# Shop safety (no long sleeves)



## Medickep (Aug 22, 2013)

In case anyone needs a reminder to not wear long sleeves in the shop, last night I responded to a guy who was reminded of this. I wish I could have taken a photo of this! He was working in a local lumber place and his sleeve was pulled in by a sander, which was the planer style. It pulled is hand in and nearly severed his thumb as well as the meating portion of his palm connected to his thumb.

It was a full thickness laceration with muscle showing and he could not move or feel with the thumb! I really hope he keeps it, but it was a good reminder to me as my garage gets cold and I'm decided between my fleece coat and vest!!

Stay safe!!


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## joey502 (Mar 30, 2014)

That is a great safety tip to remind everyone of. I don't think I am alone in wearing more clothes in the shop than I should. I need to turn the heat up and keep the long sleeves inside.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

Hmmm, I wear longs sleeves in the shop a lot sometimes even my jacket otherwise its just too cold. Mind you i am super concious of were the sharp spinny things are in relation to my clothes. I do have a bad habit of leaving the jacket unzipped and loose…gonna have to watch that. Thanks for the reminder!


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## JeffP (Aug 4, 2014)

This is an interesting topic.

I'm reminded of the youtube video by the wood gears guy where he tries (and fails) to get some cloth sucked into a tablesaw blade. And yet the internet is rife with examples of this being a common shop mishap.

I wonder if it is purely a problem with loose sleeves and other loose garments? Me thinks maybe just saying "long sleeves" is an over-simplification of the danger.

I'm prone to wearing a long sleeved t-shirt (with tight fitting stretchy ends on the sleeves) and a hoody with similar sleeves. So long sleeves yes…but nothing loose.

Do any of you have knowledge of situations where close-fitting sleeves caused a problem?


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## cutmantom (Feb 2, 2010)

if your clothing gets pulled into a machine then maybe you are just too close, use a push block


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Jeffp has a valid point. Too loose clothing in general can create a problem. Baggy sweat pants and Tshirts can be just as hazardous.


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## JeffP (Aug 4, 2014)

Monte,
Thanks for the support…but if you get your sweat pants caught in your table saw…you're doing it wrong. 



> Jeffp has a valid point. Too loose clothing in general can create a problem. Baggy sweat pants and Tshirts can be just as hazardous.
> 
> - Monte Pittman


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## Medickep (Aug 22, 2013)

Well, I'm sure we all do things Others on this site would seem "dangerous" from time to time. I sometimes wear old flip flops to keep my shoes in better shape, which is not smart.

My main reason for posting was that the imagine I saw was pretty effective reminder!!!


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## ElChe (Sep 28, 2014)

Good reminder. On any given night I may be in the shop in anywhere from safe clothing to underwear/flip-flops/baggy sweatshirt. I've never been buck naked in the shop but there's still time. I've dropped lumber on my toes. I've had baggy sweatshirt interfere with what I'm doing including adhering it to my bench with contact cement. But when I'm working with the sharp or spinning stuff I always wear short sleeves. I don't wear baggie sweatpants as a matter of principle because we ain't in the 80s anymore. Maybe I should rock some lululemon yoga pants? Sorry I've digressed.


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## Lsmart (Jan 1, 2012)

I had a baggy sweater get pulled into my belt sander about two weeks ago it got sucked in about rib height and my face and the sander converged on each other rapidly. Luckily the sweater was thick and the sander was a smallish handheld so it bogged down before it started sanding my chin. Managed to turn it off but had a crazy time getting untangled, sweater was so tight I there was no way I could get out of it, finally managed to wiggle the sweater free of the sander but I must have looked ridiculous for a good 5-10 minutes. Kinda wish someone else had been home so I could have gotten a picture. In the end I got off pretty easy with no injury (other than my pride) and learned that I should not wear loose fitting clothes in the shop!

Nice reminder Medickep!


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

I was jointing a board while wearing an old leather jacket. As the board cleared the cutter head, my sleeve got sucked in. Luckily (I guess), it was enough to stall the machine long enough for me to shut it down. No injury, I'm glad to say, but I did have to change my underwear. Jacket went straight into the trash can.

Another no-no: wearing a necktie while using a lathe.


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## DanielS (Feb 4, 2013)

At a previous job, the rule was no long sleeves or loose clothing in the machine shop. I once had a handheld grinder grab my sleeve when using a cup brush. Luckily it shut off when I let go, but it wrapped up the sleeve pretty good.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

No long sleeves or long hair in my shop. No jewelry either.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I must say I wear long sleeves in my shop most of the year. I heat my shop, but I consider still too cold for short sleeves. I typically wear a sweater w/ tight sleeves, and that has worked best for me. I once tried a sweat shirt and the dangly things from the hood scared me, so I took it off.


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## RPhillips (May 16, 2013)

Long sleeves are typically required to be worn by most industries which have rotating equipment present. It increases your protection, but as noted, it also can be a hazard around rotating equipment. So with that said, loose fitting garments are not to be worn around said equipment. This includes long hair, jewelry, and don't forget those pesky strings on your "Hoodies".

This is why the equipment operators need to keep as much of distance away from the hazard as possible. This is normally achieved through engineered controls, such as guard, push sticks, etc. which aren't always used like they should.


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## hotbyte (Apr 3, 2010)

Someone should adapt the new fad arm sleeves worn in sports for woodworking. The could be colored up "Norm Plaid."


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

David Marks use to wear long sleeves because the producers did not want to show his tats. In the winter, I most of the time have long sleeve shirt on. However, the shirts are highwater shirts or in otherwords short sleves not business length shirt cuffs. they are buttoned so not dangling. Second, shirts are tucked in pants with belt on. A shirt tail, can be as bad. Push sticks (gripprs) a must. Finally, no jewelry. I don't even wear a wedding ring.

One of the funnest sites I ever saw was at a job interview. I saw a shredded neck tie hanging on a wall, and the guy said it was a paper shredder that took him down. He kept it as a reminder. Too funny.


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## wheelerspop (Mar 28, 2014)

Many years ago, back in high school, I got a real life example of doing nearly everything correct and what happens when you make one small mistake.
We had all the safety rules posted on the walls at at least two locations on each wall of the shop.
No long sleeves, sleeves rolled up
No running
No jewelry (Rings or watches ect.)
Eye protection must be worn
Long hair in a net
No loose-fitting cloths
Do not use machinery you haven't had proper instruction on.
And others I can't recall at this time.
One day we came into Machine shop and noticed the one of the fellows was wearing a short sleeve shirt, had his arm bandaged up around his upper arm near his shoulder. Turned out that he had gone back to the shop after his day was finished for classes and was going to work on a project he was doing for his father's birthday. 
Well we all wore long sleeve shirts and rolled them up above the elbow and used rubber bands to hold them up there. Larry, as I recall was his name. Any way, Larry was warring a long sleeve Ban-Lon fuzzy type of shirt. (Remember those?) He was working on a lathe making a knurling operation when he leaned over the piece he was working on . The fuzz of the shirt sleeve was grabbed by the knurling on the piece and pulled his upper arm into the work piece and scuffed up his arm pretty bad.
The teacher used this incident was an example of what can happen when you don't follow the rules to the letter. Fortunately Larry wasn't hurt too much passed his pride and a nasty large scab for a week or two. 
But it's a lasting lesson on following the rules.


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## daddywoofdawg (Feb 1, 2014)

I often drag my sleeve or the bottom of my shirt though the paint or stain i'm applying.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

My Dad was a shop teacher sometime before I was born. (He never taught me woodworking - probably because Mom was afraid I'd hurt myself). He told the story of a student who came into the woodworking shop during the prom or dance (when he wasn't supposed to be there) - wearing a necktie - and got it caught - I think it was in a bandsaw. He was lucky to escape injury!

That said, my shop is unheated and I have worked there below 40F. I generally wear a snug fitting sweatshirt. I use pushers of various kinds, but your post is a good reminder that I should perhaps change my ways.

-Paul


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

My shop is heated (64 degrees when I am out there in the winter months), but I tend to wear long-sleeved sweat shirts … when I am turning, I wear a welder's tunic. My sweat shirts all have decent elastic around the cuffs, and the tunic snaps tight around my wrists.

When warmer weather arrives, I am in old sweat shirts with the sleeves cut off above the elbow, short sleeved T-shirts, and short-sleeved turning smock.

I realize I am taking a risk … like anything else, I think I just need to take precautions and pay attention to what I am doing.


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## SL77 (Jan 11, 2015)

I'm a newbie and I work in my garage. Granted, I'm in Texas but we've had some cold, wet weather. I did not think of this as I completed my first project. Thanks for the tip.


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## TheDane (May 15, 2008)

BTW … Though I am not good about the 'no sleeves' rule, I never wear jewelry in the shop. Rings, watches, etc. stay in the house.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

I'm trying to imagine how a drum sander pulled a guy's arm inside unless he was reaching inside the machine while it was running.


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## Medickep (Aug 22, 2013)

Rick-

It was an industrial one, like a large planer.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Yeah I'm just trying to imagine the scenario of how his arm got close enough to a spinning drum to snag the sleeve during any normal sanding operation. A drill press, lathe, or table saw I can see since you work right next to the moving parts but not on a drum sander. Was the guy sober?


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm guessing the sander had a conveyer (sp?) and the sleeve became pinched between the conveyor and the item being fed into the sander.


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## Woodtechie (Dec 8, 2013)

Yeah I think this was one of my justifications for spending a small fortune on heating and insulation.



> No long sleeves or long hair in my shop. No jewelry either.


No hair at all in mine… (except if a cat visits during quiet time)


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## kenhouston (Jan 15, 2015)

One step further - I ran several metal shops over the years. We always provided work gloves for the guys. Whenever they used the cotton gloves, first thing they'd do was to cut through the elastic band at the wrist so it did not grip the wrist. A glove got caught in anything it would pull the glove off their hand. Never had a gloved hand pulled into a machine - lost a glove now and then - but never a hand inside one.


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