Thread: Which wood turning hazard is your highest priority?

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

I need four lathes ......

That is perzackly why I don't need the first one. Because it will only EVER be the first one!

Getting back on track to the original question, my highest priority is looking after my eyes and head.

Up at 4 am and barely able to breath with asthma and sinus issues.

I helped two novice turners at the club last night, one of whom was probably turning blackwood. Needless to say, an allergic reaction. No. 1 safety priority (again) is dust.

Originally Posted by Christos

Getting back on track to the original question, my highest priority is looking after my eyes and head.

Thanks Christos

Crocy posted a comment on the Face Shields thread about a tagline in a signature he saw which went "You can walk with a wooden leg but you can't see with a glass eye - Always wear Eye Protection!"

I wish I had thought of that for a signature tag line.

Even though some injuries / outcomes resulting from mishaps or events due to a hazard or combination of hazards may be unlikely or rare they are still possible. If that rare outcome happens to you then it can lead to very profound lifestyle changes for both you & your family. That's why we take out life & income protection insurances isn't it? Safety is simply insurance and probably costs a lot less than life & income protection insurances.

The outcomes / injuries can be immediate & life threatening as in severe allergic reactions or severe impacts to the head; other outcomes like constant exposure to dust can be slow to develop fully, maybe days or years, to develop sensitizations, contact dermatitis, reduced lung function and can have quite life changing and perhaps even life threatening impacts sometime in the future as BobL so rightly points out. As the tagline sums up some outcomes have more profound lifestyle impacts than others.

Last night on Facebook a youngish wood turner friend Derek Wiedman in the US noted for his exceptional art forms & his quite daring use of the lathe posted a short video clip of a piece that went AWOL. Derek is very safety conscious & has a very good appreciation of his limits but as he says even he gets it wrong at times. https://www.facebook.com/derek.weidman.9

Derek's event is quite possible given the nature of his turning explorations BUT he manages risk well. Such an event could easily have resulted in a severe head injury. A more typical situation and far more likely scenario is like Alan Strettons "As Wood Turns" clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlhWF4M9CO4 on turning very green wet wood ...... makes for very compelling viewing.

One study I came across while researching articles was about head injuries - ‘About quarter of people with severe brain injury will make a good recovery, about a third will die, and a fifth will have a severe disability or be in a vegetative state’. Sadly we have seen too many deaths of wood turners in the past several years.

In An Instant Your Life Can Change Forever

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

One study I came across while researching articles was about head injuries - ‘About quarter of people with severe brain injury will make a good recovery, about a third will die, and a fifth will have a severe disability or be in a vegetative state’. Sadly we have seen too many deaths of wood turners in the past several years.

In An Instant Your Life Can Change Forever

“A good recovery” is also very relative. Most that have hadan ABI while they may appear normal to outsiders they are really strugglingwith day to day functioning.

For me, I would never turn or power carve without face, hearing and respiratory protection (one of the reasons I'm buying a 3M Versaflo) No matter how expensive or cumbersome you find safety equipment the best you can buy is still far cheaper than hearing aids, new lungs or a facial reconstruction.

While rare, it is possible to recover virtually completely from a MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) but it's definitely not fun!

Josh

Thank you to all who contributed to this thread, much appreciated. (Been away in NZ for a few weeks so only catching up again.)

Number one priority when turning is to stand out of the line of fire. Dust is secondary, but not as big because I turn wet wood 99% of the time. When sanding, I have a dust hood up that encloses the bowl, so almost no dust.

robo hippy