Besides being regulated by the National Electric Code and Inspectors, electricians must keep safety regulations in mind.  We must continue to be up-dated on safety matters.  Records must be kept on safety meetings and we must have a safety regimen.  Sometimes the reason behind the safety measure is not immediately apparent.

I mentioned previously how I was puzzled about how to use a two foot step ladder when you’re not supposed to stand on the top two steps.  However, I have received injuries due to not strictly obeying safety regulations.

One time I leaned the top of a ladder against an overhead beam.  Though it may have been at the correct angle, the feet of the ladder slipped on the oil slick floor.  I landed flat on my feet.  Boy did the bottoms of my feet hurt.  I went to emergency.  They x-rayed my feet and found I had no broken bones.  The doctor said I should stay off my feet for a week.

I replied; “I can’t stay off my feet for a week.  I’ll lose my business.”  It took about three weeks for my feet to heal.

Another time I was drilling through wood and the drill bit chipped off the edge of a nail and the piece flew into my eye.  I was wearing glasses, but not safety glasses.  The doctor removed the metal shard from my eye with a magnet.  An easy fix, to be sure, but painful.

Previous to that experience, I had been pointing up a chimney on a windy day.  (That’s an expression that indicates the replacement of mortar between bricks which has worn away with time and age.)  I got some sand in my eye.  Sand is what is used to make glass.  It is very uncomfortable in your eye.  And if it gets too deep into your eye socket there is no remediation.

The doctor gave me some salve to ease the pain.  Every year it would work out a ways and I would have to use the salve again.  Eventually it either wore down or fell out.

Safety glasses are a good idea.

Not related to work safety, I have totaled a car and wound up in the hospital with half my teeth, broken ribs and punctured lungs.  I have had a heart attack and a stroke (on the same weekend).  I have had pneumonia a number of times.  I’m not sure how much more abuse my body can take from carelessness.

I can tell more stories about near misses.

Maybe I will.