Mom always said be safe, pay attention, look both ways....sound advice always!

Today’s blog post won’t be about any world events or goofy politicians.   Influenced by a relative’s accident this morning, I’m gonna talk about safety, particularly concerning how to stay safe around machinery. 

The term “machinery” can apply to many things.  To most people it conjures up images of factories, or large bits of farm equipment. All true and applicable, but keep in mind that this also includes car engines, home appliances, lawn and garden tools, and even bicycles and exercise equipment. The simplest definition of machine is “any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks”.  A lever is the simplest machine known to man.  With the right lever, you can move about anything.  When you add the power of belts and pulleys, you can create machines that move either themselves, other things or both.  The power in even the simplest machines can be staggering, and in modern ones, there is almost no limit to the work that can be done with them.

By the same token, once set in motion, it’s very difficult to stop one.  Take for instance a car engine.  In most cases, we never think about what’s going on under the hood.  We turn the key, go where we need to go, and turn it off.  Some of us never even look under the hood.  If you do venture under there, beware, danger lurks all around. These troubled economic times are bringing out the good old American “do it yourself” attitude again and while this is in my opinion a good thing there are hazards under  the hood that you should be aware of.  Automotive engineers never give any thought to the safety and well being of the poor mechanic that has to work on this marvelous creation.  Well, I shouldn’t say that, they do shroud the engine fan, making it difficult to come in contact with it. But there are near razor sharp edges all over the place, and very little room to work making it easy to skin knuckles and cut yourself. Most of these injuries will be relatively minor and some antiseptic and a bandaid will take care of most of the damage you may inflict on yourself.  However, the very nature of what this modern marvel does requires that a great many pulleys and belts be exposed while the engine is running.  This is not usually a problem, since the hood is closed during normal operation.  Once in a while, however, there are certain repairs and adjustments that must be made while the engine is running and this puts the person working on it at considerable risk.  A split second of not being aware of where your hands are and you can find yourself on the way to the emergency room.  The accident I mentioned above…poor guy got two fingers caught in the fan belt.  This resulted in a partial amputation of those two fingers.  Extremely painful, and expensive to say the least.  It will take a long time for him to get used to those two fingers being an inch shorter, but at least he will recover and get on with his life.

Belts and pulleys are found on all sorts of stuff, and every single one of them demands your respect and undivided attention when working around them, especially if they are in motion.  Remove or secure loose clothing (sleeves, shirt tails, long hair, etc) before starting the job. Arrange your tools so that they are easy to reach, or in a place that requires you to step away from the moving parts to retrieve them. Please make certain that you are aware of where your hands and all other parts are.  Don’t reach across a moving pulley, and don’t let yourself  get off balance and fall near one.   And never, ever reach through a belt or chain that is moving or could be energized some way.  If you do any of these things, you quite possibly will sustain permanent disfiguring or dismembering injuries.  Chains and sprockets are even more unforgiving. Stop the machine before attempting to retrieve dropped tools or parts. One final bit of advice…never wear gloves around moving pulleys or belts.  Gloves are a bad idea around any rotating parts…spindles, shafts, pulleys, sprockets, axles, anything like that.   Be aware of where you are and what you are doing at all times while working on these machines and you’ll walk away with all your parts.  Get careless, inattentive, or clumsy, and you risk losing them.