Bare feet

[China]

I learnt the hard way this morning not to have bare feet even when you think it is safe, went to do a job for a mate, repair to a canvas land rover cover. I sat down in front of the machine and thought I had trod on a prickle, well to keep it short it turned out to be a 65mm x 2mm machine needle, went in 60mm, no I don't have any pics my main concern was that it would not be fun removing it. The upshot was half the day wasted getting a tetnus shot etc.and a very sore foot. So allways wear your shoes.

[RufflyRustic]

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tetanus shots hurt!!!

I do agree though, there is no room for bare feet in my shed. Hope your foot is ok and not throbbing tonight.

[munruben]

Hard way to learn china. Hope it gets better real soon.

[Christos]

Next time when you pull out the little machine needle do not twist it.

Not a good thing to have happen.

[soundman]

You would be surprised how many people expect others to take their shoes off before comming in their house.

I have walked away from a number of jobs because I flat out will not work in bare feet or socks.

I will not step out my door with out shoes on..and i havn't owned a pair of thongs for over 25 years.

Nobody comes in my shed in bare feet.

I friend from the forum came to visit with his 2 kids ( good kids) I had to tell them to get some shoes on their feet or get back in the car.

I was in a local park one day....nearby there was a group of ladies with children playing nearby......one of the mothers then had a realisation and insisted all the children put their shoes back on.....she could see there could be anything in the grass or the sand arround the play equipment..anything from cat $##T to suringes.

as a seperate thaught
A mate of mine went to a school construction site to mount some projectors and speakers.......the class rooms had just been carpeted and the site manager had errected "remove your shoes" signs everywhere and made a point of insisting on the matter.

My friend informed him that neither his insurance or compo would be valid if he or his staff worked without proper footwear and they would not be working without proper footwear.

He told the site foreman to get some legal advice and he would be back 8am the following morning.
low an behold...all the "remove shoes" signs were gone and brand new "safety footwear must be worn" signs were in their place

Ever since I was a kid I have worn shoes most of the time....I can not remember how many times I have seen others with cut feet or stuff imbedded in them.

one of my most vivid memories is in year 5 or 6 of Wayne Cope hopping down the verandah at school with a 6 inch splinter hanging out of his foot.

cheers

[underfoot]

Ever since I was a kid I have worn shoes most of the time....I can not remember how many times I have seen others with cut feet or stuff imbedded in them.

ever since I was a kid I have worn bare feet most of the time, and have no problem with my kids doing the same,
sure, they'll turn up occasionally wanting a splinter picked out,
(doctor dad is no longer required as they are old enough to perform their own surgery )
I see it as just another life lesson, when the splinters and scratches bother them, they'll put on shoes.
In the meantime they're learning to watch where they walk

[petersemple]

I know that I often used to not bother with shoes when I went to do a small task in the garage. It was too much hassle to put them on. I haven't had any major injuries due to this, but a few months ago I bought a pair of elastic sided steel caps and a few pairs of decent work socks. They sit at the entrance to the garage and are quick and easy to slip on - even if I'm only going to be working in there for a few minutes. Even though I hadn't had any accidents in there, I feel a lot safer now. My wife thought I was wasting money at first, but seems to have changed her mind now that she sees that I actually do put them on.

Peter

[wheelinround]

How do you stop from sticking a scribe into your hand then.
I was trying to unblock a CA bottle when the scribe slipped straight into the thumb muscle 10mm+ this was Monday Shoes I was wearing them didn't stop it happening.

My 2 boys both have had nails go through sneakers and not cheap ones. I myself wearing steel cap hobnailed boots have had a nail go through.

Many a person putting on shoes boots etc been bitten by spiders.

I am like Soundman though prefer people wear sensible footwear in the work area.

[Fuzzie]

I wear shoes but it didn't stop me rupturing my achilles tendon when I went over with a cabinet I was working on in the garage, but back to the thread starter...

My wife was making curtains at home a few years ago and having laid them out on the floor kneeling on the ground she was pinning up the hems or some such. She felt a stab in the side of the knee and looked down to see a needle on the floor. Paused for a few seconds before thinking the needle looked short. Tried to convince herself the needle hadn't broken off in the wound but wasn't convincing enough. I'd given her an old speaker magnet to pick up the odd needle and pin that drops to the floor and in a great bit of lateral thinking she waved the magnet over the knee and convinced herself half the needle was still in there. She took herself off to the local clinic and the doc there was skeptical but agreed to an x-ray. Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in GC hospital emergency waiting for a surgeon to do a bit of tricky needle extraction because it was in deep and close to the joint. She was finally operated on at about 1am in the morning and allowed to come home.

[soundman]

sorry I'll not have a bit of the barefoot cop out.

the single easiest safety thing you can do is put shoes on..it is soo easy.

So having a 4" cut across the sole of the foot is a life lesson for a 10 year old....been there saw it......she was lucky it missed the large blood vessels and no tendon damage.....we were over an hour from town.

I supose a dose of HIV or hepatitus is a life lesson......guess who hangs arround in the park after dark....and they don't care about where their suringes go.....there have been cases in one of the local park...... a series of blood tests and a couple of months not knowing if you are going to have a life long desease, I supose is a life lesson both for the mother and the chld

then there are the sick bastards who intentionaly put rasor blades and stuff in kids playgrounds and broken bottles nasty bits poking up in swimming holes.

I've been the one who pulled the broken glass out of a swimming hole when a young mate was cut.....the other boys were making fun of me just before when I was swimming in sneakers.

There is so much nasty stuff lying arround on the ground these days...and if it isn't just sitting there on the surface, you wont know about it till its too late.

You can sprout all the typical it wont stop this or that safety cop outs... but that is all they are, cop puts....the simplest and most effective thing you can do to prevent injury to a child is to put shoes on their feet.

as for the workshop.
Another bloke I know, went down to his shed to get something in bare feet.....triped and stumbled on the way to the light switch....and kicked an oil can...the spout went into his foot an inch or two,between his big and second toe.....well in the time it took to get to the hospital and be seen his foot had swolen up like a football.....oil can spouts are covered in all sorts of rubbish......very serious and painfull situation...if there would have been a delay in seeking attention, he may have lost his foot.

Its a bit hard to walk for help when your foot is buggered.

cheers

[China]

soundman, I couldn't agree more, in my situation is was just a bit of lazyness could not be bothered to go and put my shoes on and learnt the hard way. I note the comment about abrasives at the bottom of your post. A few years ago I was using a wet diamond saw to cut an opening for a air con, the ladder I was on broke and I hit the floor although I released the switch the blade did not have any form of brake ended up burning a groove in the front of my upper leg about 1/8" deep and 4" long. It was one of the most painful injuries I've ever had, it took three months to come good

[Carry Pine]

I have a lovely little booklet that was put together by an old gentleman about a 1 teacher school at Tulimbah (near Wollongong) in the 1940's (there's a housing development there now). He tells how the kids hated to wear shoes and only wore them to church- and then with the laces undone. They were prepared to walk through cow sh%$, over pebbles, hot roads, anything.
A footnote tells about one girl who trod on something, developed tetanus and died.

Moral: well you can work it out. Great fun but be prepared for when someone gets hurt.

Graham

[wheelinround]

I have a lovely little booklet that was put together by an old gentleman about a 1 teacher school at Tulimbah (near Wollongong) in the 1940's (there's a housing development there now). He tells how the kids hated to wear shoes and only wore them to church- and then with the laces undone. They were prepared to walk through cow sh%$, over pebbles, hot roads, anything.
A footnote tells about one girl who trod on something, developed tetanus and died.

Moral: well you can work it out. Great fun but be prepared for when someone gets hurt.

Graham

LOML did her Primary school history book many years ago, going through records of past headmasters on children the same sort of thing, being a market garden area. Many notable and now prominent names were amongst those. Two major Bus company owners, a major Ford dealer with feathers, a former Lord Mayor and state politician.

[nihilism]

I'm lazy and most of the time don't bother putting shoes on while working at home, usually wear thongs in the shed and outside. Haven't had a foot injury yet but know it's my own fault if i do.
At work is another story as most of my work is in construction. Always wear steel caps. I have also seen builders insist shoes are taken off when entering areas with new carpet but i always refuse to do so for safety reasons.

[Chris Parks]

I am one who never wears shoes anywhere I don't have to and that includes my own workshop, my decision and I wear the results if anything happens. It comes from a childhood spent in boats and only one pair of shoes to wear to school. Yes, I get the odd bit of metal in them but touch wood I have never had a serious injury to my feet whilst bare foot. The only injury I had was a large cut requiring five stitches and that was a piece of glass that went through a pair of sandshoes while I was walking down a creek. We had to wear them to protect our feet as it was a scout hike and protective foot wear was required. I do not try and preach to others the benefits of being barefoot so I don't expect others to preach to me.