Anti-safety Handymen/women: These are their stories (1 Viewer)

[Captain Cranks]

I'm pretty horrible at taking safety precautions for yardwork and home projects. That's led to some 'accidents' over the years.

1. I like to pressure wash the driveway in bare feet. No imagination necessary to guess how that ends. I have a scar on my big toe to prove my smarts.

2. I like to chisel cracked travertine tiles without ear plugs. That's led to significantly worse hearing and a profound sensitivity to similar hammer-on-metal sounds in my right ear. Unbalanced hearing is exactly what this wannabe audiophile hopes for.

What are your stories?

 

[Joe Schmo]

When painting a bedroom I put the gallon paint can on the top of the ladder while I stood on the bottom rung so my beer gut could neatly knock over said paint can. Fortunately the sheet I used as a floor cover soaked up a lot of the paint but when I threw the gloopy sheet out the window into the yard(didn't want to traipse through the house with it) it splattered some paint on the siding. She never lets me forget that one.

 

[ChiefD]

Back when I was actively remodeling we were gutting this old house. I was there by myself and the house was pretty much stripped except this old kitchen light fixture. Basically a metal, single bulb fixture. The electricial wire was hanging down.

Instead of walking 5' to grab the ladder I decided to just pull the fixture by the electrical wire. The fixture came off - directly back at me and hit me in the yap. Had a nice cut on my upper lip that probably needed stitches.

15 years later I have a nice little scar.

 

[AAABatteries]

I'm pretty horrible at taking safety precautions for yardwork and home projects. That's led to some 'accidents' over the years.

1. I like to pressure wash the driveway in bare feet. No imagination necessary to guess how that ends. I have a scar on my big toe to prove my smarts.

2. I like to chisel cracked travertine tiles without ear plugs. That's led to significantly worse hearing and a profound sensitivity to similar hammer-on-metal sounds in my right ear. Unbalanced hearing is exactly what this wannabe audiophile hopes for.

What are your stories?

Why do you like to pressure wash barefooted?

 

[Zow]

I appreciate that this thread confirms my indefinite decision to just work more hours at my real job and pay a professional to do handyman stuff.

Although, funny story, my kids (ages 5-7), all make funny comments about the "same man" being at my house when I'm at work.

 

[ChiefD]

Was doing some trim work around some windows we were installing. Due to an irregular fit I had to trim some sheetrock along the bottom edge so the trim would lay flat on the windowsill.

Took my utility knife and stupidly cut backward towards my other hand, which was resting on the sill. Took a nice clean 2" slice from the base of my thumb toward my wrist. 8 stitches later good as new. Nice scar for that one also.

 

[ChiefD]

I'm pretty horrible at taking safety precautions for yardwork and home projects. That's led to some 'accidents' over the years.

1. I like to pressure wash the driveway in bare feet. No imagination necessary to guess how that ends. I have a scar on my big toe to prove my smarts.

2. I like to chisel cracked travertine tiles without ear plugs. That's led to significantly worse hearing and a profound sensitivity to similar hammer-on-metal sounds in my right ear. Unbalanced hearing is exactly what this wannabe audiophile hopes for.

What are your stories?

Why do you like to pressure wash barefooted?

He likes the hose on his toes?

That one time?

 

[mr. furley]

apparently i like to use really old tools that someone in our family insists i use because they were her grandfather's and he used to use them. sure, they were 70-90 years old, but he used them 40-50 years ago so i should too.

then after swinging the hammer once and having the head fall off and the handle splinter, i get an earful for breaking tools that were just fine before i touched them.

that shovel that got pushed in to the grass one time, then snapped like a twig when trying to scoop out some pretty soft dirt... my fault. the handle subsequently broke off when i tossed it to the ground because i was being aggressive with it.

and that saw that had literal teeth missing, that was my fault before i even touched it.

so, i guess, using old tools is my anti-safety tip.

 

[the moops]

Although, funny story, my kids (ages 5-7), all make funny comments about the "same man" being at my house when I'm at work.

He's banging your wife. Sorry

 

[Captain Cranks]

Why do you like to pressure wash barefooted?

You obviously don't know the rush from blasting your toe with a 3000 gpm stream of water.

That and I don't like the feeling of dirty, soggy shoes. Bloody, throbbing toe is much better.

 

[belljr]

Not sure if it's anti safety but I was chopping a tree down in the back yard. This was before I bought a chainsaw, was hatcheting a root, tried to hit it the opposite way with opposite hand, missed and sliced my leg

 

[belljr]

So this is anti safety. Before I bought my extension ladder, my house has a split level roof, single story over garage part of living room.

When I needed to go up on the second story, I'd climb my 12 footer carrying an 8 footer Climb onto the single story, set the second ladder up with both legs straddling the peak of the first story, to climb up on the second story

 

[belljr]

Why do you like to pressure wash barefooted?

You obviously don't know the rush from blasting your toe with a 3000 gpm stream of water.

That and I don't like the feeling of dirty, soggy shoes. Bloody, throbbing toe is much better.

Why not wear flip flops.......

 

[Captain Cranks]

So this is anti safety. Before I bought my extension ladder, my house has a split level roof, single story over garage part of living room.

When I needed to go up on the second story, I'd climb my 12 footer carrying an 8 footer Climb onto the single story, set the second ladder up with both legs straddling the peak of the first story, to climb up on the second story

I approve.

 

[Zow]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

 

[belljr]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

Why would I hire a guy to go remove debris from my gutter guards.....don't be ridiculous

 

[Captain Cranks]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

That's just not how I'm built. As long as I can do it, I will do it. Money (and safety) is irrelevant. My dad and grandfather were the same way.

I actually find lawn care and pressure washing to be therapeutic. At least until I'm scrambling to stop the bleeding.

 

[ChiefD]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

Yeah, cause they are safe.

 

[massraider]

Pretty much every dude in my family can build you a house if you give him a hammer and a skill saw. Not me.
I worked with them summers and such.
Once put a spike through my thumb with a nailgun.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Changing a light fixture in the kitchen many years ago and just cut the power at the switch. The old man walks in the kitchen grumbling about why the lights are off and flips the switch juuuust as I'm twisting up the hot pair. Got blown right off the ladder. Or at least felt like I did. Might have been a reaction to the searing pain. Who knows. Good thing is 17 year olds have rubber bones so nothing broken. But my wife never quite understands why I turn off breakers when working on circuits and don't allow anyone else to flip them for me.

 

[mr. furley]

Not sure if it's anti safety but I was chopping a tree down in the back yard. This was before I bought a chainsaw, was hatcheting a root, tried to hit it the opposite way with opposite hand, missed and sliced my leg

was probably around 13-14 years old when i ran across a friend while out and about. he was supposed to be meeting up with a friend of his and told me to come with.. why not.

went to a sort of woody area behind some stores to meet up with the other kid who kid was there just.... chopping trees randomly with an ax. i knew that dude to be an idiot so i left after a few minutes.

later that day i found out that idiot chopped his own leg with the ax. bad. "will or will not he lose his leg" bad. didn't even have to be there to learn how to properly handle an ax from there on.

 

[mr. furley]

So this is anti safety. Before I bought my extension ladder, my house has a split level roof, single story over garage part of living room.

When I needed to go up on the second story, I'd climb my 12 footer carrying an 8 footer Climb onto the single story, set the second ladder up with both legs straddling the peak of the first story, to climb up on the second story

summer after we moved in to this place i went out and climbed a tree in our yard to saw some dead limbs. ladder couldn't reach it so after i got as high as that would take me i scaled the tree and started leaning to reach some branches.

neighbor who i hadn't spoken to previously shouted over from his yard "i'm an EMT qualified to handle life saving emergencies if you need me".

it's then when i climbed down and left the dead branches to nature.

 

[Dezbelief]

One of my cousins was an electrician's helper for a couple summers, so he figured he was qualified to rewire an old farm house he had moved into. Fast-forward a few years, the main ground wire comes loose, the house catches fire and is a complete loss.


I was helping a volunteer fireman who was adding a carport onto his shop. It's summer, the grass is tall and dry. I ask him if he wants to cut the grass or water it down as he's getting the welder setup, neither. He didn't get through the first weld before we had a fire go from his shop to his house and halfway around. Fun times.

 

[brun]

Have a scar on my left thumb about 1 & a half inches long.
When I was around 20 I was opening a paint can with a screwdriver. Screwdriver slipped.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Let’s see…

Cutting aluminum with a razor - sliced off the tip of my right pointer finger. Im still shocked at how most of it grew back.

One time I was spraying killz on the bottom exposed wood framing and got too close to the gas water heater. Everywhere I had just sprayed which amounted to half of the basement ignited. I almost crapped my pants and ran out of the house to grab some water and when I came back everything was out. It was just the paint fumes.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

So this is anti safety. Before I bought my extension ladder, my house has a split level roof, single story over garage part of living room.

When I needed to go up on the second story, I'd climb my 12 footer carrying an 8 footer Climb onto the single story, set the second ladder up with both legs straddling the peak of the first story, to climb up on the second story

summer after we moved in to this place i went out and climbed a tree in our yard to saw some dead limbs. ladder couldn't reach it so after i got as high as that would take me i scaled the tree and started leaning to reach some branches.

neighbor who i hadn't spoken to previously shouted over from his yard "i'm an EMT qualified to handle life saving emergencies if you need me".

it's then when i climbed down and left the dead branches to nature.

16’ Pole saw!

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

This was a first and last…

About a month ago I was winding up the still plugged in extension cord. Pulled it until my right hand slid over a small slice of exposed wire and my gripped tightened and at first I was literaly stuck. I had to consciously and forcible pull the wire from my clenched fist.

Scared the **** out of me! Didn’t hurt but I did get a vampire bite on my palm where the current was traveling through my body.

I promptly fixed the extension cord with electrical tape and I no longer wind up hot cords of any kind.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

So this is anti safety. Before I bought my extension ladder, my house has a split level roof, single story over garage part of living room.

When I needed to go up on the second story, I'd climb my 12 footer carrying an 8 footer Climb onto the single story, set the second ladder up with both legs straddling the peak of the first story, to climb up on the second story

Perfectly normal. I have a colonial with a garage so I do the same thing to go from the garage roof to the main roof.

Lol, I leave the 8’ ladder up there folded up and laying against the house so you can’t see it.

 

[Captain Cranks]

I've been pretty good about making the most of my six foot ladder. That includes routine balancing acts on the top piece with a pole saw or pressure washer. So far, so good.

 

[offdee]

apparently i like to use really old tools that someone in our family insists i use because they were her grandfather's and he used to use them. sure, they were 70-90 years old, but he used them 40-50 years ago so i should too.

then after swinging the hammer once and having the head fall off and the handle splinter, i get an earful for breaking tools that were just fine before i touched them.

that shovel that got pushed in to the grass one time, then snapped like a twig when trying to scoop out some pretty soft dirt... my fault. the handle subsequently broke off when i tossed it to the ground because i was being aggressive with it.

and that saw that had literal teeth missing, that was my fault before i even touched it.

so, i guess, using old tools is my anti-safety tip.

Let me guess, your wife was the one that got mad at you?

 

[offdee]

About 5 yrs ago got a new 75" TV and wanted to use my same wall mount I had for my previous 55" TV. The holes just slightly didn't line up, but if I shaved a new notch into one of the metal brackets then it would work. Pull out the Dremel (no safety glasses)..you can probably see where this is going. Sparks and exposed eyes.

Didn't think anything of it, but that night my right eye starts watering uncontrollably and red as a tomato. GF forces me to go to emergency room. With a magnifying lens they see there is a tiny piece of metal in my cornea and it's starting to rust inside my eyeball. Next day go to an eye specialist and they tell me it's all good, they just need to do about 5 appointments worth of numbing my eye and basically use a Dremel like tool (ironic right?) to sand away at the rusting metal piece lodged into my eyeball to try and sand it down so nothing left in there. Again, the doctors and assistants all calm about it... no big deal.

5 appointments later and a bunch of daily medicated eye drops all good, eyesight normal, yada yada. I happen to run into that eye Dr at an art event about a year later and he asks how I'm doing. I tell him all good, no issues. He proceeds to tell me that in the background him and his whole staff were freaking the F out because they assumed I was going to lose a significant amount of sight in that one eye and possibly be blind in that eye altogether from the rust rapidly spreading (think metal submerged in water 24/7 which is what an eyeball basically is).

Needless to say I wear safety glasses a lot more now.

 

[tri-man 47]

Heatgunning old paint on the soffit of my garage. Trying to get the last bit in a corner under the gutter …and something starts smoking. Grab the hose that’s fortunately nearby, but it doesn’t have a nozzle on it, so have to use a finger to force water into the spot. Got the looming fire to stop …but might it be smoldering? The garage is connected to the house, so I can’t take chances. I call the fire dept to come out and check, pleading with them to not come with sirens blazing (and they cooperated). All was well.

 

[bcat01]

I've been pretty good about making the most of my six foot ladder. That includes routine balancing acts on the top piece with a pole saw or pressure washer. So far, so good.

I have an 8 ft step ladder to reach up into my garage attic. I was on the top and stretching to reach something and kicked the ladder out from under me. Luckily I caught myself in the opening instead of falling back first and hitting my head on our cement step.

 

[humpback]

I appreciate that this thread confirms my indefinite decision to just work more hours at my real job and pay a professional to do handyman stuff.

Although, funny story, my kids (ages 5-7), all make funny comments about the "same man" being at my house when I'm at work.

Glad to hear he uses protection.

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

 

[tri-man 47]

Finishing the install of a small pedestal sink in our bathroom …a real pain, with little room to maneuver (even after doing a lot of the work before setting the sink in position). Laying on the floor and using a socket wrench to make endless little turns to tighten a connection above me. Of course, I drop the wrench directly on my forehead. I bandage that up, and finish the work with one pillow under my head for support and another pillow on top of my head to protect against further clumsiness.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Not everyone is good working around tools. Otherwise there would be a lot less bannings here.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

I've been pretty good about making the most of my six foot ladder. That includes routine balancing acts on the top piece with a pole saw or pressure washer. So far, so good.

Rather than just moving the ladder, I prefer leaning over in awkward positions where if the ladder slipped I would impale myself on the neighbors fence. What can I say, gambling is in my blood.

 

[cudjoekey10]

Ha, luckily for me I know my limitations so if it's anything more involved than putting together Ikea furniture or replacing the innards of a toilet I contract it out or have friends come over and help.

My one saving grace is I'm a pretty darn good cook so I can at least hold that over the wife's head.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I've been in construction for 40 years. I've been OSHA-certified through every iteration for decades. Part of my job is writing job-specific safety plans and making sure my guys get home in the same health they showed up in.

I'm also dumb as a box of rocks when I get home when it comes to personal safety. It's a wonder I haven't killed my damned self by some of the stupid crap I've done.

 

[ChiefD]

There are three things I learned while doing construction:

1. When you drop something move your feet out of the way and let it hit the ground

2. Never put both hands in an electrical panel at the same time

 

[Galileo]

Changing a light fixture in the kitchen many years ago and just cut the power at the switch. The old man walks in the kitchen grumbling about why the lights are off and flips the switch juuuust as I'm twisting up the hot pair. Got blown right off the ladder. Or at least felt like I did. Might have been a reaction to the searing pain. Who knows. Good thing is 17 year olds have rubber bones so nothing broken. But my wife never quite understands why I turn off breakers when working on circuits and don't allow anyone else to flip them for me.

Been there, done that, although didn't need the old man to do anything to help. I was changing outlets and switches in an upstairs hallway and was too lazy to go shut off the breaker in the basement. I'll just be really careful with the wires I told myself...

 

[Captain Cranks]

You guys have jogged my memory on a few more.

- Sharpen mower blades with no eyewear.
- Weedeat and edge with no eyewear and sometimes no shoes.
- Just did some sanding yesterday with no mask.

 

[Osaurus]

Mrs. O keeps a "prying stick" handy in case she needs to break the current running through me from something electrical. I have only had one issue with a GFCI outlet that shocked the #### out of me. No prying stick was necessary. I am usually pretty good, but things happen.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I was cutting a groove in some 1x2 trim using the dado blades on my table saw in the garage. Kickback shot a 24 inch piece out my garage door across the alley and broke a plank in my neighbors fence 25 feet away. Good thing I was standing to the side rather than directly behind the blade and there were no cars or people in the path of that deadly projectile.

 

[E Street Brat]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

Yeah, cause they are safe.

They wear condoms when banging your wife?

 

[Zow]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

Why would I hire a guy to go remove debris from my gutter guards.....don't be ridiculous

Because if you had paid somebody else to do it and maximized your free time, you could go play golf and maybe sniff something with a 7 in front of it again.

 

[Zow]

Guys there are, get this, people you can hire for a reasonable price that are good at these things and do them safely...

Yeah, cause they are safe.

They wear condoms when banging your wife?

He seems like a safe guy so I assume so.

 

[Osaurus]

I have a fun one from when I was a stupid teenager. I lived in Milwaukee and had a lot of lawn to mow so I decided to put the deck on the mower as low as it could go to minimize the number of times I had to mow. Like I said, I was a stupid teenager so I wasn't paying attention and went right over the water shut off cap. I am sure many of you still have the old school ductile iron caps for water or a clean out around your house. They are solid and costly. Not only did I bust the mower, I also cracked the metal cap in half and part of it flew at about 100 mph towards my neighbor's house across the street. It fell short of their picture window by about 2 feet. Naturally the city had to come out and replace it. It was like $175 at the time.

Now that I think about it, I used to grind up outdoor extension cords with the snowblower a lot when I was younger too. Good times.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

There are three things I learned while doing construction:

1. When you drop something move your feet out of the way and let it hit the ground

2. Never put both hands in an electrical panel at the same time

3. Never finish anything completely

 

[ChiefD]

There are three things I learned while doing construction:

1. When you drop something move your feet out of the way and let it hit the ground

2. Never put both hands in an electrical panel at the same time

3. Never finish anything completely

Oh, I forgot the third.

3. Always wear a hard hat