Swank1975
March 7th, 2020, 08:18 AM
Hey all, just a general reminder to be careful when using improvised tools vs the proper tool.
Tuesday our 19 year old son was at work where they tear down and rebuild diesel engines. He was tearing an engine down with a coworker. While taking oil pan bolts off he was struck in the neck by a piece of metal. It went into his neck, severed a branch of the carotid artery that goes to the thyroid and went through one of his saliva glands. It stopped next to his airway about 1/2" from his spine (circled in image). He had lots of bleeding and swelling obviously. He had 2.5 hours of surgery and was in the ICU for a day. Fortunately he's expected to recover well and is already back home with us.
The less here is the co worker was using a shop made hammer consisting of a large diesel wrist pin as the head and a large head bolt as the handle. The head shattered when he hit the part and sent shrapnel. Many people there should have known this hammer was a bad idea and instructed him to not use it. Your factory built tools have certain metallurgy, tempering processes, and design considerations to reduce this risk. Also remember to dress your chisels and punches and don't let them be mushroomed out.
Stay safe and think ahead when in the shop. We were very luck this week.
Tuesday our 19 year old son was at work where they tear down and rebuild diesel engines. He was tearing an engine down with a coworker. While taking oil pan bolts off he was struck in the neck by a piece of metal. It went into his neck, severed a branch of the carotid artery that goes to the thyroid and went through one of his saliva glands. It stopped next to his airway about 1/2" from his spine (circled in image). He had lots of bleeding and swelling obviously. He had 2.5 hours of surgery and was in the ICU for a day. Fortunately he's expected to recover well and is already back home with us.
The less here is the co worker was using a shop made hammer consisting of a large diesel wrist pin as the head and a large head bolt as the handle. The head shattered when he hit the part and sent shrapnel. Many people there should have known this hammer was a bad idea and instructed him to not use it. Your factory built tools have certain metallurgy, tempering processes, and design considerations to reduce this risk. Also remember to dress your chisels and punches and don't let them be mushroomed out.
Stay safe and think ahead when in the shop. We were very luck this week.