Angle Grinder Accident - Could Have Been Much Worse

[madmatt]

I can assure you chainsaw trousers will offer you no protection what so ever from an angle grinder! in the present climate of making them more user friendly the fabrics have changed on the outter layer, and sparks eat through in seconds! I know a lad that didn't change his chainsaw trousers before ginding and he ruined them in 5 mins melting the outer layer with sparks.

Chainsaw trousers were designed for wearing while using a chainsaw, anyone in involved with H&S at work will know that you should only use the appropriate PPE for whhat it was designed for and chainsaw trousers were not designed for wearing when using a 9" grinder!

[RichardAllen]

Thanks for all your concerns and good wishes, sorry I have not been able to reply earlier.

To follow-up, the angle grinder with blade still in place looks like this:

The angle iron I was cutting through looks like this:

- where you can just about make out that the part to the bottom right which sprang uptowards the top of the picture by about 3mm when I completed the cut.

The notch made in the blade where it caught can be seen better here:

Regarding the incident there are one or two more things I can add.

I am right handed so I had my right hand on the dead-man's handle switch and left hand on the steadying handle. I was standing to the side, so nothing was in the direct firing line. The steadying handle was in the position that sticks out from the back of the blade, so it was horizontal when cutting, as I felt this gave best control over the cut. However, when it caught, the whole grinder shot out of my left hand. It then glanced off another part of the frame and over the side of the triler into my leg. The blade came to a stop because it became tangled up in my shorts/boxers/leg. For a split second I heard that buzzing of a stalled electric motor before letting go of the dead-man's handle switch and then working out how to get tangled shorts/boxers and grinder off, so I could check the damage.

I add this not out of the need for gory detail but just to show that it was my clothing that saved me from a much deeper cut.

I might also have been better off using the handle in the vertical position as it would then have been more difficult to wrench from my grasp. However, I feel I would have had less control, so a catch would have been more likely.

I have used this grinder several times before. It is a beast of a tool and I have had trouble with it catching on both metal and stone slabs before (using the correct baldes of course). I am a fairly robust 6'2" 16 stone but even so find it a tool which even before the accident merited great caution.

Discussions at work indicate that the right gloves would have been either ARCO SUP 25G Riggers Gloves for general use, or possible SHOWA GP-KV1 Kevlar Grip Gloves (we get most of our PPE from ARCO).

The helmet with polycarbonate visor (as shown by JasonG4110 above) is generally regarded as a better choice than protective goggles.

Standard overalls would have been worn which might have given a little more protection than my shorts, but not much. Chainsaw trousers are not deemed to be helpful and are not included in our PPE catalogue.

The major point which did also come out, is that this job, at work, would not have been done with an angle grinder in the first place, but with an oxy-acetylene cutter, which very much backs up what Red90 said. Although I have done some training on oxy-acetylene and am comfortable with it, SWMBO was not happy so I do not have a set. Grinders at work tend to be used more for edge preparation.

I very much appreciate that I was a bit unlucky in that it went into my leg whioch was to the side, rather than obviously in the way, however, and very lucky that I was not much more badly or even fatally hurt.

I should also add that straight afterwards I went over to my neighbour for a lift to A&E. She is a qualified medic and patched me up with a big gauze dressing which received accolades when I got to the hospital, ("You should see what some people turn up with!"), so I shall be putting a couple of these dressing in the first aid kit alongside the ointment, plasters and anti-scald spray.

I have had my leg checked out again since and they reckon the stitches will be out next week. That's if my baby daughters can stop jumping on it for a bit.

Thanks again for all your concern

Regards

Richard

[David Sparkes]

Ok, I asked "It will be interesting to hear what your Expert says about the 'misuse' of safety gear. I'm assuming that if the operation (use of a grinder) isn't in the trouser specification then using them as protection with a grinder is 'misuse'."

It WAS interesting to hear what your expert said about chainsaw trousers in this situation, and useful to be corrected about how they work.

Chainsaw trousers with a grinder are a No.

Thanks.

[stobbie]

I have a small blue Bosch angle grinder and when it gets stuck it cuts its power instantly. With 1 mm discs however the disc still gets shattered but the machine stops.

[landkeeper]

i have used small and large grinders for years chainsaws too and can safely tell you this the torque in a 9" angle grinder is immense and imho there is no way if the blade bites, will you be able to stop it ,a day in feb 09 was d-day for me ,i was cutting up a 110 chassis to get it out of the yard in a hurry , i cut it into half then the front section into two lenth ways , i then moved on to the rear part .

All went according to plan until i came to cut the a frame errr momentary lack of concentration saw the blade bitten by the chassis and my right hand (the one holding the handle) caught between the a frame x member and the handle at warp factor 10

Result broken 1st finger at the knuckle in the hand (snapped the knuckle off) fractured thumb and fractured little finger

was it painfull no

was i lucky yes very the grinder hit the floor between my feet when it came out of my hand i was wearing simple leather gloves stupid stupid stupid . i normally wear husky chainsaw gloves but they were 100ft away in the car and i couldn't be bothered to fetch them

it taught me a lesson you can't be too carefull about 9" grinders , i'm still learning to use fingers that cos of the breaks are 6-7 mm shorter than they were , and have a click in that joint

bosch 1 landkeeper 0

[Gazzar]

Thank you all for sharing these stories.

I really hate the big grinder, my father lost the use of his left hand from a grinder accident.

His recollection of the details were hazy but it appears to have gouged the back of his hand after he put it down whilst still spinning.

He lost 3 months of work in the summer. Which, as a market gardener, was a lot of business.

Mind you, thats when I learned to drive a land-rover, as I took over the farm.

The polycarbonate visor is the way to go for visibility. Cheap, effective, and doesn't suffer from fogging.

I think I'll buy a cheap plasma cutter, that looks like the way to go for cutting.

G.

[Rizla 1]

I bought some cheap hoodies from the market thinking they be okay in the workshop - wrong

They had 2 little ropes that pulls the hood tight - well while grinding with my 4 1/2 with a grinding disc in it grabbed hold of the dangling rope and rolled itself up and smacked me under the chin nearly knocking me out - and leaving and huge round cut and burn under my chin, if it had been a 1mm cutting disc i think i be dead or have a big hole in my throat.

The farmer last week was in A/E nearly cut his thumb off with his 1mm grinder - no guard holding the metal in one hand and grinder in other - he won't do that again

[dirkthe1]

Fun and games!

I can say that chanies will not stop an angle grinder-some of them barely stop a chainsaw, and sparks ruin them very quickly-my next experiment is ex firemans trousers i bought at the recent download (donnington) festival for 15 quid!

anti steam on face mask, etc i havent tested it but apparently cleaning them with brasso keeps away the steam. strange i know but when we discussed ppe at work the other day i was tasked with ordering some!

Good news is you still have everything-albeit a bit worse for wear!

[zim]

On a slightly different note: When ever I wear eye protection, they always suffer from steaming up after a while, reducing my vision to almost zero. Anyone got any bright ideas for this?

Daan

We wear glasses at work all day and have some antifog & cleaning solution. It works pretty well, but once you start sweating there's not a lot that you can do

Swarfega with warm water to clean glasses also works pretty well

G

[white90]

These stories help people appreciate the dangers of Grinders

I was removing a wall to install some french doors when the grinder caught jumped up and on its way down went through my jeans and a nice grind in the the top of my leg,

unperturbed. I purchased more 4.5 inch ones whilst cleaning some steel I found that flap wheels will go through Musto sweat shirts and start to remove skin very quickly

the scar on my wrist it now 16weeks old and still clearly visible.

Today whilst loading scrap into the trailer I decided to chop some up to make it easier to carry, so enter the fray the 9" grinder I took extreme care with it

glasses/ear defenders, jeans close fitting gloves but this is where I let myself down rather than the sturdy steel toe caps in the garage I wore sandals, now that is a seperate issue I agree

but the sodding sparks burnt my feet the first cut, did I stop to get better foot wear

Nope I just moved my feet, I hadn't read this thread previously, I got away with dirty spark burnt feet,

I think actually I am more a danger to myself than the inanimate tools.

After previous metal/wood in the eye ball I am sort of glad I have no longer got to use these tools regularly.

Morale is

Take care use the correct safety gear as the injuries can be painful and the upset to your families could be far far worse.

[Bowie69]

I always keep the rocker switch NOT on the clicked on position... always make sure I'm on the verges of letting it spring off.

I'm with you on this one, I had a 4.5" B&D Pro grinder for years which you had to hold the button in on, and had a lock to stop you accidentally turning it on, sometimes I cursed it when in an awkward position, then it died.

I replaced it with a DeWalt, which had a 'click on click off' button, and straight away I felt uncomfortable using it, had to re-evaluate the entire method of using a grinder, even now though, I still have to tell myself what would happen if it fell out of my hands at a given point (normally when under the truck ).

I would still be much more comfortable with the B&D design, purely from the fact you can't dangle it by it's lead with it switched on, really unsure why they designed grinders with a lock in the first place?

[mickeyw]

While we are talking grinder safety...

It has been mentioned a few times above how grinding sparks can damage clothing. No-one has mentioned the fact that the wrong clothing can also catch fire!

A couple of years ago a good friend was cutting up something in his workshop with a small grinder. It was a cold day and he was well wrapped up in t-shirts and fleeces. He was also wearing a face visor like the one Jason pictured. While he was concentrating on the cutting job he did not notice where the sparks were going. The next thing he knew was that he was on fire, and I mean properly alight!

His instant reaction was to try and pull his clothes off over his head. It was unfortunate that the gloves and visor he was wearing prevented him doing this quickly, so he tried rolling on the floor to extinguish the flames. Luckily someone else in the yard saw what was happening and came to his assistance with a large piece of carpet and smothered the flames.

The fleece being plastic had melted and stuck to his skin. He said there was little evidence left of the t-shirts.

The big result was some major burns to a large area of his upper body and hands. I have seen the hospital photos, and the healing body since, and I shudder to think of the pain he went through with the burns, the blistering and cracked dried skin in the months of recovery afterwards. The hospital staff said he was extrememly lucky to avoid needing skin grafts to repair the damage.

Now don't get the wrong idea that I am blaming the gloves and visor for this siutation, far from it. For once he was actually wearing some reasonable saftey gear; but a bad choice of clothing and a moment's inattention to what was happening lead to a horrible accident.

So DON'T WEAR FLEECES WHEN GRINDING, and watch where the sparks are going.

[Gromit]

I don't like grinders, having heard some horror stories. It's good to be reminded of the dangers though. I think, as has been pointed out in previous posts, laziness is a factor.

I was removing the rear tow hitch from the truck last weekend. I was en-route elsewhere and called into my parents, and then decided to remove it, as it had been annoying me for a while.

After an hour struggling with a 4ft breaker bar, I had all but one of the cross member bolts out.

The last one was properly seized and the spanner on the nut kept rounding and falling off. I was getting annoyed, so out came the grinder. I had gloves, but couldn't find any goggles (just my glasses), no ear defenders, not really suitably dressed and didn't really check the condition of the disk. Nothing happened and I finally cut through the head off the bolt, but I really should not be so lazy. Thankfully the chassis bolts snapped when I tried to remove them.

Where's that photo of the piece of grinding disk stuck in a full face protector?

[errol209]

In a previous phase of my career we used 16" petrol disc saws to cut railway rail, mounted on hinged arms to keep the blade true in the cut. These things are insane two-stroke-scooters-with-blades-on jobbies, and I have witnessed more than a few occasions where the operator hasn't spotted that the rail wasn't supported currectly under the cut. This leads one side of the cut rail (just like your trailer rib did) slipping near the end of the cut, the blade jamming, 25kg of throbbing tool taking to the air, the blade shattering and everyone within 20m getting peppered with hot disc fragments (and in one case giving the operator an upper-cut which broke his jaw)

To avoid this, oxy-propane cutting is used where there is any doubt at all about the stress situation, and disc saws only where everything is known.

[FridgeFreezer]

Since we're on a grinder safety /scare story tip, I'll add mine:

If you get something in your eye, or think you might have, rinse it out or use a cotton bud dipped in optrex to very carefully get it out (grinder dust/tiny metal shards can go in & be very hard to see). If you can't see it but feel something, go to A+E and they will put some dye in your eye & get it out for you.

The alternative is that it feels like mild arc-eye, so you wait for it to wear off, but it doesn't, then after a few days you go to A+E where they tut, tell you how stupid you are, then stick hypodermic needles into your eyeball to dig the bit of metal out because it has now started to rust into your eyeball. It's very hard not to blink and hold your eyeball still while someone roots about in it with hypodermic needles.

[errol209]

Since we're on a grinder safety /scare story tip, I'll add mine:

If you get something in your eye, or think you might have, rinse it out or use a cotton bud dipped in optrex to very carefully get it out (grinder dust/tiny metal shards can go in & be very hard to see). If you can't see it but feel something, go to A+E and they will put some dye in your eye & get it out for you.

The alternative is that it feels like mild arc-eye, so you wait for it to wear off, but it doesn't, then after a few days you go to A+E where they tut, tell you how stupid you are, then stick hypodermic needles into your eyeball to dig the bit of metal out because it has now started to rust into your eyeball. It's very hard not to blink and hold your eyeball still while someone roots about in it with hypodermic needles.

Anyone's eyes NOT watering?

[LandyManLuke]

Since we're on a grinder safety /scare story tip, I'll add mine:

If you get something in your eye, or think you might have, rinse it out or use a cotton bud dipped in optrex to very carefully get it out (grinder dust/tiny metal shards can go in & be very hard to see). If you can't see it but feel something, go to A+E and they will put some dye in your eye & get it out for you.

The alternative is that it feels like mild arc-eye, so you wait for it to wear off, but it doesn't, then after a few days you go to A+E where they tut, tell you how stupid you are, then stick hypodermic needles into your eyeball to dig the bit of metal out because it has now started to rust into your eyeball. It's very hard not to blink and hold your eyeball still while someone roots about in it with hypodermic needles.

Slight variation on this, I went to A&E the same evening I got something in my eye, by the time I'd sat in the waiting room for 3 hours all that was left was the hole on the surface of my eyeball, what ever it was that had made it, had dropped out. They used the dye and had a good look around in there, and I was left with a stain down my cheek....

[Bowie69]

Had that 3 times, and yes, each time I was wearing eye protection, once was even a full face mask.

Best thing is they ask you back after a day or so to repeat the procedure 

The main irritation was actually scratching the inside of the eyelid everytime you blink, so you feel OK during the day, but you can't get to sleep for trying.

[Rob110]

Hi

I had a cheap small grinder and the bearing was a little rough, due to using it with wire brush attachments.

I then needed to cut a bolt off on the anti roll bar so i changed it over to a 1mm cutting disc, got on my back and crawled under the car.

I had not even started to cut but with the grinder upside down, once i turned it on the bearing obviously did not like being upside down and eventually seized. because the disc and nut were spinning full speed and the shaft is now seized there was enough kinetic energy to undo itself (I do mine up as tight as possible), i saw the bolt fly across to garage, then the disc wobble and follow it, lucky for me not in my direction, the grinder was only inches from my face.

I found that wearing welding gloves, lay on my back in a confined space i could not turn it off fast enough.

Alot of my friends are not into motors and engineering as much as me and i wont let them use the grinders or the chop saw, i always do it for them.

Take care people

Rob

[mickeyw]

Anyone's eyes NOT watering?

Mine are.

Been there, dunnit more times than I should admit , not at all nice.

It always happens when you least expect. You're lying under the Landy , no dangerous tools in sight, just having a quick look and inspection with eyes physically WIDE open - and lo and behold something drops in there. Moments of f***it, not again follow, along with the irresistable urge to rub one's eye to make it better. Out comes the Optrex and eyebath, but it's no good; the hospital beckons yet again.

[landroversforever]

I'm always getting sh!t in my eyes under the 90... just always wear my safety specs now!

[David Sparkes]

You guys are making me nervous, and being nervous is a good way of making accidents more likely.

20 years I've lived here, and still don't know what choices I have re A+E Hospitals.

I've never needed to know, and that's not because I trust my neighbours to help.

For those who feel they also should be aware (and so continue to protect themselves from harm) http://www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx is the page you want.

Then it's just a case of printing off maps from Streetmap or Multimap and putting hard copies behind the sun visor.

HTH.

[landroversforever]

I think making people nervous is better, then if you're pondering whether to bother fetching a bit of PPE, you are probably more likely to.

[Les Henson]

7 - times I've been to A&E to have grit/metal particles taken out of one of my eyes. When you're laying on your back - there or no googles available that I know of that will stop bits getting in. Last one was a welding spark - even though i had a full face mask on at the time.

Les.

[landmannnn]

Please no more scary stories, it's giving me nightmares.

Seriously, if you type angle grinder death into google you will find over 10,000 hits. A lot of grieving families where they weren't as lucky as you guys.