Sad woodturning death.

[GBF]

I have just returned from Demonstrating off centre turning in our https://www.burnham-on-sea-wtc.co.uk/ and the most important thing I was trying hard to get over to Members was that it is quite safe as long as you take care. If you dont and you get a finger between the wood and the rest you could easily lose a finger.
I do not believe Woodturning is dangerous as long as you make safety your priority


Regards George

[BrianH]

I'm with you on that Paul. The one safe assumption is that this unfortunate chap thought what he was doing was safe. Perhaps he had done similar things dozens, or even hundreds, of times before. The best thing that we, the turning comunitee, can do in his memory is to open our eyes and look again at each and every action and technique we rely on and TRY to find things which could take us by surprise.
Condolences to his family and friends
Brian

[Bill21]

One thing that occurs to me, was would something like this be fatal if the operator had been wearing a full face shield? I admit that for small stuff, particularly spindle turning I rarely wear one. For larger stuff like bowls I normally do. I currently use a Honeywell Bionic with Anti Mist Polycarbonate Visor.

Perhaps all turners should be encouraged to wear a good quality face shield as a matter of course?

[Twisted Trees]

Perhaps all turners should be encouraged to wear a good quality face shield as a matter of course?

Yes they should, and not only know where to stand when turning the lathe on but actually standing there!

[BrianH]

I gave a taster session to a potential Newby in the week and, during the safety briefing a new thought arrived. I think most of us have assumed this chap was hit by a piece of timber but how often do you see turners, even demonstrators, leave a chuck key in situ?
An airborne chuck key would be far more lethal than any piece of wood.
 More food for thought.......
Brian

[Paul Hannaby]

Nobody assumed - the press report & coroner more or less stated that.

I disagree with your statement that a chuck key would be more lethal. The degree of lethality would be related to the kinetic energy of the "projectile" and that is calculated as 1/2 m v² . The mass of a large-ish blank would be much greater than a chuck key and the velocity of the blank is likely to be higher than the chuck key too because it has probably come loose at the full speed the lathe was set to, whereas the chuck key will probably be expelled from the chuck long before the lathe spins up to full speed. So the piece of wood would have much greater kinetic energy and would cause greater damage on impact. Both have the potential to cause injury but I think we should keep our feet on the ground here and base any advice on fact.

Back in my school days, there was a chuck key embedded in one of the ceiling tiles in the metalwork shop. Someone left the chuck key in the lathe and that's where it ended up when the machine was turned on. It was left there as a reminder to the rest of us!. Having seen the result, I can say that the chuck key made a small hole in the ceiling tile and remained stuck in it. A large piece of wood would have probably destroyed the tile as they were made of fibre board or something like that.

[Mike313]

I have followed this sad story with interest.

Regarding the accident itself, I only know what I've read in the media, so I cannot speculate on any of the circumstances surrounding it. Given that this poor chap was killed in what seems to have been a workplace accident, would it be normal for the HSE to do an investigation and compile a detailed report? Perhaps, in the future, this report might be available so that others can learn whatever lessons can be drawn from the tragic circumstances.

As a aside, this is not a comment on the above, I am a relative beginner in woodturning. One of the best pieces of advice I got (on here) was to include for PPE in my initial budget. For PPE, I have various safety glasses, goggles and dust masks that I use for 'ordinary' woodwork and DIY. For woodturning, I decided to bite the bullet and bought a Trend Airshield respirator which gives a good level of head protection with the 'helmet' and visor. I always wear it whilst turning. Always.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Reading from the link posted here it sounds as if he was turning a segmented ring made from large blocks. With the extremely cold weather we have had recently there is every chance that his glue was frosted after being left in an unheated workshop. Frosting affects the integrity of glues and may well have been a contributing factor in this accident.
        As with all trades and crafts, accidents do happen regardless of skill level or how long you have been doing the job. All we can do is try to reduce the risks as much as possible but who knows what is inside of a piece of wood that has grown rather than being manufactured? At one time if you wanted to use wood cutting machinery you had to do a course these days anyone can go and buy a machine and start using it, no wonder there are accidents. And just because a person is experienced on one particular machine does not mean they are any good on a different one.

[Paul Hannaby]

I decided to bite the bullet and bought a Trend Airshield respirator which gives a good level of head protection with the 'helmet' and visor. I always wear it whilst turning. Always.

The Trend airshield respirator body (what you referred to as a helmet) has no impact rating, it's just a box to hold the fan, electrics etc. One person who was injured wearing one of those had a fractured skull and the piece of wood went straight through the respirator body above the visor. The visor offers protection and the dust filtration is high enough but it doesn't offer anything more.

[Bill21]

The Trend airshield respirator body (what you referred to as a helmet) has no impact rating, it's just a box to hold the fan, electrics etc. One person who was injured wearing one of those had a fractured skull and the piece of wood went straight through the respirator body above the visor. The visor offers protection and the dust filtration is high enough but it doesn't offer anything more.

It says on the Trend website “Eye protection BS EN 166:2002 (Medium Energy Impact)”

I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. It’s very difficult to get an exact specification for these sort of items.

I’ve always liked the look of the Powermatic Lathes but thought the safety cage was a bit OTT. Maybe not if you turn large segmented stuff. 

[seventhdevil]

The Trend airshield respirator body (what you referred to as a helmet) has no impact rating, it's just a box to hold the fan, electrics etc. One person who was injured wearing one of those had a fractured skull and the piece of wood went straight through the respirator body above the visor. The visor offers protection and the dust filtration is high enough but it doesn't offer anything more.

It says on the Trend website “Eye protection BS EN 166:2002 (Medium Energy Impact)”

I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. It’s very difficult to get an exact specification for these sort of items.

I’ve always liked the look of the Powermatic Lathes but thought the safety cage was a bit OTT. Maybe not if you turn large segmented stuff. 

the first thing i did when i bought my 3520B was remove the cage.

[Paul Hannaby]

It says on the Trend website “Eye protection BS EN 166:2002 (Medium Energy Impact)”

I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. It’s very difficult to get an exact specification for these sort of items.

No specification is quoted because the visor shell doesn't meet any.

BS EN 166 is the European standard for the visor. Medium impact is EN 166: B (which will be engraved on the visor somewhere - possibly with a whole string of letters and numbers that relate to the other properties of the visor such as optical clarity, protection against hot/molten metals etc.).

BS EN 166 is just the rating for the visor, nothing else. A hard hat would have its own separate applicable standard. The JSP powercap IP quotes EN812 which is a bump cap rating. Hard hats are BS EN 397.

Then you have the standard for the dust protection which is EN12941.

To throw another spanner in the works - the visors have a limited shelf life because they degrade over time due to UV exposure, chemicals etc. I use the Honeywell Bionic visors and the manufacturer's quoted shelf life for the visors is 2 years so I replace mine every 2 years. How many people with respirators replace the visors at the prescribed interval?

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

It says on the Trend website “Eye protection BS EN 166:2002 (Medium Energy Impact)”

I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. It’s very difficult to get an exact specification for these sort of items.

No specification is quoted because the visor shell doesn't meet any.

BS EN 166 is the European standard for the visor. Medium impact is EN 166: B (which will be engraved on the visor somewhere - possibly with a whole string of letters and numbers that relate to the other properties of the visor such as optical clarity, protection against hot/molten metals etc.).

BS EN 166 is just the rating for the visor, nothing else. A hard hat would have its own separate applicable standard. The JSP powercap IP quotes EN812 which is a bump cap rating. Hard hats are BS EN 397.

Then you have the standard for the dust protection which is EN12941.

To throw another spanner in the works - the visors have a limited shelf life because they degrade over time due to UV exposure, chemicals etc. I use the Honeywell Bionic visors and the manufacturer's quoted shelf life for the visors is 2 years so I replace mine every 2 years. How many people with respirators replace the visors at the prescribed interval?

How many people change the filters regularly?