Goggles, lads, goggles!

[dasadrew]

Many years ago I was using an angle grinder on my old Ford Escort and, despite having protective goggles on, I got some grit in my eye which seemed to have come through the ventilation holes. This entailed a trip to the surgery and some rather unpleasnat fishing about in the eye with tweezers as the grit had become embedded in the surface.

At about the same time, after doingf some wirebrushing with a drill, my forarm seemed sore. Later that evening I pulled out a half inch spiral wire off of the wirebrush which had driven itself like a corkscrew completely into the fleshy bit of my forearm. The connection between that and my eye incident changed my life!

Since then, I have been a fanatic goggle wearer. I always have new goggles in a box in the garage, and anyone who sticks their nose in whilst I'm doing any sanding or whatever gets a pair to put on.

A week ago I had finished sanding back the rear valance flanges and took the goggles off for a look. Everything was fine, so I took the air line and just blew off the "dust". Due to an internal angle, I managed to get a faceful of said dust.

Needless to say, after a day or two of pretty sore eyes, I had to go to the opthalmic surgeon yesterday who, after using a local anaesthetic, fished out some metal slivers from both eye surfaces.

I can't emphasise enough to you guys (& girls) the ABSOLUTE IMPORTANCE of wearing goggles whilst your sanding, spraying or doing virtually anything on your car.

Plastic goggles are so cheap, it's not "sissy" and it will save you a visit to casualty at the best and maybe your sight at the worst.

Keep safe!

Drew

[XFSTag]

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Totally agreed withDrew I even wear saftely glasses round the garden since bending down to pick something up and having a small stick from a plant bodge me in the eye which was not easily visable as it was near vertical! Horrible pain and visit to the specialist to get it sorted.

Good advice

Cheers

Glyn

[GDPR]

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I wear glasses which I have to say makes me pretty complacent about wearing eye protection, as I take the view I'm already wearing some...... however, Drew is absolutely spot on about this, and I really will try to remind myself not to be a dick, and wear goggles when I'm playing with dangerous things......

[dasadrew]

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Just to underline it all, my first "incident" years ago was whilst I was wearing glasses AND goggles over them!

[Stagdad]

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Good call Drew ,I have1 trip to the hospital with rusty metal in my eye under my belt,I don't want to make it 2.It took 3 days for the metal fragments to rust in my eye, before they rusted i didn't know they were there then suddenly whilst I was on a long motorwaytrip my eye just started to water to the extent that I couldn't drive,not good.

Cheers Steve

[Guest]

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Glad you're ok Drew. I'm complacent when it comes to wearing toetector boots at work!!! I'll get caught out one day

Jason

[deanoed]

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Hi guys I too have suffered years ago I was cutting an exhaust off with a welding torch and no goggles and it splattered i thought I had a bit of gritt in my eye untill later on that night any light was really painful went to A&E where they said I had a bit of metal lodged in my eye I was taken to moorfeilds eye hospital and they could only remove some of it and was very concerned but all was ok and it's still in there now.I sill never learnt my lesson and have had arc eye twice but that was in my younger days I now use goggles all the time or a face sheild

[pcoleman]

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yep same here,many years ago sanding the side of a hillman hunter,metal in eye, conjunctivitis and an eye like jelly on springs when fishing the small country sized chunk of metal out (probably minuscule but it felt big at the time)

[NickA]

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Seems to be a common theme amongst Stag restorers.. I had the trip of shame to A&E when doing my floor; nice sliver of Stag floor embedded in my left eye.

Another point is ear defenders if your doing a lot of grinding, they also help to stop stuff falling into your ears :?

[V Mad]

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I bought one of these face shields combined with a pair of ear defenders; whenever I do any cutting or grinding it only takes seconds to put on the helmet and protect eyes and ears in one go; best thing I ever did for that job.

[stustag]

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Hi Drew

I now what your are on about, when I was an exhaust fitter at ATS I got some rusty metal in my eye via the air holes in the goggles.

I did not notice at first but later on that day I could not keep my eyes open which was a problem due to the fact I was riding home on my motorcycle!

I went to the hospital trying to keep my eyes open and they froze my eye and removed a piece of rusty metal, they told me that another 0.1mm and I would have been blinded for life:shock:

I always wear safety glasses nowyou only get on pair of eyes!

Stuart

[flying farmer]

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I have ended up in casualty having bits removed from my eyes at least three times now, all while wearing safety specs , the problem seems to be that angle grinder sparks are so hot they melt their way into the surface of your eye, they don't have to be fired directly into it.

Just to make everyones skin crawl, I once dug a metal fragment out of my own eye with a needle as I couldn't be bothered to sit in casualty for four hours waiting, I couldn't do that now though as age means I need glasses, and I can't see my eyes without them

Ear defenders are also a must, I have used them for everything for at least the last 15 years, sadly not using them as often for the 15 years before that mean that my hearing is significantly worse than it used to be

On the bright side,:? most of the iPod generation will be a lot deafer than me by my age without the drills/ angle grinders

Neil

[KOY 23]

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Neil.
That reminds me of an interview with Sir Ranaulf Fiennes who had frostbite in his fingers. He went into his shed and removed them with his Black & Decker.

Personally I would have preferred a Dremel.

John.

[DJT]

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You don't need to be using power tools to put your eyes at risk. My first trip to the eye hospital was after bleeding the brakes on my MGB. My father was doing the pedal pushing bit whilst I was underneath at the nipple end (:shock. Due to a mix up in the 'down-hold-up' routine, he pushed the pedal at the wrong time and I got an eyeful of brake fluid. Not pleasant! Much flushing with water later and my eyesight was OK, but blurred for a day or two.

At work it is compulsory to wear full PPE includingeye and ear protection outside the accommodation, so it is second nature to do so at home as well.

Dave

[dasadrew]

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Not forgetting etch primer which will actually etch the surface of your eyes...... PERMANENTLY!