That week I nearly lost a finger on a bad weld prep

Last Tuesday I was prepping a boiler plate for a repair and skipped the usual double-check on my grinder guard. Someone had swapped the wheel out for a worn one that threw a chunk of abrasive right past my hand. I got lucky with just a cut through my glove, but it scared me straight. That same week I saw a guy on site torch a line too close to a hydrant line because he didn't flag it first. We spent two hours fixing the mess and the foreman chewed everyone out for rushing. Has anyone else seen close calls stack up like that when the crew gets in a hurry?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily3941mo ago

Yeah I've seen this pattern more times than I care to count, usually hits hardest when a deadline's breathing down everyone's neck. In my experience the best fix is to build in a mandatory 60 second pause before anyone fires up a grinder or opens a valve, just long enough to catch the obvious stuff. Your glove story is a good reminder that even the little shortcuts can leave permanent marks.

gavin_allen481mo ago

Man, my buddy once skipped checking a pressure gauge and spent a week in the burn unit learning that lesson.