Thread: Personal Protective Equipment

Originally Posted by Barry_White

I thought you were talking about Sawchain.

could be!

When falling I wear long trousers, bowyangs, steel cap boots,(lace up boots if its steep country) hi vis shirts, safety helmet with attached earmuffs & protective eyewear. Long trousers are a must for preventing potential snakebite & having some skin left on your legs after pushing through prickly vines & lantana all day. If I were to go & fall for another company with up to scratch SWMS, chaps would be needed to be worn.
For summer milling with the lucas in my shed I wear steel cap boots, bowyangs, shorts, short sleeved shirt, full length leather apron, twin cartridge resperator, face shield, earplugs & baseball cap. I would recommend an apron because it keeps your legs dry & protects you from the short waned bits of scrap which can be flicked back around top of the blade sometimes.
regards inter

It's really difficult to wear all the gear we should when it's 35 deg C in the shade and a b****y sight worse in full sun. If you are not too careful you will poured out of your boots at the end of the day!

Now talking of boots, I am on my second pair of Steel Blues. These are exceptionally light and have a cushion/spring in them. Also they have a plastic toe cap which is stronger than the steel caps and doesn't stay crushed down when a 30 metre tree falls on your toe. Perhaps they should consider changing their name to Plastic Blue. Nah, it just doesn't have the same macho ring does it.

They also have a one month moritorium during which you can return them if they are not comfortable. They are easily the most comfortable safety boots I have owned. There is also a version that has a side zipper as well as the laces. This brand might be of interest to those of you who find boots heavy. I have dress shoes that are heavier than these boots.

No they are not cheap. There is no way to soften this, because they are expensive, but I spend long hours in them. I don't begrudge the money. Well not much. Link:

Boot Finder / Steel Blue Footwear / Steel Blue

Otherwise I wear mesh face guard with attached ear muffs. I also use ear muffs alone and/or ear plugs depending on what I am doing. Broad brimed hat (frequently very silly looking. I think it may be a woman's straw boater and please no slanderous comments as I only just manged to talk my wayout of charges the last time I had to put somebody straight) is a must if no hard hat or face guard.

Always long trousers and long sleeve shirt. Frequently leather work gloves, but not always.

The area in which I am most remiss is of course respiratory protection. Chain saws throw the sawdust back at you, swing saw blades throw the dust everywhere possible and the bandsaw is probably the best of the bunch. Other woodworking tools have their own sawdust profile, but at least in a workshop situation we can organise DCs.

I confess I'm just bad, but unlike Mae West, when I'm bad, I'm not neccessarily better.

Regards
Paul

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I confess I'm just bad, but unlike Mae West, when I'm bad, I'm not neccessarily better.

thats funny made me snort my Solo

When falling I cut & then snig with my dozer, so wearing safety glasses has a double use, I have nearly had a few bad eye injuries from sticks & other stuff being flicked / cataputed into my face when pushing into scrub on the machine with a fairly open canopy.
regards inter

Originally Posted by BobL

Looks like you might need knee pads too

The sawdust makes it quite soft tho

Pete

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

It's really difficult to wear all the gear we should when it's 35 deg C in the shade and a b****y sight worse in full sun. If you are not too careful you will poured out of your boots at the end of the day!

I agree and hot and tired operators make more mistakes so going all the way with some PPE could even be counterproductive

Now talking of boots, I am on my second pair of Steel Blues. These are exceptionally light and have a cushion/spring in them. Also they have a plastic toe cap which is stronger than the steel caps and doesn't stay crushed down when a 30 metre tree falls on your toe.

A big problem with those plastic toes is that a CS will cut through them like butter and CS injuries to feet especially toes represent over half the cut injuries cause by operators using chain saws.



Given the high number of CS cut injuries foot injuries that occur steel caps have probably already saved many toes and who knows what that number on the diagram would be without them.

BUT - steel caps are not a complete solution. A number of CS foot cut injuries have been exacerbated by steel caps with the moving chain skating across the cap towards the ankle and instead of cutting the operators toes off they have mangled the middle of the foot (are we wincing yet?) A preferred solution are special CS boots which work the same way as chaps and use kevlar/poly spaghetti padding which the chain pulls out and jams the saw. I have never see these in Australia (perhaps someone can point them out) but I have seen them in the US.

Here is an example. Not that expensive if you are prepared to risk size problems with on-line orders.

A less size-risky option that I went for is the kevlar-poly boot liner like this which acts like an oversock. The instructions are to use them in boot sizes one size bigger than what you normally wear. I tried that and found they are still too loose and have to wear them with two pairs of socks - but they are already hot enough as it is so don't wear them in summer. They actually fit better in an old pair of Blundstone boots that are about 1/2 a size too big. Watch out that the sizes shown on that website are american boot sizes but it won't matter if you are one size out.

Originally Posted by BobL

A big problem with those plastic toes is that a CS will cut through them like butter and CS injuries to feet especially toes represent over half the cut injuries cause by operators using chain saws.

Good point Bob. I hadn't thought of that. Probably still better than no safety boots at all. I had a look at the kevlar boots. Nice looking, but even more expensive than the Steel Blues (about $190 from retail stores). A little on the heavy side, but probably OK in cooler climes. Specialised CS boots $229 plus freight. I am afraid for that money I need to try them on.

Weights;
Specialised CS boots 3.18Kg (7lb)
Steel Blue Plastic toed safety boot 1.42Kg
Colorado oiled tanned leather dress shoe 1.28Kg
Dress stock boot 1.29Kg

I have to say I don't use the last two very much for woodworking of any description and certainly not timber milling. Just there for comparison.

Any injury is unacceptable, particularly if you yourself are the injured party, so please forgive me if I seem picky when I mention that foot injuries appear to account for roughly 7% on your diagram. I appreciate that the diagram is for 1999 only, but assuming it is representative and that the nature of injury does not fundamentally change from year to year, how do foot injuries account for more than half the CS accidents?

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Any injury is unacceptable, particularly if you yourself are the injured party, so please forgive me if I seem picky when I mention that foot injuries appear to account for roughly 7% on your diagram. I appreciate that the diagram is for 1999 only, but assuming it is representative and that the nature of injury does not fundamentally change from year to year, how do foot injuries account for more than half the CS accidents?

You are dead right - I read the diagram wrong. Trying to do too many things at once.

Originally Posted by BobL

BUT - steel caps are not a complete solution. A number of CS foot cut injuries have been exacerbated by steel caps with the moving chain skating across the cap towards the ankle and instead of cutting the operators toes off they have mangled the middle of the foot (are we wincing yet?) A preferred solution are special CS boots which work the same way as chaps and use kevlar/poly spaghetti padding which the chain pulls out and jams the saw. I have never see these in Australia (perhaps someone can point them out) but I have seen them in the US.

Smelter boots.....maybe for (molten metal areas) they have a thin steel (I think) piece sewed inbetween leather which attaches just behind where the steel cap finishes and is a separate flap that then velcroes around the top of the boot so as to protect the whole foot from any molten aluminium splash that might be sitting in amongst laces and burning it's way thru...they should do a good job of stopping a chain from mangeling top of the foot
Probably expensive tho if u were to buy them....


Pete

My chaps are pretty long and tend to hangdown on my boots, I was actually thinking of putting some elastic tie loops to go under my boots to keep them there.

ps Bob I went to visit that glove guy and bought a pair with wrist supports, even more expensive , but gee they feel good. He also is the seller of the Purelite Xstream integrated helmet systems, and supplies Carbatec, but willing to sell directly for a lot less . Seriously thinking about it.

Can you let me know more about that Purelite Xstream please dai sensei I wouldnt mind one of those

Originally Posted by dai sensei

My chaps are pretty long and tend to hangdown on my boots, I was actually thinking of putting some elastic tie loops to go under my boots to keep them there.

Good idea

ps Bob I went to visit that glove guy and bought a pair with wrist supports, even more expensive , but gee they feel good.

Good work

He also is the seller of the Purelite Xstream integrated helmet systems, and supplies Carbatec, but willing to sell directly for a lot less . Seriously thinking about it.

Very interesting.

Originally Posted by BobL

Trying to do too many things at once.

Bob

I wish I could say I have never been guilty of that but.........

Regards
Paul