Thread: Near miss

Wow, it never occurred to me to wear safety glasses whilst hammering.
Thanks for the warning.

Interestingly, small chips of metal from the hammer head either due to miss hits or simply aging of the metal leading to metal fatigue or just a dodgy hammer or nail are another reason to wear protective glasses when using a hammer.

(from my ex hospital days when we were warned to watch for the bits of metal people did not know they might have collected in their eyes - I believe it is even more relevant these days with MRI machines and the high magnetic fields present that can cause these little bits of metal to wander around - not good!)

You were lucky thankfully. Could have been much worse that a chipped lens.

Duly noted. Lucky bugger. It's moments like that that reinforce why we should be so safety consicous. Kinda like playing paintball and getting hit in the face then spending the next week thinking "man, if it was a real bullet...".

I managed to get a tiny chip of hot slag in my eye today whilst hammering off the crud from some arc welds. It didn't stay there but has given the ol' eye ball a bit of a singe that is hurting like buggery.

At least it reminded me that I need to replace my broken down old mask which is missing it's clear view panel.

Re that bit of slag

sorry to appear cautious but

If something metallic has hit the eyeball get some one to check - there may be

a) damage to the corneal outer layer that can become an ulcer - not nice (The Dr should put some green dye in the eye that stains (temporarily) any damaged areas) - if it hurts then it is likely that the outer layers have taken a beating at the very least.

b) "rust" that can have long term effects

all treatable EARLY.

Hope all is easily dealt with and it does not hurt any more -- and yes I have moments when things get too close to the eyes because the face mask was out of reach or the hammer was at hand. I need constant reminding and they are MY eyes! Drilling metal with the cordless drill is the one I particularly have to watch out for myself doing.

It never hurts to be cautious. I think that's the point of these tales...to remind people to take the proper precautions...even when it's a complete PITA to do.

Thanks for the heads up on getting it checked. I hadn't thought of the ulcer/rust aspect. It feels pretty good now btw.

This is one of those injuries where my usual line of "pfft. I've got a spare" probably won't cut it

Originally Posted by munruben

You were lucky thankfully. Could have been much worse that a chipped lens.

I wasn't going to bother with safety glasses that day. As it was over cast and the only pair in my bag were a mirrored pair. I was only on a bobcat tossig gravel round but decided to wear them any how. I am thankful I did throw them on though.

Hi,

I am really glad you are ok, its pretty scary when something like that happens. I myself tend to always wear my safety glasses in the shed, even when doing something as inocuous as sweeping up sawdust. I never know when I might accidentally bend down and get a offcut from the scrap bin in my eye (its happened before - luckily I was wearing the glasses). I find its the safest habit to get into and makes me feel more comfortable knowing my eyes are taken care of.

I also usually wear my dust mask most of the time as well.

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