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Just a few moments reading this should sober people up [1]. It should be a weekly or monthly practice on any job site to review the recent additions and think

Just a few moments reading this should sober people up [1]. It should be a weekly or monthly practice on any job site to review the recent additions and think about how you might change or review your own safety standards to avoid them. https://www.osha.gov/fatalities https://www.osha.gov/fatalities

jacquesm 5y ago
Wow. I could have easily been on a list like that a couple of times, one that stands out for me because I never saw it coming was uncoupling a loaded trailer that had 50 Kg on the balance when coupling it (which is a pretty safe amount, not too much, not too light). The load had shifted just a little bit backwards and after releasing the latch on the hitch if absolutely zoomed upwards. It missed me by a very small (uncomfortably small) fraction of an inch and if I had stood another 2" closer to the hitch it would have hit me full on. Very scary. The chains with which the machine on the back had been secured had gone a bit slack and the drive apparently was enough to shift the center of gravity to just behind the axle, that's a mistake I will never make again, always support a trailer front and back if you have to uncouple while it is still loaded.
djmips 5y ago
A lot of crushed, fell and electrocuted. All of them preventable I'm sure... unfortunate.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  The vast bulk of people that end up in the ER or the morgue are there for reasons that are more often than not just silly. The list of near misses is probably 10 times longer. On my list of near misses: - the trailer incident above (but not a scratch on me, so no accident) - a central heating line in an old house that was shorted live 240V (and yes, there was a ground fault protector and no, it didn't trip, and hey if not for the apparently very well insulating paint someone probably would have died). Long story short: the circuit that was run from the panel to the heater didn't have ground so they stuck a grounded prong plug into an ungrounded socket and called it a day. Good thing I'm paranoid about such stuff and checked against a waterline before working on that system. After plugging the heater into a grounded extension cord the breaker immediately tripped. - hoisting up roofjoists the knot got caught and the rope had gotten more and more tension. We were hoisting about 20 of these one by one and it had gotten more or less routine. That one was anything but. When the knot slipped over the point where it was held up the tension in the line had gotten so high that the whole thing came flying over the building. - a windmill that I built got caught in a storm and refused to furl due to a minor assembly error. Fortunately I'm a better welder than windmill-assembler and everything held up to more than 8 times the design stresses but I'm probably a much happier person not knowing how close I came on that one. - sitting on a roof of a building that was about to have it's whole front replaced I leaned forward over the top to check the angle of the drop only to realize that the whole thing was already loose. One single kick and there were only a few tons of rubble left to clean up. The number of times I drove by that house right in front of it... - replacing lightbulbs in an old chimney the ladder gave out (one of those iron cage jobs). Fortunately some of the rungs were in better shape. If I think for a bit longer I'll probably find more of these.
- ddingus 5y ago
  A couple decades ago I ended up in a seat belt class.[1] Was taught by a trauma doctor. Trauma is the number one cause of death by a mile! Everything else is not even close! And the number one cause of trauma is people not understanding the basic physics in play around them in ordinary life, not to mention any sort of specialized activity. They covered a car, forces, constraints, dynamics and did so with the math boiled down for people, rules of thumb, and simple scenarios animated and with videos (gore included!) aimed at everyone regardless of education level. I was impressed! The trauma doctor loved doing the class, and questions. Anytime someone asked in a way that they did not have prepped up and ready to go, that doc added to their library of stuff and tweaked the two hour session to address the question. By the time I attended, nobody asked anything that guy did not know how to address solid. After that experience, I have long felt we should be doing this education more broadly. Saves a lot of lives. [1]Was that or a ticket on my record. Also, for the record, I believe in seat belts and was caught with one briefly unsecured by a small town cop. Poor timing is all that was. Truth is, the class was great and I would have gladly attended given an opportunity. I consider it fortuitous due to the high quality of education I received.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    People somehow believe that a 50 kph impact sitting in a vehicle equipped with airbags is a walk in the park.
jonathankoren 5y ago
Reminds me of the series of tiktok videos with the song “Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of OSHA violations.”
- CamelRocketFish 5y ago
  I’m morbidly curious, could you share one?
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    This is the full link https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKPwfr/ https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKPwfr/ The vast majority are dumb things with ladders on scaffolds, or riding a forklift or a bucket, but most are pretty bad. Perhaps the saddest part is the folks in the comments that talk like OSHA is some group you have to dodge “to get real work done”. I guess they just want to get maimed or killed to show fealty to their employer. These are some highlight: A makeshift raft for a scissor lift, floating on a pool, fully extended to change a lightbulb. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/r6wc7l/workers_on_a_scissor_lift_floating_in_a_swimming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/r6wc7l/workers_on_a_s... A ladder at full extension, barely wedged into the gap between the tailgate and a truck bed. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKmJ9o/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKmJ9o/ Climbing a ladder with a heating unit on his back, instead of getting a scissor lift. https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKhK5o/ https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKhK5o/ Using a cutting torch to open a full liquid storage container. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKyNEb/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKyNEb/ Standing on the I-beam he’s cutting. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKLSHw/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKLSHw/
    - CamelRocketFish 5y ago
      Wow these are amazing (in the sense that I’m continuing to be surprised in how many unique ways people can put themselves in danger). I appreciate you getting back to me with a link
rukuu001 5y ago
Yes. I used to work for a company involved in a large, nationwide infrastructure project. They had company-wide reporting on OHS incidents, and it was a daily litany of absurd and tragic accidents. Fatalities weren't common, but injuries and close calls were very common. Most common: falls and electrocution.
chias 5y ago
Sorting by ascending date, 12/31/1969 appears to have been an exceedingly dangerous day to be working on literally anything at all. (/s)

jacquesm 5y ago

Wow. I could have easily been on a list like that a couple of times, one that stands out for me because I never saw it coming was uncoupling a loaded trailer that had 50 Kg on the balance when coupling it (which is a pretty safe amount, not too much, not too light). The load had shifted just a little bit backwards and after releasing the latch on the hitch if absolutely zoomed upwards. It missed me by a very small (uncomfortably small) fraction of an inch and if I had stood another 2" closer to the hitch it would have hit me full on. Very scary. The chains with which the machine on the back had been secured had gone a bit slack and the drive apparently was enough to shift the center of gravity to just behind the axle, that's a mistake I will never make again, always support a trailer front and back if you have to uncouple while it is still loaded.

djmips 5y ago

A lot of crushed, fell and electrocuted. All of them preventable I'm sure... unfortunate.

jacquesm 5y ago
The vast bulk of people that end up in the ER or the morgue are there for reasons that are more often than not just silly. The list of near misses is probably 10 times longer. On my list of near misses: - the trailer incident above (but not a scratch on me, so no accident) - a central heating line in an old house that was shorted live 240V (and yes, there was a ground fault protector and no, it didn't trip, and hey if not for the apparently very well insulating paint someone probably would have died). Long story short: the circuit that was run from the panel to the heater didn't have ground so they stuck a grounded prong plug into an ungrounded socket and called it a day. Good thing I'm paranoid about such stuff and checked against a waterline before working on that system. After plugging the heater into a grounded extension cord the breaker immediately tripped. - hoisting up roofjoists the knot got caught and the rope had gotten more and more tension. We were hoisting about 20 of these one by one and it had gotten more or less routine. That one was anything but. When the knot slipped over the point where it was held up the tension in the line had gotten so high that the whole thing came flying over the building. - a windmill that I built got caught in a storm and refused to furl due to a minor assembly error. Fortunately I'm a better welder than windmill-assembler and everything held up to more than 8 times the design stresses but I'm probably a much happier person not knowing how close I came on that one. - sitting on a roof of a building that was about to have it's whole front replaced I leaned forward over the top to check the angle of the drop only to realize that the whole thing was already loose. One single kick and there were only a few tons of rubble left to clean up. The number of times I drove by that house right in front of it... - replacing lightbulbs in an old chimney the ladder gave out (one of those iron cage jobs). Fortunately some of the rungs were in better shape. If I think for a bit longer I'll probably find more of these.
ddingus 5y ago
A couple decades ago I ended up in a seat belt class.[1] Was taught by a trauma doctor. Trauma is the number one cause of death by a mile! Everything else is not even close! And the number one cause of trauma is people not understanding the basic physics in play around them in ordinary life, not to mention any sort of specialized activity. They covered a car, forces, constraints, dynamics and did so with the math boiled down for people, rules of thumb, and simple scenarios animated and with videos (gore included!) aimed at everyone regardless of education level. I was impressed! The trauma doctor loved doing the class, and questions. Anytime someone asked in a way that they did not have prepped up and ready to go, that doc added to their library of stuff and tweaked the two hour session to address the question. By the time I attended, nobody asked anything that guy did not know how to address solid. After that experience, I have long felt we should be doing this education more broadly. Saves a lot of lives. [1]Was that or a ticket on my record. Also, for the record, I believe in seat belts and was caught with one briefly unsecured by a small town cop. Poor timing is all that was. Truth is, the class was great and I would have gladly attended given an opportunity. I consider it fortuitous due to the high quality of education I received.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  People somehow believe that a 50 kph impact sitting in a vehicle equipped with airbags is a walk in the park.

jonathankoren 5y ago

Reminds me of the series of tiktok videos with the song “Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of OSHA violations.”

CamelRocketFish 5y ago
I’m morbidly curious, could you share one?
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  This is the full link https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKPwfr/ https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKPwfr/ The vast majority are dumb things with ladders on scaffolds, or riding a forklift or a bucket, but most are pretty bad. Perhaps the saddest part is the folks in the comments that talk like OSHA is some group you have to dodge “to get real work done”. I guess they just want to get maimed or killed to show fealty to their employer. These are some highlight: A makeshift raft for a scissor lift, floating on a pool, fully extended to change a lightbulb. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/r6wc7l/workers_on_a_scissor_lift_floating_in_a_swimming/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/r6wc7l/workers_on_a_s... A ladder at full extension, barely wedged into the gap between the tailgate and a truck bed. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKmJ9o/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKmJ9o/ Climbing a ladder with a heating unit on his back, instead of getting a scissor lift. https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKhK5o/ https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdXKhK5o/ Using a cutting torch to open a full liquid storage container. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKyNEb/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKyNEb/ Standing on the I-beam he’s cutting. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKLSHw/ https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdXKLSHw/
  - CamelRocketFish 5y ago
    Wow these are amazing (in the sense that I’m continuing to be surprised in how many unique ways people can put themselves in danger). I appreciate you getting back to me with a link

rukuu001 5y ago

Yes. I used to work for a company involved in a large, nationwide infrastructure project. They had company-wide reporting on OHS incidents, and it was a daily litany of absurd and tragic accidents. Fatalities weren't common, but injuries and close calls were very common. Most common: falls and electrocution.

chias 5y ago

Sorting by ascending date, 12/31/1969 appears to have been an exceedingly dangerous day to be working on literally anything at all. (/s)