Prob not for the squeamish

[Grae79]

What's the worst you've ever injured yourself at work? and what's the worst you've seen first-hand?

Personally have never had much; no bad shocks (touch wood), odd stanley injury when was a boy; but soon learn from that!, and - again when much younger - stuck a wood chisel in my arm. Was more of a glancing blow really; nice scar tho.

Worst that i've seen was a guy take his finger off with a bandsaw. Was for cutting steel/aluminium so wasn't that sharp. Think it was half cut/half tear. Just what u wanna see when you're at work! He got a nice payout anyway.

 

[EasyFox]

Injury to myself was the time I had a bow saw jump when cutting a lump of wood & it skinned the index finger of the hand that was holding the wood. Nasty at the time but only have a half inch scar now.

Nastyest I've seen actually happen......many years ago while on an exercise in the former West Germany the vehicle infront of us in the convoy, a stalwart (hmlc) 6 wheeled ammunition carrier rolled over, throwing the vehicle commander out of the capola that he was stood up in. He ended up with smashed/crushed knees & lower legs when the cab rolled over his legs......BARF....

 

[Cirrus]

Nice!
I haven't had any really bad injuries touch wood. A yesar ago I stood up from screwing back a low level Skt and the kitchen fitter had put a cupboard above my head whilst I was working at low level. I stood up and BANG - nice inch cut opened up on my head. The funniest part was I immediately started rubbing it cos it was sore and the chippy watching me fainted because he had seen the cut opoen up with blood going all down my face and shirt lol

 

[Grae79]

that ammo carrier story is naaaaaaaasty! worst/best electrical one have heard of was from a guy i worked with once, was workin on 3 ph DB....can't remember what he'd done....obviously something idiotic...was blown across the room by it...was hospitalised but survived...lucky bar steward!!

 

[Jamesy]

Been a sky engineer on and off for some time, never witnessed but i heard of grim story where an engineer drilling through a wall skewered a sleeping dog on the other side! eww

 

[a.e.s]

just after I started with my current firm, last year we started an industrial job. We requested a cherry picker, but told that it wont arrive for a couple of days and so crack on regardless, long story short, fell of the top step of a step ladder ( I now know why they tell you not to stand on the top step lol) shattered a bone in my hand and six weeks off. still dont know how it happened as I landed on my feet?? the foreign doctor at poole hospital asked me which finger it was that was hurting, bearing in mind one was blue and pointing 90 degrees to the rest of them. When I told my college lecturer I wouldnt be able to do my final practical exam he told me of a lad that the year before fell of the bottom step of a step ladder and broke both his legs!!! I dont really know what to make of that, is it funny, impressive, disturbing??? I really dont know!!!

 

[Oli]

Cut the old head open a few times whilst tiling under kitchen cupboards doing the splash backs, funny how you always seem to forget about them until you crack your head for the 3rd time, I should really learn to be more carefull but all the knocks to the head have made me forgetfull.

 

[lockhes]

sliced my hand open when i was younger while scraping a gasket off a sump

fell off ladders then a ratchet hit me smack on the forehead caused a bit of blood


that was in my mechanic days not done anything while been a sparky (yet touch wood)

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Ripped the top of my finger off in my younger mechanic days. Timing mark on the flywheel was dirty and I conld not see it properly, so I went to wipe it clean.................Using a strobe to illuminate!!!!!!!!!!!! DOH

 

[minivanman]

been lucky myself but worked on a building site during my apprenticeship, didn't actually see it myself but a guy lost the top of his head whist using a disc cutter when the disc shattered

 

[Graeme Harrold]

The best one I saw was a guy cleaning his gun in Iraq back in 1991. It was the SMG (Sub machine gun, weapon choice of Storm Troopers!!). Anyhow this thing has a fixed firing pin, said person dropped the working parts back in with a mag fitted, picked up a round, chambered and fired. Bullet went through his thigh and with Einstine's laws of physics (equal and opposite reactions and all that) the working parts (500g of metal atleast) popped back out of the weapon and smacked him between the eyes. Once he came round and mentioned the F word a few thousand times, realised his thigh was a little worse for wear, promptly fainted!!!! Fortunately 30 or so stitches and was up and walking in a couple of weeks. Only just missed the massive artery on his inner thigh.

 

[bonjovi]

about 20yrs ago my mate who was an apprentice at the same company was in a loft space metal joists school i think it was anyhow . he was told to connect submain up as there was a board up there the spark who was incharge had already connected feed end and pulled fuse , so it was supposidly safe for him to work on it there was an almighty screem then my mate fell through the ceiling onto the boards below he was dead . the plumber came to look what was happening saw him dead gave him cpr brought him back .
weeks in hospital result .scar around his neck where he had gold chain with cross that melted totally into his skin as it got hot ,massive star shaped scar on his back as this is where arc exited his body
and lots of scars all over his upper body where he touched the metal joists as it was only boarded where you needed to stand
findings were that the spark had connected incoming live and neutral wrong used 2xred tails and marked 1 with black tape got em wrong so neutral was live

 

[Jamesy]

about 20yrs ago my mate who was an apprentice at the same company was in a loft space metal joists school i think it was anyhow . he was told to connect submain up as there was a board up there the spark who was incharge had already connected feed end and pulled fuse , so it was supposidly safe for him to work on it there was an almighty screem then my mate fell through the ceiling onto the boards below he was dead . the plumber came to look what was happening saw him dead gave him cpr brought him back .
weeks in hospital result .scar around his neck where he had gold chain with cross that melted totally into his skin as it got hot ,massive star shaped scar on his back as this is where arc exited his body
and lots of scars all over his upper body where he touched the metal joists as it was only boarded where you needed to stand
findings were that the spark had connected incoming live and neutral wrong used 2xred tails and marked 1 with black tape got em wrong so neutral was live

If the fuse was pulled out wouldn't that of made it safe regardless of live terminals being reversed ?

 

[sparkydude]

Not if it was a normal MEM type switchfuse as they just break the live through the switc and fuse and the neutral is justy connected in a block. So if swapped, even with the switch off the neutral would be broken but the live would not be.

Nick

 

[Jamesy]

ohh i understand. There's no space for human error in any circumstance then.