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Thread: Compressed air to blow off clothing, so dangerous it's banned in workplaces

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Seabrook, TX (south of Houston)
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    I am the regional safety manager for our company (which is a large one). We require, and I beleive it is an OSHA requirement but not sure, nozzles that reduce the outlet pressure to 30 psi. We tell employees not to blow themselves down but we know it happens. Thus the reduced pressure nozzles. To Cody's point, i recently confiscated 3 reduced pressure nozzles that had been modified to provide the full 120 psi at the outlet.

    I do it my slef at home. As has been mentioned, common sense is the key.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Huntsville, East Texas
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    163
    Compressed air to blow off clothing? That's crazy. Just take your clothing off normally and make sure your wife doesn't have company over when you make that mad dash from garage to bedroom. Oh wait, that's not how you meant it....

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    West Central Florida
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    354
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Edgerton View Post
    I have found it is far less dangerous to blow myself off than it is to walk in my wifes house covered in wood chips.

    Please don't outlaw my wife, I like her.........
    Amen to that!!!
    Jim Davenport
    Reporting from the depths of the Magic Garage

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Somewhere in the Land of Lincoln
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    Compressed air is no different then the multitude of other tools most of us have in our shops. Used incorrectly or carelessly it can cause serious or even fatal injury. So it surprises me that so many take it so lightly. Sure most of us have and do use it without incident. Just as we use our table saws and band saws safely as well. You can say it was just some idiot that shouldn't have been working there anyway, or just due to horseplay. In some instances that of course is correct. I think of those who have been "bitten" by their table saw even on this forum would tell you they probably had done that same thing many many times before and all was fine. I guess you also make fun of using lock out tag out procedures when repairing machinery, or even verifying that the circuit is dead before you start a wiring project. While some of the injuries caused by compressed air can be attributed to carelessness or bad judgment, some I am sure are no different from the same things we do regularly. Don't forget that it only takes one time for a life changing event to bite you, and you may have done the same thing hundreds or thousands of times before safely. I am sure that you will pick this post apart and that's okay. Do remember that most safety rules were written with blood. When you quit having respect for a tool, whatever it may be, is when you are ripe to become a statistic. Please don't fall in the rut that it could never happen to me. Here is a link I found about compressed air.
    http://www.usmra.com/repository/cate...d_Air_1008.pdf

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Bellingham, WA
    Posts
    1,933
    I don't allow my employees to blow themselves off in my shop. I don't want to assume risk on their behalf. I'll do it myself though (when I'm alone), understanding the possible risks/consequences and compensating for this in my technique.

    Same thing for operations like hand feeding a shaper. Can it be done safely? Absolutely. Can you lose a hand if something goes wrong? Yes.
    JR

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