jonnyboy
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,564
- Location
- Camberley, Surrey
- Car
- 1991 sl300-24 project,s124 280,w115 no interior, w108 project no engine
Gents. Apologies for being away. Let me explain:-
As I get older I find myself taking less risks, becoming more ****/pedantic about doing things the right, safe way. Not a bad ethos when you employ people I find. Probably not so wise (as I get older), I tend to do most of the pseudo-dangerous stuff rather than letting my lads do it (I run a landscaping/groundscare/property maintenance company). Try to lead by example and all that.
The last few years haven't been so kind to me - what with two ankle rebuilds, arm tendon problems, and some pretty severe reactions to bites/irritants. But that's life, and there are many people worse off than me. I am known for having a high pain threshold - people are amazed if they see something happen to me like a cut/hammered thumb or the likes, amazed that I am not shouting like some sort of deranged idiot (apparently that is "normal").
So, with the above in mind, when I recently tasked myself with assisting my mechanic pal (who is also an excellent fabricator) on a project he was doing for me, one of the forst bits of kit I put on my truck wasn't my grinder, it was my goggles, then his spare old welding mask (I can't yet weld). Belt and braces and all that...
We worked on site, it started to lash it down so we moved indoors - I have a garage demised to me there. We went about our business, not rushing too much, eye protection for cutting and grinding, and the masks when he was welding. All was good, got the job done. Indeed, I never even looked at the arc (although I was masked up), I looked away, and was on average 3m from him as he started striking at any given time.
Fast forward to ten/eleven pm that night. Did lots of pc based paperwork, a real ballache at the best of times, so I had tired eyes.
Fast forward to 1am as I stumbled upstairs with eyes streaming and half closed, having taken a strong special in-stock antihistamine an hour previously, thinking I was having some sort of hayfeverey type reaction.
At 3am I was openly sobbing and completely blind. I could open my eyes a bit, but could not see anything, no light/dark/shapes.
Mrs JB took charge and hoofed me to the local hospital (we are really blessed with that - it'#s only ten minutes away and I think they are doing me my own parking space now...).
Initially, the triage guy seemed to think I had meningitis due largely to light avoidance, and the way I was shaking and uncontrollable. This was later confirmed as shock, in no small part due to being led down flights of steps/across roads, whilst 100% blind.
Eventually the A+E guy managed to prise my eyes open in near dark and whack some anaesthetic in, fifteen/twenty minutes later I could just make out light and dark, and large shapes. He was insistent he could see severe chemical burning to my corneas,
I was back the next day with the eye dept specialists, and I confirmed that I definitely hadn't been using any chemicals for 72 hours at least. They, of course, being the specialists, knew this.
I had a severe case of Arc-eye. UV burns to my corneas. The opthalmologist stated that it was the worst case she had seen, which included some idiot fella who used sunbeds weekly, refused to wear goggles, and stared at the tubes of the sunbed.
Two weeks later I am back in action so to speak, have had the all clear, am hyper-sensitive to bright lights but otherwise ok.
Between all of us we have deduced that the cause has been reflected UV getting under the mask - the garage we moved into was painted white with a hite floor. We think that by looking away from the action, UV has got up and under the mask, to my closed eyes, and done the damage. Interestingly, both my cheekbones and my forehead skin peeled a bit a la suntan within a couple of days.
So, I reckon that most people get the hump with health and safety. They see it as having gone too far and being bl**dy stupid, an inconvenience to business. Up till two weeks ago I was firmly in that camp.
Now, I am a bit more pragmatic. There are certainly situations where you think "oh come on, really???" when it comes to rules. What this whole experience has taught me is that despite being uber-careful, you need to be uber-uber careful, and check what you think are the right precautions. I mean, in this case, I wasn't welding yet I was wearing a mask!!!!! As my pal says, I'm on my last set of eyes......On the upside, I've now made it an offence in our company to go within 5m of a subcontractor using machinery, and made it compulsory to wear safety specs/mask/disposable oversuit when we are spraying weed or mosskiller, along with a whole host of other rules. So that is good I guess. I mean, don't get me wrong _ I don't make them do a risk assessment before they flick open a pair of secateurs or shears, but you know what I mean?
So my moral is:- don't necessarily knock Health and Safety rules. They can only protect you more.....
PS, to those of you waiting to hear from me about parts or radios, I am now back on it and will sort this weekend with apologies I've been incommunicado.
As I get older I find myself taking less risks, becoming more ****/pedantic about doing things the right, safe way. Not a bad ethos when you employ people I find. Probably not so wise (as I get older), I tend to do most of the pseudo-dangerous stuff rather than letting my lads do it (I run a landscaping/groundscare/property maintenance company). Try to lead by example and all that.
The last few years haven't been so kind to me - what with two ankle rebuilds, arm tendon problems, and some pretty severe reactions to bites/irritants. But that's life, and there are many people worse off than me. I am known for having a high pain threshold - people are amazed if they see something happen to me like a cut/hammered thumb or the likes, amazed that I am not shouting like some sort of deranged idiot (apparently that is "normal").
So, with the above in mind, when I recently tasked myself with assisting my mechanic pal (who is also an excellent fabricator) on a project he was doing for me, one of the forst bits of kit I put on my truck wasn't my grinder, it was my goggles, then his spare old welding mask (I can't yet weld). Belt and braces and all that...
We worked on site, it started to lash it down so we moved indoors - I have a garage demised to me there. We went about our business, not rushing too much, eye protection for cutting and grinding, and the masks when he was welding. All was good, got the job done. Indeed, I never even looked at the arc (although I was masked up), I looked away, and was on average 3m from him as he started striking at any given time.
Fast forward to ten/eleven pm that night. Did lots of pc based paperwork, a real ballache at the best of times, so I had tired eyes.
Fast forward to 1am as I stumbled upstairs with eyes streaming and half closed, having taken a strong special in-stock antihistamine an hour previously, thinking I was having some sort of hayfeverey type reaction.
At 3am I was openly sobbing and completely blind. I could open my eyes a bit, but could not see anything, no light/dark/shapes.
Mrs JB took charge and hoofed me to the local hospital (we are really blessed with that - it'#s only ten minutes away and I think they are doing me my own parking space now...).
Initially, the triage guy seemed to think I had meningitis due largely to light avoidance, and the way I was shaking and uncontrollable. This was later confirmed as shock, in no small part due to being led down flights of steps/across roads, whilst 100% blind.
Eventually the A+E guy managed to prise my eyes open in near dark and whack some anaesthetic in, fifteen/twenty minutes later I could just make out light and dark, and large shapes. He was insistent he could see severe chemical burning to my corneas,
I was back the next day with the eye dept specialists, and I confirmed that I definitely hadn't been using any chemicals for 72 hours at least. They, of course, being the specialists, knew this.
I had a severe case of Arc-eye. UV burns to my corneas. The opthalmologist stated that it was the worst case she had seen, which included some idiot fella who used sunbeds weekly, refused to wear goggles, and stared at the tubes of the sunbed.
Two weeks later I am back in action so to speak, have had the all clear, am hyper-sensitive to bright lights but otherwise ok.
Between all of us we have deduced that the cause has been reflected UV getting under the mask - the garage we moved into was painted white with a hite floor. We think that by looking away from the action, UV has got up and under the mask, to my closed eyes, and done the damage. Interestingly, both my cheekbones and my forehead skin peeled a bit a la suntan within a couple of days.
So, I reckon that most people get the hump with health and safety. They see it as having gone too far and being bl**dy stupid, an inconvenience to business. Up till two weeks ago I was firmly in that camp.
Now, I am a bit more pragmatic. There are certainly situations where you think "oh come on, really???" when it comes to rules. What this whole experience has taught me is that despite being uber-careful, you need to be uber-uber careful, and check what you think are the right precautions. I mean, in this case, I wasn't welding yet I was wearing a mask!!!!! As my pal says, I'm on my last set of eyes......On the upside, I've now made it an offence in our company to go within 5m of a subcontractor using machinery, and made it compulsory to wear safety specs/mask/disposable oversuit when we are spraying weed or mosskiller, along with a whole host of other rules. So that is good I guess. I mean, don't get me wrong _ I don't make them do a risk assessment before they flick open a pair of secateurs or shears, but you know what I mean?
So my moral is:- don't necessarily knock Health and Safety rules. They can only protect you more.....
PS, to those of you waiting to hear from me about parts or radios, I am now back on it and will sort this weekend with apologies I've been incommunicado.
