Page 4 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast
Results 46 to 60 of 118
  1. #46
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    sydney ( st marys )
    Age
    64
    Posts
    4,887

    Default

    Wouldn't that be more so associated with bad furniture .

  2. #47
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Forget the chair collapsing ! Sitting in a chair using an angle grinder in the first place is just putting one self in a potential accident situation.

    To me, with that picture in mind, I see someone one hasn't got all quick avoidance movement options available if an incident happens. Granted the man may have been invalid or have some medical problem ,but that is less reason to use, a known dangerous tool in a sitting position.

    The chair could have well collapsed under him at any time but using his angle grinder and having it bite and kickback the mobility to avoid the danger is greatly reduced. We don't know that the chair collapsed spontaneously or as a result of a sudden violent moment to avoid the kickback.

    To me theres an element of self preservation /common sense that must apply when using any rotating or reciprocating tool. Its not all that difficult to work out where the machine grabs and position the body accordingly.

    The man may have been not fully fit given his age and certainly there are some situations where we might perform a activity with a powered tool in our own shops.

    Each one of us should assess our own specific situation and think about the potential hazardous consequences that could flow from the particular way we perform that job.

    We probably won't ever know the whole story.

    It did strike a chord with me, as I used to have an ongoing battle with school students wanting to grab a chair and sit down, performing a task that needed to be safely performed standing up.

  3. #48
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    QLD
    Posts
    735

    Default

    I woulda though if the job required a grinding position where a stout seat would provide a less fatiguing brace that it would be a valid option.

    One thing I've found with younger employees is when they first use a grinder on a job they tend to flick-em around. I then give the 'pay attention to what yer doing' talk which is forgotten by them the moment I walk away. I then wait until they have used the grinder in a particular way then wanders over and point out that had the disc disintergrated just then they likely woulda been castrated. I note far more attention given to grinder position and having two hands holding it after that.

  4. #49
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by YBAF View Post
    I woulda though if the job required a grinding position where a stout seat would provide a less fatiguing brace that it would be a valid option.
    That is not the way the the state gov work place health and safety advisory bodies see it. I have highlighted a few places that I thought important or relavant.

    I know its wordy but here a C&P From Worksafe WA-T Most of the State Govt Worksafe sites are very similar to this sheet.


    < Angle grinders are one of the most dangerous tools in any workplace.

    Most angle grinder injuries are from metal particles lodging in the operator's eye.

    However the most serious injuries are from kick-back, where the disc is thrust back violently towards the operator.

    Discs can shatter or explode, sending pieces flying in all directions.

    Because angle grinders are designed for grinding and not for cutting, the use of cutting discs with angle grinders exposes operators to even greater risks.

    WorkSafe Western Australia says:

    Where a safer alternative cutting tool is available or can be obtained . . .

    AN ANGLE GRINDER SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A CUTTING TOOL.

    WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS SAFETY?


    It is the responsibility of the employer to provide and maintain a safe working environment and safe work procedures.

    The employer must also provide information, instruction, training and supervision to enable employees to work safely.

    Employees must follow any instruction and training provided, and must point out hazards to their supervisor. Employees also have a responsibility to take reasonable care to ensure their own safety and health, and to avoid adversely affecting the safety or health of others through any act or omission at work.

    Hire service managers should make sure, as far as practicable, that angle grinders hired to customers do not, when used properly, expose the hirers to hazards, and that information about any likely dangers is provided at the point of hire.

    OTHER TOOLS FOR CUTTING

    Employers should provide purpose-designed cutting tools, for example drop saws, for materials like concrete, masonry, metal, ceramics, stone or plastic, so that there is no need for an employee to use an angle grinder for cutting.

    Employees required to use angle grinders must be fully informed of the hazards, and instructed in safe work procedures. Safe work procedures should include avoiding, where practicable, the use of angle grinders for cutting.

    WHEEL SAFETY

    Cutting wheels or discs should not be used for grinding jobs, and grinding wheels should not be used for cutting jobs.

    Wheels designed for a particular revolution speed should not be used on machines of different speeds.

    Wheels should be used only for the specific material and purpose for which they are designed, and according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

    Wheels worn small through use should be discarded and NEVER used on smaller machines.

    If subjected to pressures for which they were not designed, wheels can shatter at high speed, with the risk of serious injury to both operator and others nearby.

    SAFE WORK PROCEDURES

    The employer, in consultation with employees or safety and health representatives should provide safe procedures for angle grinder tasks.

    Tasks with an angle grinder should not be allowed unless covered by an agreed safe procedure.

    In your workplace, do safe work procedures determine the following?

    Is grinding work necessary? Could a different tool be used with less risk?

    Is the correct size angle grinder used for the job? Is there a risk of losing control of a heavier, more powerful tool? Could a smaller model be used for some or all of the work?

    Is the correct disc used for the job, depending on the type of material being worked on and the size of the disc?

    Does the guard cover half the disc between the operator and the disc?

    Does the grinder have an automatic cut-off or "deadman" switch as part of the hand grip, so that power is cut off as soon as finger pressure is released? Deadman switch kits are available for older models. (A deadman switch may not be appropriate for certain tasks with small angle grinders.)

    When replacement tools are purchased, does the employer choose grinders with adjustable handles that can be moved to suit different operators, and a "deadman" switch that is easy to hold?

    GUARDS ON ANGLE GRINDERS SHOULD ONLY BE REMOVED FOR MAINTENANCE AND STORAGE.

    BEFORE STARTING


    Is the operator instructed to check before each use that:

    the correct flange and locking nut is in place for the type of disc being used? (Otherwise the disc can shatter at high speed.)

    the guard and handles are secure?

    there are no defects or damage to the disc?

    any disc that has been dropped or become damp is thrown away? (Cracked or weakened discs can shatter in use.)

    no flammable materials are close by?

    Is the workpiece

    held firmly in a bench vice where necessary?

    kept at waist height during grinding, where possible?

    Are all employees instructed to keep at a safe distance when an angle grinder is used?

    Are welding screens positioned to prevent flying particles hitting other workers ?

    ELECTRICAL SAFETY

    Is the angle grinder checked for electrical safety before every use to ensure that:

    there are no breaks or damage to the machine's outer body?

    all screws are tight?

    brush caps are intact and firmly in position?

    the sheathing of flexible cord is held firmly at the tool?

    there are no exposed wires?

    the flexible cord is in good condition, free from cuts and breaks?

    the plugs and extension sockets are free from cuts or damage?

    a safety switch or residual current device (RCD) is always used?

    any defects are repaired by a licensed electrical person?

    the angle grinder has been inspected and tagged by an electrician at the required three-monthly interval if it is used for construction work, and at least once every twelve months for other work? Ok does not apply to home diy shops

    PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

    Is appropriate protective equipment always provided and used, for example,

    wide vision goggles or safety spectacles and a faceshield?

    a hood for extra protection against particles rebounding in a confined space?

    ear plugs or muffs?

    safety boots with steel toe caps?

    overalls or other close-fitting clothing?

    gloves?

    SAFE OPERATION

    Are two hands always used to operate an angle grinder, including small models?

    Did you know:

    large angle grinders should always have a side handle?

    some makes of grinder can be used either right or left handed?

    Is it a workplace safety policy never to remove the guard or handles from an angle grinder?

    SAFE PROCEDURE DETAILS

    Do safe work procedures require operators to

    allow the grinder to "run up" to operating speed before applying it to the job?

    hold the grinder against the workpiece with minimum pressure, so it doesn't "dig in" and cause it to kick back?

    never bump the grinder on to the job, or let the disc hit any other object while grinding?

    keep the grinding disc at a 15 to 30 degree angle to the work?

    adopt a comfortable stance, with feet apart and well balanced, and with a clear view of the job?

    wear knee pads to work at floor level?

    never use a grinder between the legs while sitting on the floor?

    stop the grinder at regular intervals for a short break to rest your arms and hands?

    disconnect the power and place the grinder on a bench with the disc facing upwards when not in use?

    never put a grinder down until the disc stops rotating?

    remove the plug from the power point before changing discs?

    INSTRUCTION, TRAINING AND SUPERVISION

    Do all operators who use angle grinders receive information and training, including safety instructions provided by the angle grinder manufacturer?

    Have all operators been instructed in safe work procedures specific to tasks done at the workplace?

    Is one-to-one supervision provided for people receiving training, or who are unfamiliar with the use of angle grinders?

    Is general supervision provided for all angle grinding tasks?

    Grahame

  5. #50
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    near Rockhampton
    Posts
    6,216

    Default

    Amused a safety blurb encourages dangerous behaviour by saying wear gloves.

    They might as well just say on the packet. Please ship all work requiring angle grinder use to China as these devices are too dangerous to use in Australia.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  6. #51
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    Hi RC
    Thanks for pointing it out .

    But the chinese are hardly a worlds best practice model in general safety are they?

    Yes that is an inconsistency. Perhaps the office johnies who set the sheet up got some of the info from YouTube where a lot of A/G operators use gloves on AGs with no guards.There are so many instances people may tend to think its the norm.

    In general the advisory is fairly comprehensive. It is my hope that people who may read may pick up some info on better protecting themselves despite the glove boo boo.
    Theres another mistake on handles where it suggested that handles should be used on large grinders and almost imply its ok to dispense with handles on smaller AGs.


    Anything to avoid our DIY people suffering a nasty from an Angle grinder- lets raise safety perceptions.

    Grahame

  7. #52
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    near Rockhampton
    Posts
    6,216

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Grahame Collins View Post
    Hi RC
    Thanks for pointing it out .

    But the chinese are hardly a worlds best practice model in general safety are they?
    My vague point is the double standards we practice. Once you go off shore and import products, it does not matter if ten overseas people get killed by angle grinders for every widget made, while in Australia if a person received a mild abrasion from the plastic cord of the angle grinder making the same widget, the employer would be thrown in jail for life by the OHS nazi's.
    Gold, the colour of choice for the discerning person.

  8. #53
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Australia east coast
    Age
    71
    Posts
    2,713

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by .RC. View Post
    Amused a safety blurb encourages dangerous behaviour by saying wear gloves.
    I wear gloves, face shield and hearing protection all the time while angle grinding. Also long sleeves or a welding jacket depending on the weather.

    I'll take the slight risk of a glove snagging over the absolute certainty of hands bombarded with a continuous stream of hot abrasive particles.

    BTW all my grinders have properly fitted guards.

    PDW

  9. #54
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by PDW View Post
    I wear gloves, face shield and hearing protection all the time while angle grinding.
    Me too. You'd have to be mad to use an AG without gloves.

  10. #55
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
    Age
    74
    Posts
    5,080

    Default

    I don't wear gloves, and I've never had a problem getting hands getting bombarded with hot abrasive particles, the guard throws them out to the side, or away. Always wear a full face shield though.

    Maybe if you were grinding overhead or inside a confined space?

  11. #56
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,182

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    Me too. You'd have to be mad to use an AG without gloves.
    I used to think that but after mashing my hands up against the workpiece when the wheel grabbed inside the cut I reckon the risk of that happening is greater than the wheel grabbing close fitting gloves.

    An example where you'd be mad NOT to wear gloves while using an angle grinder is using an Arbortec TC toothed wheel.
    This is a 100 mm wheel with 4 TC teeth designed to carve wood and generates chips a little like small chainsaw wood chips.
    This wheel has a 270º guard on it and where possible the user targets the wood chips away from them but sometimes working in a confined are that is not possible and they reflect off surroundings.
    At 12000 rpm these chips is travelling at 63 m/s and will draw blood from the back of a hand in about 10s.
    Compare that to a chainsaw where the chips comes of at 28 m/s will still eat it's way through jeans after a while.
    I use thin pigskin gloves that provide a good feel and provide sufficient protection although copping a full stream of chips still stings a bit through the glove

    The smaller (50 mm) Arbotech wheels will only fit on a custom angle grinder extension so are further removed from the operators hands but have no guards as they are designed to use in a swiping motion.
    Even though they are further away and make small chips they still sting if used without gloves.

  12. #57
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    I think you may have misread my post Bob. I DO wear gloves when angle grinding. I can't foresee any possible way the AG disc could grab my gloves with both hands gripping the handles.

  13. #58
    BobL is online now Member: Blue and white apron brigade
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,182

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jack620 View Post
    I think you may have misread my post Bob. I DO wear gloves when angle grinding. I can't foresee any possible way the AG disc could grab my gloves with both hands gripping the handles.
    Whoops Sorry.

  14. #59
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    melbourne australia
    Posts
    3,228

    Default

    no worries!

  15. #60
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Alexandra Vic
    Age
    69
    Posts
    654

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wheelinround View Post

    The cut off discs I mentioned where are one off although I have seen large 12 cold saw disc shatter also glad I wasn't using it and out of area of flying bits.


    The worst thing using any grinder disc in factory situation is never knowing who's handled it and how its been used prior. ike the guy who after lunch picked the grinder up started grinding only to find the nut had not been done up by the guy who had used it prior lunch when he changed the wheel
    The cobalt HSS blades used in the slow speed metal cutting wet circular saws can generate quite a shock if and when they shatter. Like the old tempered glass windscreens in cars, they literally fragment and blast right around the building as pieces roughly 25mm across, irregular shapes, and very sharp jagged edges. The sound they make when they shatter is sharper and louder than a shotgun a couple of metres away, followed by the tinkling and clanging as about 100 pieces of shrapnel fly around ricocheting off everything they come in contact with. I have had a few blades grab and break out one or two teeth, and a few that have broken out a sector up to about 30 degrees wide when material has moved on a mitre cut, luckily only one that exploded. Collecting pieces and conducting a post mortem, (we recovered about 90% of the blade and could virtually reassemble it), the blade appeared to have had had had defects around the arbour and drive holes for some time, but these did not show at the surface. Something induced them to to crack the last .3mm or so to the surface and then it was on for one and all. Blade was toothed for the material it was cutting (1.6mm wall SS tube) and had been cutting perfectly until it blew. There were 6 guys in the queue to clean up and change afterwards.

    Re grinders in factories, we learned early in the peace that the best bet was to issue everyone with their own set of angle grinders (2 or 3 depending on their role) so that if they picked one up to use, they knew what was on it, when it went on, and how much work it had done. By having virtual ownership of the machines while at work, most users had more attachment to the machines and took better care of them and abused them much less than was apparent when we had fewer users and a pool of machines.
    I used to be an engineer, I'm not an engineer any more, but on the really good days I can remember when I was.

Page 4 of 8 FirstFirst 12345678 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Game changer - very interesting ABC news article
    By nearnexus in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 3rd Sep 2013, 06:35 PM
  2. Eveleigh news article + video
    By AndrewOC in forum THE SMITHY
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 25th Jul 2013, 06:01 PM
  3. Versatile Tool and Cutter Grinder "made in Melbourne"
    By Garry Edwards in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 22nd Feb 2012, 09:50 PM
  4. Replies: 6
    Last Post: 5th May 2009, 08:18 PM
  5. Difference "Galvanised" and "Primed" Steel
    By Fr_303 in forum METALWORK GENERAL
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 22nd Jan 2008, 05:59 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •