Angle Grinders and Gloves

[Waldo]

Its also not a good idea to use a grinder if you are wearing a tutu as the sparks can be quite dangerous.

G'day,

Besides it's a Code Vilation anyway, unless there's something different in the sheila's Code

[Bleedin Thumb]

G'day,

Besides it's a Code Vilation anyway, unless there's something different in the sheila's Code

Geeez that code can be a bit repressive sometimes can't it.

I bet there's a whole section on taffata!

[Buzza]

Riggers gloves are much better fitting than the cheaper half leather half cotton gloves that tend to flop around. Upright drills and any glaves at all do not mix.

Just this morning Number 1 son told me off for wearing riggers gloves to cut old corrugated iron. He then reached over a freshly cut sheet to take the grinder off me, and I had to tell him how dangerous freshly cut edges of this scalpel sharp stuff is and also full of tetanus and such stuff.

Riggers gloves for me, and I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[soundman]

In my opinion this is one of those overgeneralised and inconsistent view areas.
For example in the US it seems that operating a saw bench in long sleves is a major danger BUT it seems just fine to work without a guard or a riving knife.

No gloves with rotating machinery is a typical over generalisation.

I would not use any sort of glove when hand grinding small parts on a bench grinder or similarly on a wire wheel.

Should you ever wear gloves when using a bench grinder, well I recon in some situations yes.
example..... Boily (boilermaker) grinding burs and daggs of freshly cut large square pieces of large section steel using a 10" 2 hp grinder
I would expect him to be wearing gloves, an apron and full face protection, because the various risks to the hands from heat, sparks and sharp edges is high and the entrapment risk is low particularly if proper work method has been established.

I most certainly wear gloves when using a chain saw.... not always but when I am working with rough material and brush.
Lets see you prune a large boganvillia without gloves

With a chain saw the predominant safety issue with hands is.....

they should both be on the handles...

. I dont think a chain saw would care gloves or no gloves it wants pieces of you and will take them if you put any part of you near the blade.

The most common injuries to boilermakers and related trades are, burns to the hands and metal in the eyes.
If working with metal, hot metal is an ever present risk. the predominating issue is the protection of the hands, body and eyes from hot metal

Besides both hands should be on the grinder while the wheel is rotating.

Proper use of Personal Protective Equipment is a matter of carefull risk assessment and not a mater for gross and often irrelivant generalisations

One of the other major issues of PPE is that it should be fit for purpose and should properly fit the user.

Should you wear glove when using an angle grinder?

If there is a risk of injury to your hands that gloves will protect you from,
Most certainly YES.
Is there a risk of entrapment?
If the gloves are appropriate and fit properly....AND you have both hands on the machine handles/ body while the disk is rotating....very remote.

Safety is not a matter for generalisations.

cheers

[SPIRIT]

try the new gloves at bunnings ironclad l think they are called much better fit than riggers

[Santalum]

In my opinion this is one of those overgeneralised and inconsistent view areas.
For example in the US it seems that operating a saw bench in long sleves is a major danger BUT it seems just fine to work without a guard or a riving knife.

No gloves with rotating machinery is a typical over generalisation.

I would not use any sort of glove when hand grinding small parts on a bench grinder or similarly on a wire wheel.

Should you ever wear gloves when using a bench grinder, well I recon in some situations yes.
example..... Boily (boilermaker) grinding burs and daggs of freshly cut large square pieces of large section steel using a 10" 2 hp grinder
I would expect him to be wearing gloves, an apron and full face protection, because the various risks to the hands from heat, sparks and sharp edges is high and the entrapment risk is low particularly if proper work method has been established.

I most certainly wear gloves when using a chain saw.... not always but when I am working with rough material and brush.
Lets see you prune a large boganvillia without gloves

With a chain saw the predominant safety issue with hands is.....

they should both be on the handles...

. I dont think a chain saw would care gloves or no gloves it wants pieces of you and will take them if you put any part of you near the blade.

The most common injuries to boilermakers and related trades are, burns to the hands and metal in the eyes.
If working with metal, hot metal is an ever present risk. the predominating issue is the protection of the hands, body and eyes from hot metal

Besides both hands should be on the grinder while the wheel is rotating.

Proper use of Personal Protective Equipment is a matter of carefull risk assessment and not a mater for gross and often irrelivant generalisations

One of the other major issues of PPE is that it should be fit for purpose and should properly fit the user.

Should you wear glove when using an angle grinder?

If there is a risk of injury to your hands that gloves will protect you from,
Most certainly YES.
Is there a risk of entrapment?
If the gloves are appropriate and fit properly....AND you have both hands on the machine handles/ body while the disk is rotating....very remote.

Safety is not a matter for generalisations.

cheers

PPE is and always will be a last line of defense and will never compensate for poor work practices,
As a general safety rule I stand by my statement re rotating machinery.
Appropriate use of PPE and safe work practices are not open for negotiation, in my workplace it is mandatory, deviate and pay the price.
Yes I am responsible for and care about the daily safety of a large group of people, and our incident rate is negligible.
Jon.

[journeyman Mick]

Jon,
just wondering what sort of industry you're in? Whilst generally I don't like wearing gloves at all, especially when using any form of tool there are exceptions. If using an angle grinder on steel for any more than a quick cut I'd want a glove on my right hand (trigger hand). I'm not really fond of getting burnt or having steel splinters embed themselves in my fingers. If using a wire buff on an angle grinder I'd definitely wear gloves on both hands, I've had to use pliers to remove wires from my leg after using a buff (ouch! ). Like Soundman says, generalisations aren't helpful. Lots of workplaces have blanket safety rules because they assume (sometimes correctly) that their workers won't take the proper steps to protect themselves. So in your workplace, would you give someone the boot for wearing gloves whilst using an angle grinder for either of the two operations I've mentioned? Personally I use my own judgement to assess risk, plan work practice and judge what types of PPE are appropriate. I'm sorry, but I just don't trust anyone else to decide what is safe for me.

Mick

[Rodt68]

You are in the minute minority there Mick.

I had a guy say to me the other day that he doesn't need to wear a face shield while using an angle grinder on the side of a bridge because he holds his head to one side while he grinds (at head height and above).

He could prove that this was a great control measure because he had never been hurt before. I asked if he has ever heard of anyone getting hurt with grinders because of sparks. He said yes but it was their fault because they were idiots.

If you operate grinders the way they are supposed to be operated safely an appropriate glove will never drag a finger in IMHO.

Different equipment has different hazards and it is usually complacency ("I have never been hurt before") and indifferent attitudes that leads to injury or worse.

Sorry about the safety rant. The years of seeing injuries and incidents from stupid things such as incorrect PPE (if using at all) have jaded me to people's perceptions on this stuff.

Thank god it is Friday

Cheers

Rod

[Bleedin Thumb]

Even if your glove was to touch your wheel I doubt that it would get caught. - I'm assuming hand held grinder with cut off wheel. Even a bench grinder with a stone I find it hard to imagine that wearing a glove would be more dangerous than not wearing one.

I'd rather hit a wheel or stone with some leather on that with my bare skin, not to mention protection from sparks.

Come to think of it any small bit of machinery is going to do you more damage if it hits you without gloves than with. If you go up to a larger machine that has the power to grab you and pull you into itself well thats a different matter.

[BobL]

RE; Even if your glove was to touch your wheel I doubt that it would get caught.

If you use gloves with a "naked" grinding wheel the chances of getting it caught are I agree very low. The problem is when gloves get caught between wheels and guards. I've seen idiots not caring if gloves touch wheels so they can get in even closer to a wheel to do what they want to do. When the slip, as they invariably do, if the glove gets jammed between the piece, wheel and guard it has not been a pretty sight!

[Master Splinter]

When it comes to bench grinders (as a grinder, wire wheel or buffer), if I'm doing something that makes me think about putting gloves on, I take that as a hint that I'm doing it wrong and need to re-think what I'm doing.

I got myself a few of the cheap pairs of locking pliers and I keep them located at the bench grinder. Instead of reaching for gloves, I reach for the pliers to hold things.

[joe greiner]

Instead of reaching for gloves, I reach for the pliers to hold things.

You bet. Small things get really warm really fast.

Joe

[journeyman Mick]

I've said it before and I'll say it again now, I reckon the most important safety equipment is the stuff between your ears. Understanding the process and the risks allows you to make an informed decision on how best to safely complete an operation. In most power tool operations gloves aren't appropriate but the risk of burns and splinters needs to be weighed against the risk of getting a glove jammed in between the guard and wheel. I believe the risk of getting burns or steel splinters much higher than the other risk and work accordingly.

Mick (who in years of trade work with dangerous spinning bitey things has used less than a packet of band aids)

[Article99]

You bet. Small things get really warm really fast.

Joe

Don't press so hard onto the wheel, mate. Take your time and traverse the job across the face with a light pressure. Heat will still be generated, but much slower and it may even settle down to a warm bit of metal, rather than a scolding piece of metal.

[soundman]

Unfortunately workplace health and safety is an area where there is far to much mis-information, old outdated methods(that were never safe), management politics and gross overreaction.

In the situation of over reaction there are a number of work places that have tried to ban all sharp and/or pointy things. One bloke I spoke to last week said that because ONE idiot stabed homself is the leg because of blatantly stupid and dangerous practise, all stanley knives have been banned from use by his technicians (by high level management).


On the matter of entrapment hazards.....most of these risks should be able to be minimised.
Either gaps should be opened up or closed up to minimise the risk. on a bench grinder this means keeping your tool rest properly adjusted with minimal clearance.

I am constantly amazed at the various " safety" devices offered for the table saw. most of them would certainly be illegal in an industrial setting in europe and probaly here.......
Anybody that sprouts any sort of safety method or device but does not use a blade guard on a table saw except for minimal special operations in my has no credibility at all in my opinion.

There is still a whole range of outdated " safety procedures" STILL being given credance, procedures that were nothong more than lip service procedures to placate workers under unsafe conditions.
Other commonly held views evolved due to acceptance of persistant unsafe methods.....those views and safety provcedures become redundant when the unsafe situation is removed or better dealt with.

Typical is the matter of exposed rotating machinery, drive shafts and belts.
There would have been a whole culture concerning exposed drives early to mid last century...... those matters should now be almost redundant as exposed drives are considered almost universaly unacceptable.

There are also WHS practicioners in workplaces who most certainly do not know their stuff as well as they should. Particularly when it comes to the more technical issues like hearing protection, radiation and poisons exposure.

We all need to be careful about the sources and adequacy of WHS advice and information. Afterall we are all responsible for our own safety.
We need to be looking at and for the risks, and we need to be asking how and why. And specificaly where and what is the greatest risk.
For a heavy metal worker hot metal is an ever present and unavoidable part of the work, so that is the predominating risk.
Grinding is "hot work", sorry it cant be done cold or even warm in most cases.

enough for now .

cheers