John Rodgers on sun 4 mar 07
Mark,
You hit the nail on the head. Training and Safety Gear - it's the answer.
In the Navy - a very loooong time ago - we were trained to use fire
safety gear and to put out oil fires using saltwater. That is a real
trick, especially when access to the fire is through a hatch, down a
ladder, through a passageway, and then through a bulkhead door. And the
fire is an oil fire floating on 6 inches of water inside a compartment.
We dragged hoses, nozzles and fog applicators all the way. But got it
done. Interesting excercises. With the safety gear used properly, no one
got hurt or burned.
Later in life I was trained as an aircraft mechanic, and we learned
about proper tools for the job, how to use them, and safety gear to be
used on the job. Invariably when someone violated the rules - long
established in the industry through hard experience - there would be an
accident. Often involved fingers, hands and eyes. And often as not,
those parts were lost. One man didn't take off his wedding ring, slipped
on the wing, slide off the front side4, snagged the ring on a rivet of
all things, and snatched that finger right off his hand.
Can't be safe enough. Observe the rules, wear the eye protections. I
have lost most of the vision in my left eye due to aging and
complications of diabetes. Not fun. Recently had surgery to correct the
problem. I think it will work but it's going to take a long time -
months and months. May never recover full vision. But I will tell you -
If you have two good eyes - protect them Use the eye protection
EVERYTIME. I can't even begin to describe the inconvenience that the
loss of vision has brought to me. Depth perception is gone. I have to
shut the bad eye to do fine work, and there is no depth control at all
.Throwing pots is difficult. Eventually I may compensate, but for now it
is not there. You had better believe that I wear eye protection when
working, especially with machines and tools. Don't want to risk losing
the one good eye.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea
Mark Issenberg wrote:
> As a Firefighter we were TRAINED to wear the protection that goes with the
> job. I would never go into a burning house,building or a flaming car fire
> without using the proper equipment like gloves ,boots and Bunker Gear.. If I was
> using grinding gear or cutting a lock or braking a door or window I would
> wear the gear. As a retired Firefighter I STILL wear the glasses and gloves , I
> wear a hat in the sun and 40 sun block if Im not wearing a long shirt.
>
> I grind kiln shelves to often and I always wear the gear , eye protection
> and gloves. As Vince says you only come with 2 eyes..
>
> As a Firefighter I have seen a lot of industrial accidents, I wont go into
> detail , but please wear the gear that goes with the job
>
> Mark
> lookoutmountainpottery.com
>
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Vince Pitelka on sun 4 mar 07
I changed the subject line from "Re: cutoff wire/cutoff fingers/never
again," because I wanted to get everyone's attention.
Phil Poburka wrote:
> I have never worn any sort of face shields or safety glasses or anything
> like that...and I have mixed emotions about their use generally since to
> me
> they seem to encourage bad habits in various ways.
Dear Phil -
There is so much to admire and emmulate in your approach to tools and
craftsmanship, but the above surprised the hell out of me. You must have
some sort of guardian angel looking after your eyes, to have gone so long
without wearing any sort of eye protection.
Please, anyone else who read Phil's message, assume that some sort of
supernatural powers have been protecting Phil's eyes, and that NO ONE else
ever has such protection. Please ALWAYS wear eye protection when there is
any possibility of flying debris.
Phil, I think I might have some idea of the "bad habits" you refer to.
Altogether too often, I have seen the community safety goggles hanging by
the bench grinder in a terrible condition, scratched up and partially
obscured with dust and grease, and that makes for a very dangerous
situation. It is essential that safety glasses and face shields be kept in
good shape, and that they are replaced as soon as they become at all
obscured. Aside from that, it is pretty hard to imagine any "bad habits"
that could justify not wearing proper eye protection. My god, man, you've
only got two eyes. If you loose one due to a flying fragment, you've only
got one left, and a FAR greater chance of ending up with NONE, and wouldn't
that put a huge crimp in your very fine craftsmanship!
I don't expect that my words will convince you of anything, but in some
corner of my mind, I will be worrying about you working at grinders and
planers and other dangerous equipment without any eye protection.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
Mark Issenberg on sun 4 mar 07
As a Firefighter we were TRAINED to wear the protection that goes with the
job. I would never go into a burning house,building or a flaming car fire
without using the proper equipment like gloves ,boots and Bunker Gear.. If I was
using grinding gear or cutting a lock or braking a door or window I would
wear the gear. As a retired Firefighter I STILL wear the glasses and gloves , I
wear a hat in the sun and 40 sun block if Im not wearing a long shirt.
I grind kiln shelves to often and I always wear the gear , eye protection
and gloves. As Vince says you only come with 2 eyes..
As a Firefighter I have seen a lot of industrial accidents, I wont go into
detail , but please wear the gear that goes with the job
Mark
lookoutmountainpottery.com
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email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
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Lois Ruben Aronow on sun 4 mar 07
It is also important to keep saline or eye wash in your studio, next to your
first aid kit. So easy for a speck of clay to fly into your eye when
trimming...yes, it's happened to me.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Mark Issenberg
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 3:22 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: GRINDING AND EYE PROTECTION!!!!
As a Firefighter we were TRAINED to wear the protection that goes with the
job. I would never go into a burning house,building or a flaming car fire
without using the proper equipment like gloves ,boots and Bunker Gear.. If
I was using grinding gear or cutting a lock or braking a door or window I
would wear the gear. As a retired Firefighter I STILL wear the glasses and
gloves , I wear a hat in the sun and 40 sun block if Im not wearing a long
shirt.
I grind kiln shelves to often and I always wear the gear , eye protection
and gloves. As Vince says you only come with 2 eyes..
As a Firefighter I have seen a lot of industrial accidents, I wont go into
detail , but please wear the gear that goes with the job
Mark
lookoutmountainpottery.com
**************************************
AOL now offers free
email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
http://www.aol.com.
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Arnold Howard on mon 5 mar 07
From: "Vince Pitelka"
Please ALWAYS wear eye protection when there is
> any possibility of flying debris.
Heed Vince's warning.
I learned to value eye protection the hard way when I built
a house in Hawaii. I was hammering nails one day, and a tiny
fleck of zinc flew off a galvanized nail and lodged in my
eye. My sister drove me to the emergency room in Hilo, and a
doctor removed the zinc with a special tool.
Ever since then I have worn safety glasses not only when
using a hammer but also while riding a bicycle and mowing
the grass.
Sincerely,
Arnold Howard
Paragon Industries, L.P., Mesquite, Texas USA
ahoward@paragonweb.com / www.paragonweb.com
Vince Pitelka on mon 5 mar 07
Arnold Howard wrote:
> Ever since then I have worn safety glasses not only when
> using a hammer but also while riding a bicycle and mowing
> the grass.
Arnold -
That sounds wise. After all, you could fall off the bicycle and land
headfirst on the lawn mower, and do some serious damage to your eyes. Or,
as you are peddling, debris could be thrown up by the mower directly into
your face. The general literature seems to support the precaution of always
wearing eye protection while riding a bicycle and mowing the grass.
I'd love to see a picture of your bicycle-powered mower.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft, Tennessee Technological University
Smithville TN 37166, 615/597-6801 x111
vpitelka@dtccom.net, wpitelka@tntech.edu
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
http://www.tntech.edu/craftcenter/
sacredclay on tue 6 mar 07
Last winter, hubby bought one of those stacked cords for the fireplace
that were shrink wrapped with a handle stapled into it. When he pulled
off the handle, one of the staple went flying right into his eye. Went
to the emergency There's five layers of the cornea. It went through
four. If it had gone through the fifth one, he'd be blinded in that eye
forever. Such as it is, he may need a corneal transplant down the road.
If I had to choose, I wouldn't mind the deaf part so bad. I could still
see my pots and stil be independent. Being blinded-whoa, goosebumps!
Warmly, Kathryn in NC
sacredclay on tue 6 mar 07
Whoa! Just realized that there is a clayarter who is visually impaired.
Sorry about the comment. I didn't mean to be that insensitive and
flippant about it. Open mouth and insert foot and watch the toes
wiggles out at the other end. Kathryn in NC
down the road.
> If I had to choose, I wouldn't mind the deaf part so bad. I could
still
> see my pots and stil be independent. Being blinded-whoa, goosebumps!
> Warmly, Kathryn in NC
>
>
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