I have to believe that the safety policies were pretty week. No one would ever be allowed to run machine shop equipment alone at the place I work. I do in my home shop like most of you I'm sure, but I'd be fired if I ever did it at work.
I have to believe that the safety policies were pretty week. No one would ever be allowed to run machine shop equipment alone at the place I work. I do in my home shop like most of you I'm sure, but I'd be fired if I ever did it at work.
The Plane Anarchist
Sorry to dig this back up. My Mazak rep told a sim story to me. In that case the operator was not hurt but the hydraulic chuck actuator was completly wasted by the bar $$$. Sad thing but Mazatrol programs have a max rpm input on the first line of each program. I run 6' bars a lot in my SQT, but they are supported by a very stout spindle liner extension, and max rpm limits.
It certainly sounds like training or a lack of was involved here. However even with training a moment of carelessness can be disastrous. Rotating equipment can be dangerous whether it a lathe, drill press, a pto shaft on a tractor, or the chuck on a hand held drill. Never assume it can't happen to you. I would never without knowing more assume this was caused from a lack of common sense or street smarts. We will never know exactly what happened most likely but it could be as simple as something falling in the tray and she reached for it without thinking of the danger. Sometimes we react by reflex like clamping your legs together to keep something from falling off your lap. If it happens to be a sharp object you may regret that. Long hair, loose clothing, and gloves can all be recipes for disastrous results.
I've found that if I prepare myself mentally for what might happen, I react appropriately. For example, if I have my cell phone in hand and drop it, I immediately react by throwing my leg out at an angle... if I'm lucky, the phone rolls down my leg and it's saved form the worst of damage. If I'm holding a knife, a drop causes a reaction that gets my legs as far away from the knife's path as possible. The "danger of bodily harm" aspect of whatever I'm working with puts me into one of those two modes of reaction.
That said, it doesn't prevent me from doing stupid stuff from time to time, where reaction is irrelevant. For example, during my high school years I was attempting a build of Shakespeare's The Globe theater out of balsa. To cut a column deep inside the theater, I had to push against the column with my thumb while using my fingers to push the knife through it... needless to say, when the column finally gave way, the blade was headed straight for my thumb. Yeah, didn't come out of that one unscathed, and to this day have a ridge in my thumbprint from where the blade entered and hit bone. Lack of reaction time meant there was nothing I could do.
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