Shop Safety Neglected

[flion]

As long as I have been building, there are times I forget where I am. This is exacerbated by the fact that much of the RV-6A was built at home (initially in an apartment living room). My shop attitude improved much once the project was moved to a hangar, but I am still prone to bringing parts home, like wing ribs, to flute and deburr. Recently, I brought my rudder parts home so I could build the second rudder in the comfort of my heated garage. No problem there but last night I blundered.

I had done all my T-day preparations; food bought, pies baked, etc. With some time to sit and relax, I decided to rivet the spar into my rudder, having finished the servo wiring. Nothing dangerous there; just pulled and squeezed rivets. No cutting, drilling, or filing. Why not do it in the living room while I watched some TV? Better still, I could kick off my shoes and get comfortable.

Things went swimmingly until I stepped over the rudder to retrieve the container for my clecos. Being tired, I didn't pick up my trailing (left) foot as I stepped over, and it contacted the leading edge. Being barefoot, even though the edge was deburred, it tore through the skin but not much deeper. Actually, thanks to the smoothed edge, it was not really a cut but more of a tear that didn't penetrate ... but it hurt like the dickens and bled pretty well. The picture was taken the next morning after I had cleaned it again and before applying ointment and bandage.



The moral of the story is that anywhere you work is 'shop'. I should not have been barefoot and I can say that my mentality was not 'shop' so I was not as careful around parts and tools as I should have been. I was lucky; had I been moving faster that sheet metal, even dull, could have cut me much deeper, requiring a trip to ER for stitches possibly (at least my Tetanus shots are up to date).

[CanyonDweller]

Be careful with that cut. I have a cousin who, three weeks ago, dropped a piece of metal onto his foot, cutting it. Long story short, fast spreading infection and amputation below the knee. Seriously, take care of the wound.

[flion]

Did I mention that Judith, my better half, is an anesthesiologist? But thanks for the concern, I've seen stuff like that, too. Still, preventing the accident would have been way better than treating even this smallish cut.

[Walt]

Sterilize it with MEK

[Bill_H]

Deburr. ProSeal.

[bird]

Don't foret to alodine and prime it

Bird

[Low Pass]

Originally Posted by bird

Don't foret to alodine and prime it

Bird

Seal it up with a little CA glue.

[ctbecker]

No 'aircraft factory' is properly christened until a little blood is on the floor.

[jwilbur]

Originally Posted by Bill_H

Deburr. ProSeal.

I was thinking stop drill and add a doubler. Then prime if/as desired.

[flion]

You guys! A little Aerofil and no one will notice.

In regards to Charlie's comment, I do accept that injuries happen. I think I posted once about my 'blood offerings' to all my vehicles - a small superstition that prevents them from demanding more blood later (and, no, I'm not really superstitious but if you're already bleeding, why not offer it up?) However, I think it's a bad posture to accept that 'accidents will happen'. They will, and I don't get upset when it does occur but I try to not allow myself to become resigned to the inevitability of it. Instead, I try to work against the flow and keep them from happening - usually. This latest incident is the exception that proves the rule. My usual care is what, I think, has kept my injuries down to mostly bruised knuckles and the like. No drilled fingers, no soldering burns, no debris in the eye, or any serious injuries.

So, sure, accidents will happen but they happen less if my attitude is 'not to me if I can help it'. That was the point of this thread - don't let your guard down even if it seems harmless.