Best accident with powertool (or any tool)

[gbb]

Prompted by the favourite tool post, i'm reminded of some freak accidents i've had..

I was once drilling hundreds of 8mm holes in loads of steelwork, with a 1/2 chuck workshop powerdrill...plenty of power in it

Because i was doing it for hours, my arms and wrists got tired. While i was drilling one hole, the drillbit 'bit' and snagged.
Trouble was the drill didnt stop and in a second, the cable was wrapped round my hand and wrist, clamping my finger on the trigger .
I couldnt get my finger off the switch, the drill wouldnt stop, and more cable wrapped round my arms

Thankfully, the drillbit freed itself, and i had to get someone to unplug it.....

A heartstopping few seconds

 

[Joe24]

Whilst sat ontop of a climbing frame, and smacking in a big post into the ground to shove another pole in for an antenna, it went something like this:
Ding, Ding, Ding, Owwwwwwwwwwww
I wacked myself on the knee with a hammer. Gave me a dead knee and i hobbled up the garden and went for a sit down. That hurt.

 

[Lardyboy]

Taken the tops off the index finger and third finger, taken the side off the middle finger next to the nail. All on my left hand. All "chisel interfacing problems", all separate incidents

 

[Dayvo]

Taken the top off the index finger

Me too! Bloody hurts, doesn't it!
How much compo did you get? I got 7 grand in 1990.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

garden fork through foot aged 4

 

[Lardyboy]

Me too! Bloody hurts, doesn't it!
How much compo did you get? I got 7 grand in 1990.

I'd have to sue myself! My own stupidity was the cause of them all.

The most painful injury occurred when I was cleaning an old glass tubed syringe which had got blocked with "gunk" and was using a thin and very long needle to unblock the obstacle. It was being "difficult" so I gave it a good short sharp thrust and proceeded to bury the needle in my index finger. I felt it hit the bone and it lodged in the knuckle. I managed to pull the needle out quite quickly but not before the excruciating pain set in quickly followed by waves of nausea.

 

[red_tom]

My brother got his index finger trapped in a belt sander (he was pishing about with it the fool) which proceeded to sand off his fingernail and quite a bit of the fleshy finger underneath.

 

[mr_hippo]

I once worked as the Occupational Health Officer for a large cable-making company and was called to an accident in the warehouse. One chap had been using a Hilti nail gun - to fire the gun, the business end has to be in contact before you press the trigger but to save time, this chap kept the trigger depressed to save time. He had finished the job and put the gun down on the floor - still with the trigger depressed. I can still remember his exact words when I completed the accident form; "The first time that I realised that something was wrong was when I stood up and found my jeans were nailed to my boot." Fortunately for him, the nail had missed bone and Achilles tendon.

 

[Blue]

I've been fortunate enough not to have tangled with a powertool myself. However, once saw the aftermath of a guy with long hair who leaned too close to a large industrial drill and got scalped when his hair tangled with the bit - messy

 

[longers]

My luckiest escape was getting my hand caught in a parallel sander, a big floor to ceiling jobby.
I was feeding in a tray of spindles and had a lapse in concentration and left my hand on the back of the tray, I was very lucky that I could reach the cut out with an offcut.
It would have broken my hand and arm and then proceeded to eat it's way through them as I had 80G on the front belt. And I was in the workshop on my own*. Nothing broken and not a scratch even though it took a day or two before I could move my fingers properly.

I've picked half of someone's little finger up for them and worked with a bloke who had to pick up a forearm

*stupid? yes

 

[dodgy]

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DF14UmhMPEY

 

[dantheman]

while "rust-busting" an old car, having been doing it for days with a wire brush attatchment on an angle grinder, early, and while still a little sleepy, the tool caught an edge of something, and shot into my face, it only took a fraction of a second to mince up my face from mid cheek, right to below my eye, and eat the flesh off two fingers where i was holding it. i was lucky as i wasnt wearing my safety goggles!!- after that i always wore them..- luckily i only got a very small scar on one finger now!

 

[Dayvo]

Heard a story of a mob of suits and QSs walking around site, when a labourer accidentally kicked off a loose short scaffold pole from the scaffolding that fell vertically and entered one of the Qss' hard hat and came out through the base of his spine! He died immediately in front of about 12 others!

I worked as a hoddie on and off for 10 years and have seen/heard a lot of horror stories!

 

[Yorkshireman]

Many, many years ago ... My wife complained bitterly about the state of my favourite cast-iron frying pan (all cast-iron frying pans should be black , so to shut her up I decided to give it the rotary wire brush treatment with the power drill. For some reason I was wearing a knitted woollen tie ... The drill stopped just as the tie, wire brush and my beard combined in one mass. It took me some time to cut everything free (I wouldn't trust her with anything sharp near my throat, particularly as she was crying with laughter). I went out and bought a non-stick pan . A couple of years ago an elderly lady asked me if I could do something with her front gate. It was one of those wrought iron jobs with lots of flat, curly bits riveted together (blacksmith job not pops). One of the sections had come away from the bit it should have been fastened to, and as I knew I had no chance of re-riveting it I decided to use a nut and bolt. The hole was a bit tight on the curly bit, so I got the drill out - Block of wood on the floor (my bench/vise was 'busy') and proceeded to drill, clamping the work with my left foot. I didn't clamp firmly enough - The drill bit 'snatched' - The curly metal strip swung (at great speed) to the right and made contact with my right shin (about halfway between knee and foot). Bone was clearly visible, my eyes watered - but I didn't swear. I stuck the bits of flesh/skin together with superglue ... I now have an 'interesting' mark when the weather turns cold .

 

[Night Train]

When I was a kid I saw a chap on a building site take his thumb off with a circular saw.

I haven't had any accidents of any note. Something I keep telling the kids I teach health and safety to at college. Interestingly I always show them I have all my fingers. My manager is missing one.