Safety Warning UK Builders

[Ian Anderson]

10/11/2011 - YouTube
I saw this elsewhere and thought you guys should know.
Worth watching and check your tools

Ian

 

[David]

Ouch!

I hadn't even realised there was a use by/do not exceed date on them.... I'm off to check mine!

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All mine just have a 'VALID' and a date on them no "do not exceed" or "use by". All are laser printed on the metal centre or printed on the disk itself. Most are 2013 but I have one unused grinding disk dated 2009. I will take extra extra caution when using that one.

On a related note you should always wear (proper) gloves when using an angle grinder, I know we're all guilty of it from time to time but its so easy for it to dig in, get out of hand and cause serious injury. I wear my welding gauntlets now after a friend took out all the tendons in the back of his hand while trying to cut some stone.

 

[Mark]

I hadn't even realised there was a use by/do not exceed date on them.... I'm off to check mine!

Same here.

Thanks for the heads up Ian.

 

[Dave Bilyk]

Ouch,
ok let's observe the date, but more important, check that you do not exceed the maximum safe operating speed and always wear good gloves and goggles is the main answer because they help to prevent injury in the event of failure whether due to out of life or accidental misuse.

I read that organic grinding wheels have a shelf life of 3 years from date of manufacture. However there is no evidence of cause of failure here, the impression given that his injury is all to do with 'use by date' is a bit lame IMHO, if he wasn't wearing gloves.

DO NOT EXCEED is not for the date, it is for the speed rating which was 12,200rpm on the grinding disc (142mph peripheral speed on a 100mm disc). He only shows his hand and the grinding wheels so he could have been using it on a faster machine. If you use on a 10,000rpm machine it is far less likely to burst, if you use it at a higher speed then it could.

He didn't seem to show the date on the failed wheel if it was still there.

He didn't say anything about how it happened, how he was using it at the time, he could have been putting a lot of pressure on it, jammed it into a corner, caught a jagged edge in such a way that it would have failed whatever the date and especially so if he exceeded the operating speed.

I think all this safety stuff should be free, but -

1.
Booklet HS(G)17

Safety in the use of Abrasive Wheels (HSE)

(ISBN 0 7176 1739 4)(2000) (£7.00)

2.
Booklet L22

Safe Use of Work Equipment – Approved Code of Practice and Guidance on Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (HSE) (ISBN 0 7176 1626 6)

Dave

 

[Ian Anderson]

Thanks Dave

I for one did not realise abrasive discs had a "best before" date

Ian

 

[BenL]

Ouch,
ok let's observe the date, but more important, check that you do not exceed the maximum safe operating speed and always wear good gloves and goggles is the main answer because they help to prevent injury in the event of failure whether due to out of life or accidental misuse.

However for using a bench grinder, I was taught that one shouldn't wear gloves (you don't want them to be grabbed by the spinning wheel).

 

[Jon Briggs]

Ouch,
ok let's observe the date, but more important, check that you do not exceed the maximum safe operating speed and always wear good gloves and goggles is the main answer because they help to prevent injury in the event of failure whether due to out of life or accidental misuse.

I read that organic grinding wheels have a shelf life of 3 years from date of manufacture. However there is no evidence of cause of failure here, the impression given that his injury is all to do with 'use by date' is a bit lame IMHO, if he wasn't wearing gloves.

DO NOT EXCEED is not for the date, it is for the speed rating which was 12,200rpm on the grinding disc (142mph peripheral speed on a 100mm disc). He only shows his hand and the grinding wheels so he could have been using it on a faster machine. If you use on a 10,000rpm machine it is far less likely to burst, if you use it at a higher speed then it could.

He didn't seem to show the date on the failed wheel if it was still there.

He didn't say anything about how it happened, how he was using it at the time, he could have been putting a lot of pressure on it, jammed it into a corner, caught a jagged edge in such a way that it would have failed whatever the date and especially so if he exceeded the operating speed.

I think all this safety stuff should be free, but -

1.
Booklet HS(G)17

Safety in the use of Abrasive Wheels (HSE)

(ISBN 0 7176 1739 4)(2000) (£7.00)

2.
Booklet L22

Safe Use of Work Equipment – Approved Code of Practice and Guidance on Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (HSE) (ISBN 0 7176 1626 6)

Dave

All that is true. However, the date of expiry of the disc was June 2010 and a sticker was placed over the top saying June 2013. I think thats the crux of the matter.

How the injury happened seems immaterial to me, given that some one is selling re-stickered out of date discs. My next stop is the garage to check mine.

 

[Dave Bilyk]

However for using a bench grinder, I was taught that one shouldn't wear gloves (you don't want them to be grabbed by the spinning wheel).<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

Ben, interesting point.

All that is true. However, the date of expiry of the disc was June 2010 and a sticker was placed over the top saying June 2013. I think thats the crux of the matter.

How the injury happened seems immaterial to me, given that some one is selling re-stickered out of date discs. My next stop is the garage to check mine.

Jonnyb, don't disagree with you if it's all true, but I am never comfortable with all the unsubstantiated inference. For example, he never took a sticker off to prove that it said June 2010 underneath, so we don't know for sure. ok they appeared to come from the same pack, and there was a sticker in a different place, pretty convincing but not definitive.
Another possibility, the printed June 2010 date could be the date of manufacture, the sticker might be a clumsy attempt to change to the use by date, again we don't know, someone would have to investigate to determine the facts. It's so easy to make inferences without hard facts.

It would certainly be a serious issue if the sticker was an attempt to fraudulently change the date, and if so it's entirely possible that this could be raised appropriately. If it was me I would be straight down to the Machine Mart to find out.

The only hard fact here is that he might have prevented that injury by wearing PPE, it's not immaterial IMHO, it is equally important. His injury wasn't caused by one thing, it was caused by two, if he wore PPE and that prevented the injury that would have been a better outcome. You can't account for other peoples actions or deceptions, but you can account for your own.

Dave

 

[John Fitzpatrick]

Thank you Ian. Don't know if discs sold in the US have an expiration date, but I'm going to check mine asap!
On the subject of shop safety, I have read that the most dangerous tool in the shop is the drill press.

 

[Seymour Snerd]

However there is no evidence of cause of failure here, the impression given that his injury is all to do with 'use by date'

Also, we have no assurance that he was not exceeding the max. RPM rating of the wheels.

Regarding not wearing gloves using a bench grinder, the logic might be different with hand-held grinder. A bench grinder is much more powerful, is bolted down (hopefully), and you by nature work with your hands close to the junction of the wheel and the rest plate, so there is a much larger danger of its trapping you. A hand-held grinder, on the other hand, is more likely to escape your grip but I think is less likely to trap loose items (jewelry, gloves, clothing) because it's wheel is smaller, there is no rest plate, and the wheel is more closely guarded. So to me the gloves make sense and I always wear them. However, I'd be interested to know what professional practice is in this area with respect to protective equipment. I looked at a couple sites and the manual for a DeWalt grinder and they do not prohibit gloves, and in fact recommend them for protection from vibration. So it's a little ambiguous.

Regarding the drill press, I suspect it wins because its use is so frequent, and there are so many ways for it to get you, including trapping and spinning the work, throwing things inadvertently left in the chuck, and by nature it has no guards, etc. You'd think a mill would have all the same issues but perhaps people are just more careful around them.

 

[Mick Ridley]

The guy in the video refers to the discs as "GRINDING DISCS"

But they are clearly labbeled as "CUTTING DISCS"

You should NEVER grind on the side of a cutting/slitting disc