I used to be the dumbest guy going when it came to shop safety, but 3 or 4 trips to the emergency room to get steel slivers out of your eye tend to wake you up. I thought nothing of grinding or cutting something with no safety glasses on, but the time the emergency room Doctor told me if I hadn't come in when I did that I would have gone blind in 24 hours, it made me rethink my dumbness.

My Son had to go in once where they actually had to grind on his eyeball to get the piece out, and another time a chopsaw cut his leg really badly, requiring lots of stitches. I can't count how many times he has set himself on fire cutting or welding something. (Isn't that spark down in ear a pleasant little thing? )

The fact is, we car builders/fixers work with tools that can hurt or kill you in a heartbeat. Everytime we fire up one of them we have to be aware of the dangers and do everything we can to protect ourselves. Here in Florida we tend to work in just shorts, because of the heat in the shop, so there is a lot of exposed skin to get damaged.

I think this is an excellent thread, because it is so important. I now have safety goggles and faceshields stategically placed in our shop so one is always at hand when you need them. I have also started buying cotton work gloves by the box, because those pesky little steel slivers you get in your fingers are a pain in the butt, too.

Excellent thread, Hotroddaddy.


Don