Your contingency

[weisyboy]

oh i wasnt home i was doing a whippersnipping job on a poroperty over the hill. we dont have tiger snakes over this side.

and just for the record things never go smoothly

[funkychicken]

The only time I've had to be bandaged up was at work when I dropped a 40ishkg block of timber on two fingers, crushing them. For a moment I actually thought, "Should I bother the boss or keep working." I decided to interrupt the boss from his lucas milling and he patched my fingers up. I then kept working

At school I've stabbed my hands with chisels a few times. Wrap it in a rag and don't tell the teacher is my motto

The worst woodworking injury I've had may have been when I cut my finger on the schools bandsaw. Thought it to deep to not tell the teacher this time.

Usually If I get a splinter or cut I just keep on working

[Berlin]

Mmm... I shortened my left middle finger a good bit on the jointer years ago. I was at work on a sunday. All the other sheds were empty, so I just stood there for a minute or two looking at the gore because my hands were too shaky to operate the tiny keys on the mobile. Finally I realised there was a drug dealer selling speed around the back of my shed and got him to call the ambulance for me... he took off pretty quick when the cops came too.

Since then I try to work only when there are other people I can get hold of quickly and I am hyper conscious of safety, prevention being the best cure.

If you do enough wood work your chances of an injury will be quite high because it's impossible to hedge against every contingency. The two main risk groups I think, though, are the young and inexperienced (no shame in that) and the old and complacent. Getting to the point where you think you know your tools so well that you can take the guards off or tape up double triggers... well you've kind of got what's coming.

Berlin

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Like many, I work alone in my shed most of the time. I have a first-aid kit and I'm a dab hand with tweezers (well a sharpened nail, anyway) and band-aids (read: duct tape ), but beyond that I rely heavily on providence for any serious injuries.

If I can drag myself to the house, I'll be OK. If not, well Mort will have seriously gouged eye-sockets and do the rest of his rounds with a waddle after trying to harvest this little black soul!

I do appreciate an able visitor who can assist, someone who knows their way around a shed and machinery, but can't put off my work until such a person just happens to drop in. Although, being an inherently lazy buggar, I try.

Enthusiastic unskilled visitors are much more common, but they increase the risks and reduce productivity as I spend more time shepherding them around than actually working. (Although I do enjoy the chance to swap BS. )

It'd be nice if I had a regular visitor of the first type who was also a 1st-aider, but it'd also be nice if I won Div1 Tattslotto. Besides, then the question becomes "what happens if the 1st-aider has a serious accident?" I seriously doubt they'd appreciate my tender ministrations... (Sharp nail and duct tape won't do? How about the back of an axe-head just there between the eyes? )

[weisyboy]

It'd be nice if I had a regular visitor of the first type who was also a 1st-aider, but it'd also be nice if I won Div1 Tattslotto. Besides, then the question becomes "what happens if the 1st-aider has a serious accident?" I seriously doubt they'd appreciate my tender ministrations... (Sharp nail and duct tape won't do? How about the back of an axe-head just there between the eyes? )

na mate ya gotta use teh front

supa glue is great for sealing wounds also.

[son_of_bluegras]

I have thought of this alot. Most of the time, I'm in my shop alone and no one is near if something goes bad. My cell phone has spotty reception at best there.
So if something happens and it's minor I can handle it, have done so before.
If something major happens I've decided I've got 3 options.
1- Deal with it myself.
2- Get lucky and someone stops by.
3- Die.

That's the way it is in my world.

ron

[Woodwould]

I normally email TBO every twenty minutes or so - even if it's only to say something stupid like "you're quiet!". That way TBO knows I'm OK. If she doesn't hear from me for half an hour, she makes a point of emailing me.

I spend quite a bit of time in bed, so I sometimes don't respond to these emails from TBO and if I don't respond within a further fifteen minutes, she will phone me to see if I'm in bed and OK, or if something else has occurred. If I don't answer the phone, TBO immediately calls the Ambos/Police.

Now that I've got my new shed, everything has moved up a gear. I let TBO know my proposed itinerary for the day and if I'm out in the shed, then I have to call TBO on the cordless every fifteen to twenty minutes and let the phone ring twice before hanging up.

If I have to go to bed, I call and let her know and conversely, I'll call her to let her know if I'm getting up again etc. etc. It's a PITA (more so for TBO), but it's kept me out of the pine box to-date and it reduces TBO's concern and stress while she's at work.

[Sturdee]

It's a PITA (more so for TBO), but it's kept me out of the pine box to-date and it reduces TBO's concern and stress while she's at work.

If that works for you and allows you to do some work in your shed then it's great.


Peter.

[Tex B]

Guess I'm lucky. My shed is our garage that opens a meter or so from a street with very light traffic but lots of foot traffic. I make a point of smiling at everyone that passes. So as long as I can manage to crawl out to the street, someone will come along in a minute, and hopefully remembered that I smiled at them.

And, like Blanche Dubois, I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.

But usually have the mobile phone with me as well, and am only a few minutes from Royal North Shore hospital. Urban living does have some advantages (besides walking down the street to a host of great shops and restaurants).

Tex