Tool safety items

Greetings,
I have an apology to make to all the mechanics out there. In the last few years I have noticed more and more mechanics wearing padded gloves while wrenching. I used to think "What woosies" but after a few recent nasty knuckle skinnings I picked up a pair at the local NAPA. You guys/gals (mechanics) got it right. Padding goes a LONG way to prevent nicks, scratches and bruises-Thanks! Also keeps the grease and goop off that manicure. Just wash and hang to dry.
I would recommend a pair for all to include in their tool box along with the safety glasses and dust masks.
Search results for: 'gloves'

Pansy

Don't need no stinkin' gloves so long as I have rum and band-aides for afterwards.

Been wearing them for years!

Heck, I might forget how to cuss!

Paul M said:

Heck, I might forget how to cuss!

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Don't worry, the propensity of tools falling into the bilge will keep your skills sharp

Paul M said:

Heck

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Oh no, you already have

The idea is a good one, keeps your hands clean.
Working a lot on metal, roughs up your skin, then the dirt embeds and I find it tough to clean off.
I have actually after working for a while on some motor project, if I needed to look presentable scrubbed off the dirt by soaking my hands in straight laundry bleach. Which I don't like to do as it stinks of chlorine and too much of that probably not good for you.

The bleach dissolves your skin and the dirt goes with it. The skin on my hands is tough since I use my hands a lot on tough projects.

Things like working on the car engines on weekends, then having to go work at the hospital which I did for 15 years collecting blood from patients and working as a Lab MT ASCP technologist running blood work, you want your hands to look clean.

I have a permanent certification as an MT, and glad I don't have to work as one anymore.
Over those years, I stuck accidently used needles into myself 3 times recapping them which you no longer do. Some of those patients had weird diseases.

I did oddly get an elevated SGPT enzyme result of 60, twice the normal which points to the liver metabolism when I ran my own blood work. And my neutrophils looked washed out on slides. But I am so fairly healthy so far.
One perk was we could do free blood work tests on ourselves.

I've tried, really tried to wear gloves. Inevitably, I need to remove or insert some obscure part by feel, out of sight behind some other component. I end up ripping off the gloves. Followed by the usual blood letting and cussing we're all familiar with.

I've had good results with orange hand cleaner. Washing dishes by hand also goes a long way. Detergent cuts grease, hand soap just loosens regular dirt. If I had to resort to bleach, it would be just a cap-full in bucket of water, not straight. Maybe scrub with dish detergent. A tablespoon of bleach in a cup of water is also good for those annoying cuts around your fingernails that start to get infected.

My father was a truck fleet mechanic and his hands were completely black and totally callused. He could pick up boiling pots of water. After two weeks of vacation down the shore his hands would start to look human again. I don't know if it was the smoking, the chemicals on hands or WWII that took him at a young age but I decided not to follow his lead. After 40 years of sitting behind a keyboard I have the hands of a nun.

I do a lot of work on cars, boats, bikes and houses but I started wearing gloves a long time ago. Most of them sucked and I would have to take them off when really getting into it. Especially the greasy intricate work of engines and transmissions.

Recently I needed to rebuild the automatic trans in my Acura. This is not a job for the feint of heart or soft of hand. I found a set of gloves that are tight and grippy even when coated in oil. They actually make it easier to do automotive and marine work so they stay on. When they get gross they can be washed and reused. They have no padding or insulation but have the finish of rubber sandpaper. I can pickup contact lenses and twist rusty bolts with these gloves. They are bionic!

They are also impossible to find. All the branding and advertisements have worn off and they are getting pretty tattered so I'm scouring the boutique auto parts places for them.

I kind of work the line that's mid way between padded gloves and no gloves--I use the thin Nytrile kind that EMT's and hospital employees use. They keep the hands clean, allow you to grip small parts and give a small amount of protection from nicks and bruises.

I discovered the padded mechanics gloves a number of years ago when I owned a 3rd gen RX7. Lots of time in a very cold garage working on that car. The gloves kept my hands warmer and then presentable to see patients in the office. I use Nytril gloves a lots to keep the hands clean when not doing major wrenching. I keep a box handy on the boat.

I'm sure this goes beyond what others here will do, but here it is:

From Machineryspaces.com:

Safety standards

-All Engine Room Staff must be suitably dressed and must wear coveralls, safety shoes, gloves, goggles and helmets as per the VMS PPE matrix.

-Engine Room and machinery spaces must be kept clean, tidy and as free as possible from oil/fuel stains or sources, all of which must be identified and eliminated.

-To prevent fires, any possible source of uncontrollable heat must be protected and any fuel leakage must be cleaned up and the source identified and eliminated.

Now, for a practical matter, here's what we require:

-If engines are running, always use ear protection.
-Always wear coveralls. They're kept right at the entrance and slipped on over clothing.
-If working on hot engines always wear protective gloves. If engines aren't hot, wear lighter weight gloves.
-Wear shoes. If handling heavy items such as batteries, safety shoes.
-If engines are running or if working with fluids, always wear goggles.

As to the other points, I'm a stickler for neatness and organization of an engine room. This comes from decades in manufacturing and dealing with safety requirements. I handle things as if OSHA was there looking over my shoulder. Any oils or fuel leakage must be identified and cleaned immediately. Nothing is left where it can slide around, everything secured, all drawers and cabinets secured.

I'm not pushing everyone to go as far as we do, but I would encourage considering each point and determining what is appropriate. Most of the engine room injuries are preventable. And, please do not overlook the ear protection just because it doesn't prevent damage you immediately feel.

Come on where is the fun if not a blood drop !

We got chided (correctly) that with all this ppe, gloves and pants were probably required.

For most jobs in the er it's just nitrile gloves

This was sanding the hull in the engine room to prep surfaces for new through hulls

hmm, im not sure if that's upside down or not...

And masks if you're sanding, painting, inhaling fumes, dealing with fluids. I left that off earlier.

Even Chuck Norris wears gloves.

No loose clothing around any spinning machine parts, long hair either!

Steve said:

No loose clothing around any spinning machine parts, long hair either!

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Good reminder on the long hair. We have a lot of that around the boat

The question is...does the long hair ever get near anything but jacuzzi jets?

I keep a box of black 9mm nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight onboard for most ER tasks. I also have thicker rubberized fabric gloves for heavy wrenching. (Size huuuge if you need to know... )

I agree with the hearing protection. I have a set of sound attenuating ear muffs at the fore and aft ER entrances. They get donned for all ER checks while underway.

One other thing that almost always accompanies me to the ER is a ball cap with a cap light. It dries my brow, lights up what I need to see and keeps my hands free.

psneeld said:

The question is...does the long hair ever get near anything but jacuzzi jets?

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Actually, two with long hair do venture to the engine room. Two others do on a boat one of them owns. A couple are threatening to cut their hair, while the other two lean toward "never."

Al, wow, great lights !!!

Can't live without this....Engine room requires me to kneel quite a bit!

ragin cajun said:

Can't live without this....Engine room requires me to kneel quite a bit!View attachment 61472

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Nitrile gloves for me. Kneepads for many boat jobs. Now if I could just stop bumping my head in the engine compartment.

Ted

O C Diver said:

Nitrile gloves for me. Kneepads for many boat jobs. Now if I could just stop bumping my head in the engine compartment.

Ted

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Helmet for you.

I use nitrile gloves too, the thin surgical style ones, although I am going to try the more heavy duty ones. The thin ones I go through a lot of them and there's no real cut protection.

My ER configuration I think I spend more time on my back contorted than on my knees... so instead of kneepads I'm thinking about getting a live aboard masseuse.

I wear the long nitrile disposable gloves from Princess Auto for greasy or painting jobs but prefer my padded gloves with exposed finger tips for work where I need to feel what I am doing. I get them from Home Depot.

50 pk Large Nitrile Disposable Gloves, 8 MIL | Princess Auto

Grease Monkey Large Fingerless Glove-22103 - The Home Depot

I hardly ever wear gloves to do any work, just can't get used to them Just a few months ago I carried a guy to the emergency room with half his finger in a glove . He screwed up and caught it between a sprocket and a chain while feeding a big surface planner .Gloves have come a long way in the last few years for doing everyday work . We just bought a new washer a dryer with install included . The young guys showed up both with new style work gloves on just to install a washer and dryer . Even though Joy and I did most of the work for the them they bitched the entire time and dammit we still tipped them pussies.