hope you're covered
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I was just reading an interesting article on injuries on the job site. My mind wandered back to a couple of the boners I've pulled over the years and what I learned to hopefully survive another year on the job.
One morning while masking for texture I had the bright idea of stacking a 10 foot ladder on a fully jacked baker scaffold. My head was touching the 19 foot high ceiling as I leaned out to reach the corner of the window. The baker flipped and the ladder went through the wall half into the adjoining master bedroom. I woke up in the hospital with a busted knee and a headache that lasted for 4 days. Lesson learned: Don't compensate for not having the proper equipment by making your own death trap.
My next trip to emergency came one Monday morning after an exciting winter weekend of ice fishing. My fishing equipment was still in the back of the truck amongst a bunch of assorted hanging and finishing tools when I arrived at the site to grab a heater to take to a cold garage I was working at down the road. I quickly found a spot to set the heater in the bed of my truck....right next to my freshly sharpened ice auger....with no cover over the blades. They're capable of cutting more than ice. For the next week or more I found it difficult to handle my pan with 9 stitches in my hand. Lesson learned: Skip work....go fishing instead....oh, and don't leave extremely sharp objects hidden under a pile of tools.
Discussing this topic with my wife she reminded me of the time she fell and broke her arm while she was at the hospital....now that's crazy right there. I'm sure everyone has a job site horror story or two of their own. Stay safe...I hope you're covered!!
One morning while masking for texture I had the bright idea of stacking a 10 foot ladder on a fully jacked baker scaffold. My head was touching the 19 foot high ceiling as I leaned out to reach the corner of the window. The baker flipped and the ladder went through the wall half into the adjoining master bedroom. I woke up in the hospital with a busted knee and a headache that lasted for 4 days. Lesson learned: Don't compensate for not having the proper equipment by making your own death trap.
My next trip to emergency came one Monday morning after an exciting winter weekend of ice fishing. My fishing equipment was still in the back of the truck amongst a bunch of assorted hanging and finishing tools when I arrived at the site to grab a heater to take to a cold garage I was working at down the road. I quickly found a spot to set the heater in the bed of my truck....right next to my freshly sharpened ice auger....with no cover over the blades. They're capable of cutting more than ice. For the next week or more I found it difficult to handle my pan with 9 stitches in my hand. Lesson learned: Skip work....go fishing instead....oh, and don't leave extremely sharp objects hidden under a pile of tools.
Discussing this topic with my wife she reminded me of the time she fell and broke her arm while she was at the hospital....now that's crazy right there. I'm sure everyone has a job site horror story or two of their own. Stay safe...I hope you're covered!!
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All I've got is a lot of nasty cuts with razor blades.
My hands are covered in scars.
If I cut them now, they just ooze a little border adhesive.
My hands are covered in scars.
If I cut them now, they just ooze a little border adhesive.
My favorite story from when I worked from the contractor's board, was a big fella that like to bully little guys, specally fellows from our neighbor to the south. One day, a muchacho had it with the hazing while shooting off a plywood floor. He put two in the bully's foot, ran behind hiM and kicked his fanny for several minutes whilst the guy howled.
Accident?
Accident?
My first paying construction job I was removing 1/2" ply from the security fence around the job in a wind storm and throughing it in the back of the boss truck when the wind caught the last sheet picking it up and throughing it back at me hitting me in the forhead. Made me woosy and I dont through ply anymore.
Heh, my first job as a rookie was helping my friend's dad, the builder who gave me my first job, build a really gorgeous sunroom on a lake house. I made it through the rough, roofing, and siding unscathed.....not so the finish.
I went to lunch when I was in the middle of casing a window and got back, being full of enthusiasm for this job I REALLY loved wanted to jump in and get right back to work. The boss had this ancient brad nailer, no safety and a vacuum cleaner belt to hold tension on the feed slide (definately not an OSHA approved tool) and when I went to reload it, forgetting to unplug it from the air hose first, was bracing in against my body to stretch that damn vac cleaner band and must have raised a knuckle just enough to hit the hair trigger.
I felt a tap and looked down to see my shirt was now nailed to my chest...LOL
I went to lunch when I was in the middle of casing a window and got back, being full of enthusiasm for this job I REALLY loved wanted to jump in and get right back to work. The boss had this ancient brad nailer, no safety and a vacuum cleaner belt to hold tension on the feed slide (definately not an OSHA approved tool) and when I went to reload it, forgetting to unplug it from the air hose first, was bracing in against my body to stretch that damn vac cleaner band and must have raised a knuckle just enough to hit the hair trigger.
I felt a tap and looked down to see my shirt was now nailed to my chest...LOL
Don't use faulty equipment just because you've got work to get done with a boss on your ass.
While running work for another paint contractor, I jumped onto an 8' ladder with a bucket of (thankfully) latex topcoat to paint an exterior window. The problem was, this fiberglass ladders leg was split at the bottom. After a few minutes on the ladder it gave in when I moved the wrong way. The ladder tipped, broke the window, my paint went inside this $1 million home, down the expensive lace drapes, and all over thier carpet.
I was un-injured, but what a screwup! Thankfully, on that day, they hadn't set the alarm and I was able to climb inside without the police and clean up the mess.
The ladder belonged to the boss, so I absolutely refused any responsibility because he knew it was all we had on that project, and knew full well it's condition. I will never again use something faulty just to get finished in time. :Thumbs:
While running work for another paint contractor, I jumped onto an 8' ladder with a bucket of (thankfully) latex topcoat to paint an exterior window. The problem was, this fiberglass ladders leg was split at the bottom. After a few minutes on the ladder it gave in when I moved the wrong way. The ladder tipped, broke the window, my paint went inside this $1 million home, down the expensive lace drapes, and all over thier carpet.
I was un-injured, but what a screwup! Thankfully, on that day, they hadn't set the alarm and I was able to climb inside without the police and clean up the mess. The ladder belonged to the boss, so I absolutely refused any responsibility because he knew it was all we had on that project, and knew full well it's condition. I will never again use something faulty just to get finished in time. :Thumbs:
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