their heads.)

 

[jstolaruk]

They call them "Hard Hats" and are used in many locations (probably where too many people bumped their heads.)

I'm kidding; the foam cushion hat is a humorous response for the mechanic's clumsiness. The hard hat is intended for falling objects but this mechanic will probably need that too.

 

[MikeW]

I'm kidding; the foam cushion hat is a humorous response for the mechanic's clumsiness. The hard hat is intended for falling objects but this mechanic will probably need that too.

I have been "clumsy" numerous times when crawling about inside various "machines" and a hard hats has become part of my PPE in those cases. The safety gurus here have got us to be world class safe at the expense of going overboard at times - the tool crib will also issue baseball style "bump hats" if you do not want to wear a heavier hard hat when there is nothing overhead that may be a problem.

Of course you could just also wear a GB Packer Cheesehead triangular head protection device, they are fairly numerous here in Wisconsin . Heard a few years ago that a single engine plane pilot credited one of these as saving him when he crashed on the way home from a game (urban legend?....)

 

[jstolaruk]

I confess to also having a hard hat as part of my PPE. Maybe a GB Packer cheesehead would be more appropriate!

 

[Jimmie_Ohio]

My contribution to ridiculous safety stories:

I was at a paper mill down south for a start-up of my company's equipment. Upon arrival, I met the "safety manager" who showed me a cheesy, poorly made video about plant safety.

I was climbing on an enclosed conveyor section and was about 3 feet above ground. Mr. Safety made me put on a fall harness! He said since the conveyor angled (at about 10 degrees), I could climb to heights exceeding the 6 foot limit. This was ridiculous because the only business I needed to conduct was at the lower end.

Now he's got me torqued...

Elsewhere in the plant, I walk past an SO2 monitor which is mounted on a column and has a light that is flashing. The sign adjacent states "Dangerous SO2 Levels, if flashing. Evacuate immediately." I ask the plant guys about this. They say, "Oh don't worry. None of those have been calibrated yet. They all are flashing." So I walk in the safety managers office and complain before going to lunch. I get back and find every sensor location has a 50 foot perimeter defined by red "Danger" tape. At each sensor is an instrument tech with all kinds of calibration tools setting each one up.

Revenge can be sweet...

 

[Buster]

jstolaruk
Yes, as far as I know, it was a training film made in Germany sometime around 2000 by two young directors who had cut their teeth making H&S stuff and decided to do something a bit different!

elevmike
A quick search on Google revealed an English subtitled version on Youtube, but I think it works just fine as it is!

For my money, it's the most hilarious H&S presentation I've ever seen and I've had to sit through enough dire ones!

Buster

 

[gas]

More on the candle place

They also had girls packing in an isle with lift trucks going by at speed. There were people working under storage racks that were being loaded from the other side by the same forklifts. If someone wanted something from the top he or she just stood on a fork and got raised up.
I gave some adult students a tour, when they got back to the classroom lack of safety was all they could talk about.
This place is in my home town and I haven't read anything in the paper about injuries or OSHA fines.
Still unbeliveable.