# Why safety is not followed in the workshop



## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

We all know that we should be wearing eye and ear protection and respirators. Most excuses for not wearing protection have to do with convenience or rather the lack of. I try to use eye protection and a respirator. I even use ear protection if I'm using a very loud machine for a long period of time. The thing that keeps me from using protection at all is working in a hot and humid shop. Down here in South Mississippi, the temperature is around the low to high 90's and with the heat factor, 105 to 110. You start to perspire as soon as you leave the house to go to the shop. Trying to work under these conditions while wearing safety gear is often impossible. Safety goggles fog up; safety glasses are streaked with perspiration; ear muffs and respirators are too uncomfortable to wear; it is generally pretty miserable. The best safety device I can think of is air conditioning. If you have a shop of any appreciable size, A/C can be costly. My shop is 1200 sf with 10' ceiling. I have an old 2 ton A/C, but even with insulation and leaks around the sliding doors, I can't get the temperature down to a comfortable level. So when it is hot, I work without safety gear. This hot weather lasts for around 8 months so I don't get much done until the 4 months of good weather arrives. Does anyone else have the same problems and how do you deal with it.


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## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

We all know that we should be wearing eye and ear protection and respirators.

I disagree with the above statement.

I never use ear protection and rarely a respirator in the shop and I usually let my regular glasses work as eye protection. Now and then I will put safety glasses on over my eye glasses and I will don one of those paper painters masks occasionally. That's always been safe enough for me. I don't feel all that other stuff is necessary except for once in a great while when it's needed for a specific task.


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## Sailor (Jun 17, 2009)

I live in the southeastern corner of Alabama so I know what you mean by the high temperatures. I don't even run the AC in my shop because I'm to cheap…..

I wear my ear protection and saftey glasses the most and I wear them fairly often. My respirator doesn't get much use unless I am working alot with MDF.

Maybe someone can come in here and scare us into wearing the protection more often, I just don't know just how bad the dust and fumes can be on your body.


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## Mogebier (Feb 4, 2010)

I wear eye protection 100% of the time. I have a really bad astigmatism, my vision is 20/200 with no aid, and my contacts are $110 each, so I protect them all of the time.
I wear a respirator when I'm doing something really stinky or when I am cutting a lot of pressure treated wood.
I don't own ear protection.
I have a full face shield when I use the lathe and it's a good thing because I have had more than one thing blow apart or come off of the lathe and into my face. I have a lot of dental work too 
I am teaching my 6 year-old son to be safe too. He goes and grabs his goggles before we start anything too.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

It can get pretty hot here in the summer too…it can get well in the the 90s with dew points in the 70s. I always were eye protection. I wear ear protection with certain tools like the router and planner. The only time I use a respirator is when I am sanding or routing.


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## spclPatrolGroup (Jun 23, 2010)

I have tenitus in my right ear pretty bad from shooting shootguns non stop growing up, and my father who has been a carpenter all his life have tenitus so bad he has a hard time hearing over the ringing in a quite room, so I allways force myself to use ear protetion, I have a few ear muffs around the shop so they are allways easy to reach. I am bad for wearing eye protection though, and I should, I got a piece of metal from a grinder in my eye a couple months back that scratched my eyeball, all is well now, but that was very painfull and put me in a dark room for several days and I couldnt see.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

I just had saw dust blow around behind my wrap around safety glasses today. Seems like I get more dust in my eyes when I have them on that off!!


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## sawblade1 (Feb 11, 2010)

*Dan * I agree A scratched eye is no fun I had safety glasses and was trimming a end of a board and the staple broke loose caught the blade and flung it into my eye!!! the safety glasses slowed it down had I not had they been on my face I might have lost my eye, the doc said the chances of the object getting past the safety glasses is about 1 in 200 billion if you don't have them on 1 in 100,000 bad Odds ? your choice Northeast Ohio ranges from 95+ during the summer with 70% or better humidity and then -14 windchill in the winter so weather extremes should not affect safety gear choices there are so many choices of PPE or personal protective equipment that is comfortable to wear that you should have no excuse.


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## jusfine (May 22, 2010)

MrRon, our situation is reversed in Canada, we have 4 months of summer, and 8 months of cool weather, so I can't personally relate to your situation. The heat is not much of an issue here, but cold is…

Beginning my carpentry career in the mid 70's, safety was a secondary item.
I have to agree with sawblade1, there are a number of excellent choices for hearing and eye protection now, we are tempting fate to not protect ourselves.

You can have hearing protection made up to fit for a minor amount (still allows you to hear the motors as they labor under feed rates, etc.) and they are similar to the "in-ear" systems musicians use, you hardly notice them once you begin using it.

I am guilty of not using my safety glasses the odd time, but am making more of an effort to protect my vision.

I do not use a respirator, but I ensure the tools are connected to dust collection and I wear the heavy filter masks when I cut exotics.

Excellent topic!

P.S. Hockey players did not used to wear helmets, goalies didn't wear masks!


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## scrappy (Jan 3, 2009)

I use a face sheild when turning on the lathe AT ALL TIMES!!! Was only using safety glasses until a piece blew up from a concealed crack. When that sucker bounced off my glasses, I decided to go to the full shield.

Only use hearing protection when using the router. It is the loudest thing in the shop.

Scrappy


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Flying objects probalby have a very low chance of getting past safety glasses, but I wore eye glasses most of my life until cataract surgery. I have a lot more dust and dirt getting around safety glasses than ever got in my eyes when I just had plain old flat glasses on :-(

Scrappy, If I ever get the lathe set up, I'm set. Already have the full face shield ready to go 

My grandson was in the shop with me today, 5 yrs old. He puts his hands over his ears when I run the table saw. Ask him about it and he said it hurt his ears. I never thought about a table saw making that much noise. Growing up on the farm, I probably had enough hearing loss at a young age a table or skill saw never bothered me. I had hearing loss when I took my draft physical at 18. Back then nobody ever thought about hearing protection. I was in my 30s before anyone started thinking about it on construction jobs. I ask kids on jobs if tools they are running bother their ears. They usually say yes, a little. I tell them it doesn't bother me any more and you better do something about it while you still can. Having 80% loss in one and 50% in the other is the pitts:-(( Except when SOMBO barks out orders )


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

our situation is reversed in Canada, we have 4 months of summer, and 8 months of cool weather, so I can't personally relate to your situation. The heat is not much of an issue here, but cold is…
It's a whole lot easier to heat a shop than to cool one.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

I have had my accidents thrugh the years 
under different surcomstances I have learned it the hard way
so now I always use safty gear when it´s nessery
even those kneepads if I have to work on the floor kneeling
even on the realy hot days have it unconfeteble hot , and have to drink tons of water
is nothing VS to have the pain/setback from an accident even a little scrats in the eye
or knees that are killing you after work

take care everybody nobody thank´s you when you can´t work anymore

Dennis


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## BOB67CAM (Dec 28, 2009)

im about 20 minutes away from snowyriver as i recall, and the heat here is usually fairly tolerable however the humidity is just insane, last night was almost 70 degrees and we went out fishing and sweat our a$$e$ off so i have a real hard time covering myself with anything, however if i need to use something i will, but normally i have a nice shady area in front of the garage and all of my benches and tools are on wheel so if its dusty work i usually roll the stuff out, im on top of a big hill so we normally have a decent breeze around
that being said tho when i weld i ALWAYS wear a welding mask, and sometimes i uses the arm covers, and its the same with the wood stuff, if i start routing and theres a lot of chips flying ill throw on glasses, but on the other hand im younger then most of you guys and probly not any smarter…lol


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## rep (Nov 20, 2009)

"We all know that we should be wearing eye and ear protection and respirators."

Yes, we know that some things require eye protection, ear protection, and lung protection. Sometimes it is not clear where the line is.

As I have gotten older, I have become more safety aware, so I am using these items more and more.

I almost always have safety glasses. I have 4-5 pairs laying around. Some don't fog up as easily in the heat/humidity. I use a Triton face shield on my lathe.

Ear protection is still something that I don't spend much effort on, if I realize that something is loud enough to bother me, then I use ear plugs. I know that I should be wearing them for less noisy - but still damaging - tools, but I don't always think about it. I need to develop a habit, so I don't have to think about it. All types of hearing protection are uncomfortable for me - but I want to be able to hear in the future…

Respirators - this is the least used item. I don't do a lot of spraying, so it is mostly dust to contend with. I use the Triton face shield when sanding on the lathe, and sometimes a paper face shield if things get really dusty off the lathe - or on the tractor in a dusty field.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I agree about the heat and safety goggles not being a good mix. I do wear my eyeglasses at all times, and I do wear a full face shield when turning.

As far as ear protection, I'll occasionally put my muffs on if I'm doing a lot of routing, but I've never been real comfortable using them. Somehow it makes me feel as if my senses are impaired and I'm not fully aware of what is going on around me. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else or not.


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## BOB67CAM (Dec 28, 2009)

im with ya charlie, im in construction and i cant bring myself to even wearing gloves, even when im blistered and popping, i just need to "feel" or "hear" everything i can


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Yup, that makes sense Charlie, but they will be more impaired if you don't use them  Trust me on this one.

I have done a lot of target shooting. I had custom ear plugs made. Thought I was doing the best thing possible. One day I didn't have them so I use some temporary roll 'em up and stuff 'em in kind. I immediately knew the difference; it was quiet today!! :-(( The custom made plugs had shrunk enough they were not doing me any good. Just one more nail in the coffin.


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## bowis (Feb 8, 2009)

To me, the use of safety devices and equipment is mandatory in my shop. If I'm running any power tool louder than the drill press, I'll wear earmuffs. I run dust control to each tool, and also run a dust filer in the shop (both are rated for 1 micron or less). And I wear safety glasses at all time. I've just forced myself to adhere to these rules, since I value my personal safety in the shop. If something prevents me from using any of these, my general rule of thumb is to remove the obstacle, not the safety device. Otherwise, I know it would just be a slippery slope to more exceptions to proper safety. I think the idea of adding air conditioning to the shop f you don't already have it is a great one. Remove the obstacle to using safety equipment, not the safety equipment.


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## davidpettinger (Aug 21, 2009)

For me, I wear eye protection all the time. My glasses are safety glasses. I use shooters ear plugs. I found these to work the best for me because when you pull them out they clamp against your neck and you don't lose them. Respirator never, Dust mask occasionally.


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## DonW (Dec 30, 2009)

Greetings All: Living is Southwest Florida I can really relate to the heat and humidity concerns. My shop is in my garage (a.k.a. oven) with very little insulation and no air conditioning to speak of.

I also happen to be in a position at work where the details of every company accident pass my desk and I get to help the victims of these accidents work through leaves of absence, insurance carriers and trying to keep their lives in order when they cannot work.

We had a guy last week who was brazing metal without eye protection on. He leaned over to pick up something with the brazing rod still in his other hand and the rod struck him in the face just below his eye. Another 1/6" of an inch and he would be blind in that eye today. And this stuff happens all the time. He got off with a simple corneal abrasion.

I am not trying to preach here so I will get to the point. When he was asked why he didn't wear his eye protection his answer was, "because it wasn't required by his manager." That got me to thinking. Does someone have to come up to me and tell me to put on my eye protections or hearing protection when I work in my shop? Whose eyes and ears are these anyway?

Accidents happen in a split second and 99% of the time they are unexpected or unusual circumstances. Heck, if we could see it coming we would all grab our eye protection just in the nick of time. But we can't.

I like being able to see my family and listen to my wife and children. So, I put on my eye protection and hearing protection a lot and dust protection when appropriate. Am I perfect and do it every time? No, but I'm getting better. I figure better to learn from someone else's mistake than my own.

They are my eyes, my ears, and my family. I cannot blame anyone else but me when the unthinkable happens. So, I choose to put them on, and then wipe off the sweat a lot when it's 98 degrees and 98 pct. humidity.

Just a quick aside, another thing I used to do in the shop was listen to music so my wife bought me an MP3 player one year. I found when I listen to music through ear buds, I couldn't hear the saw bind or things like that. So, for safety reasons, I went back to the boom box so I could listen to the tools for sounds of trouble.

Don


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Brazing or welding without eye protedtion is just plain stupid! Not like doing things where something might happen, that is where something will happen even if it is just having a burn that feels like sand in your eyes for a few days.

I knew a fellow who decided to weed whack a quick little spot for clean up before a yard party. Didn't put his safety glasses on. I small piece of rock shaped like an arrowhead flew up, went straight into the back of his eye through the pupil. One in billion chance of this happening, but he lost that eye. If the little piece had hit side ways or landed a couple mm to one side or the other, he'd still have that eye.


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## DonW (Dec 30, 2009)

TopamaxSurvivor: You are absolutely right, brazing without eye protection is stupid. And your weed whacker example is a better example.

I also know that every close call I have had, like the last time my saw kicked back and shot a piece of wood across the room, I remember saying to myself, "Well, that was stupid!" After an accident we can all look at things we have done and realize that what we did was stupid.

Since none of us is perfect, the point of safety gear is that it protects us from those inevitable times when we do something stupid.

Don


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

It sounds as if your A/C might be to small for the cubic square footage of your shop. My last shop was almost 800 square feet cooled by a 23000 btu A/C 240 window unit. Even in the triple digits here with the high humidity in Oklahoma it kept my shop 70 degrees and that was with a leaking overhead door. But thats not the point here, were talking about safety in or out of the shop. Working in extreme temperature differences does have its issues with safety gear and safety rules. When I get to hot or cold I'm not thinking about doing things with safety in mind, like when your glasses fog up or the sweat is rolling down your face. As for my hearing I rarely worry about it because its already bad. Although I do wear them in the shop when the kids come in the shop as an example for them. Don't miss understand I am a safety consciousness about what I do and how I do it. Thats why they say to have adequate lighting, so you can see easily and comfortably. Adequate ventilation means good air circulation and air temperature. After all some glues and finishes need comfortable temperatures to work well, so do I. I realize there are a lot of safety rules to follow so its easy to forget some, but then common sense covers most things. Even when I ride my bicycle I wear my helmet. You would think with all those holes they would be cool, but their not they get quite hot.


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## pcott (Jul 7, 2009)

I always wear a respirator and hearing protection when using stuff in the shop. I already have tinitus, so hearing protection is a given now. I wear glasses, so I don't wear goggles.


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## Ger21 (Oct 29, 2009)

I get far more stuff thrown at my eyes from my weedwacker than I ever have from my table saw and other tools.


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

Gosh guys, your hearing is so precarious, and you won't know you lost it until it is gone. Gradual change/damage is the worst as we don't notice it and ignore it.
I worked in a pulp and paper mill in my 20's as a summer student and remember getting my hearing tests as part of the physical. Before I started vs the third summer of work there was a change in high frequencies and I always used ear muffs or plugs. I toned down the headphone use also as it scared me to think how quick the change was WITH protection. 
I notice my hearing loss in a busy restaurant or bar where I can't hear/follow the conversation at the table or it bothers me to be in crowded places that seem so much noisier. My wife is always giving me hell b/c I ignore her….actually can't hear her.
My dad was stone cold deaf after 40 yrs in pulp mills and my father-in-law the same after a lifetime in plywood mills. It is like trying to talk to a brick wall and though quiet, their life is more withdrawn.
So, I always wear ear protection, eye protection and usually a mask or respirator depending on the wood.The freaking weedwacker is the worst. I want to get a suit of armor against the flying debris.
For my kids, they both have their own earmuffs and eye protection or I send them away while cutting. You owe it to them to teach them well when they look to you for direction.
Just my $0.02


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

I have four ear muffs in my shop. Right next to the TS, right next to the router. which covers almost every instance where I would need them. Plus extras for my friends. Plus ear plugs when I have more people over or people that are leery of wearing ear muffs that others have worn.

Every tool has dust collection attached.

I used to wear eyeglasses and that sufficed. But I just had cataract surgery. You'd better believe that safety glasses are by every power tool. Right by the on/off switch.

Cheap insurance. As I am self employed I can't afford to have unplanned time off.

Lee


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## big_wood (Nov 3, 2009)

I always wear eye protection. As for a respirator and ear protection, I always seem to forget 4 out of 5 times. No excuses, just plain lazyiness/absent mindedness.

To help remind myself, I pretend I'm Norm on NYW and the whole world is watch me, criticizing my every move. It seems to help. Someone posted a youtube video a while back of some guy with a piece of wood impaled in his face and the surgeons removing it while the guy was fully awake for the procedure. That looked pretty scary. I'm thinking of wearing a full face shield while on the TS.


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## learnin2do (Aug 5, 2010)

-one friend with fingers half missing -one dead from lung cancer -an acquaintance who lost sight in one eye ...so why i still run around half the time using nothing -there is not really a good enough reason

=for that matter -yesterday i ended up with a toilet seat bolt shard in my eye -yuck!!


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## paratrooper34 (Apr 27, 2010)

Great Topic.

Since I am primarily a hand tool user, the only safety item I use constantly is eye protection. However, I have astigmatism, so I have to wear glasses either way. But, I bought progressive lenses with impact protection to make sure they function not only as corrective lenses but provide safety protection also. I always wear hearing protection when using my router or a hand power drill I have. When I use the power shop on base, I always use hearing protection.

It makes me cringe whenever I see people using power tools without hearing protection. Not because I am a safety snob or anything like that. It is because I have hearing loss and significant tinitus due to my job. In fact it is a pretty common affliction for infantry soldiers who have been in for awhile. So I cringe because I know that people who choose not to wear hearing protection are really putting their hearing at risk. And believe me when I tell you, hearing loss sucks. I am constantly telling my wife to speak up, have to either listen to television at an outrageous level or turn subtitles on, and sometimes have difficulty understanding conversations. I think if people who have normal hearing understood what it is like to live with diminished hearing, they would think twice when opting to use or not use hearing protection.

Same goes for eye protection. My Dad had an accident with a table saw quite a few years ago. He lost some vision in his eye due to kicked back piece of a 2×4 that struck him in the eye. No, he was not wearing eye pro. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have vision loss. I have a big poster in my shop that says: "Always Wear Eye Protection" and shows a close-up of a person with a big piece of wire stuck in their eye. That's a good reminder. Eye pro can be a hassle too. I know all about dealing with high heat and extreme cold fogging, etc. Take a minute and wipe them off and continue. That hassle will seem like a great idea after something gets stuck in your eyeball. Your eyesight is invaluable.

Last, I have seen several videos on the internet from woodworking classes to techniques, etc. I can't even remember how many times I have seen people not wearing hearing protection or eye protection on these videos. A series of them, produced by WoodSmith magazine, constantly shows these "Instructors" not wearing either while operating power tools. And these videos are workshop seminars held at their shop for an audience. What kind of message does this send to the "students"?

Safety is inherent in everything we do. You don't know what you lost until it is gone. Be safe everyone.


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## BigTiny (Jun 29, 2010)

Here's an idea to both protect your eyes AND keep cool. They make a full face shield that hooks up to a little battery operated fan that blows air through a filter and into the shield, keeping the shield condensation free and cooling your head into the bargain.
I picked up a shield on sale at our local cheap tool joint recently. Similar to a welder's helmet, but with a larger clear plastic lens. Cost me a whopping $2.98. My shop is in the basement, so the heat doesn't get TOO bad most of the time, but if I end up doing much work outside requiring it, I'll probably try to rig up a battery fan on the darn thing.


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## JDboy (Jun 20, 2010)

I don't usually wear ear protecton or a dust mask of any kind. My "shop" is in the garage so I can just pull my workmate out and do the dust work out in the driveway. As for safety glasses, I wear prescrition safety glasses, so I don't even think about it. For those of you who don't like to wear them or feel you get more dust and debris coming around your glasses, you should check out the safety glasses made by WileyX. They are not cheap, but you can get them with a precrition and they have a removeable foam seal th keep the ddust out of your eyes. I wear them evey day for my full time job without the seal, but put the seal in to mow the lawn, cut firewood or trim trees, work in the shop, ect. Now when I work with metal (do quite often) I ALWAYS wear safety glasses and mechanics gloves. I also try to wear pants instead of shorts as I have been burned and cut one to many times not to.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

JDboy, I wore prescription glasses for my first 45 years until cataract surgery. I have noticed more dust getting around my wrap around safety glasses then I ever did with my plain old flat glasses :-(( I even got a small piece of metal in my eye around the safety glasses a few months back. guess nothing is perfect


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