07-16-2017, 11:16 AM
Monday my father-in-law turned his right-hand thumb and first three fingers into hamburger. Fortunately, there will be no loss of function as there was minimal bone and tendon damage. There was lots of meat damage, and the hand surgeon says it’ll never look pretty.
He waited 4 days to tell me of this accident because he was embarrassed. Mainly because I have repeatedly told him to use the guards that come with his machinery. For reasons I cannot fathom – he routinely does not use the TS guard. Guards on a TS can accommodate most work without removing them. It is a very rare instance where I can’t have my TS guard on the saw. He was milling 3” wide window sash material, pretty sure the guard wouldn’t have been in the way.
I have 3 woodworking acquaintances (1 a former business partner in WWing) that have mangled fingers or thumbs from removing TS guards. Now that number is 4. Stupid, just plain stupid. If you think you are good enough to run without a guard, or you think the guard is itself a safety issue….you are dead wrong. Period. Don’t be stupid, use the safety guards that need to be on the equipment.
I wouldn’t have written this post except for 1 secondary thing, not the because of guard and the accident – we read and hear of TS accidents all the time, people don’t listen – nothing new here. I wrote this because of what happened AFTER the accident.
My father-in-law removed enough meat from his hand that bleeding was an issue in his mind, and he applied a tourniquet, and then had his wife drive him to the hospital. I don’t think this was the best move. He should have stayed put, and called 911. He lost enough blood that he went into shock, and his pulse was at 40 by the time he got to the ER. And he’s 77, so heart attack is also a possibility during trauma. Same goes for his wife, who was driving dealing with trauma and under severe stress herself. Lots of bad things could have happened after the TS accident. And not just for them, but for others on the road.
Bottom line:
Use your safety equipment.
Have a good first aid box available
If you are negligent in using safety equipment, and severely injure yourself, call 911.
He waited 4 days to tell me of this accident because he was embarrassed. Mainly because I have repeatedly told him to use the guards that come with his machinery. For reasons I cannot fathom – he routinely does not use the TS guard. Guards on a TS can accommodate most work without removing them. It is a very rare instance where I can’t have my TS guard on the saw. He was milling 3” wide window sash material, pretty sure the guard wouldn’t have been in the way.
I have 3 woodworking acquaintances (1 a former business partner in WWing) that have mangled fingers or thumbs from removing TS guards. Now that number is 4. Stupid, just plain stupid. If you think you are good enough to run without a guard, or you think the guard is itself a safety issue….you are dead wrong. Period. Don’t be stupid, use the safety guards that need to be on the equipment.
I wouldn’t have written this post except for 1 secondary thing, not the because of guard and the accident – we read and hear of TS accidents all the time, people don’t listen – nothing new here. I wrote this because of what happened AFTER the accident.
My father-in-law removed enough meat from his hand that bleeding was an issue in his mind, and he applied a tourniquet, and then had his wife drive him to the hospital. I don’t think this was the best move. He should have stayed put, and called 911. He lost enough blood that he went into shock, and his pulse was at 40 by the time he got to the ER. And he’s 77, so heart attack is also a possibility during trauma. Same goes for his wife, who was driving dealing with trauma and under severe stress herself. Lots of bad things could have happened after the TS accident. And not just for them, but for others on the road.
Bottom line:
Use your safety equipment.
Have a good first aid box available
If you are negligent in using safety equipment, and severely injure yourself, call 911.