Safety in the space

[Tim]

Howdy Hackers,

As some know I had an accident in the space on Friday that required a trip to the emergency department.

It was a bit of a freak accident, but I was very lucky that the damage wasn't worse. While I was working on the air boat that is going to crush Sasha's hopes and dreams, I plugged tab A onto slot B and the motor fired up with prop attached, this sliced up the back of my hand in a few places, and nicked a couple of tendons. A few mm closer and I would have been in an operating theatre that night and I wouldn't be using my right hand for 6 weeks. I ended up with 10 stitches across 2 cuts but I've had no pain and I already have almost full use of it now so I got out of it fairly easily.

Not really life-or-death I know, but I think we're lucky that this is all we have that prompts us to think more about safety in the workshop.

I just want to remind everyone that we often play with some very dangerous tools n toys and we should try not to get complacent.  I've been RC planing for years and have been hit by all kinds of props but this one got me just right and sent me to triage. The Majority of accidents like this do happen when using/doing things that you use/do regularly and the root cause is usually complacency.

Please pay attention to the first aid (on top of the tool shelves) and fire extinguisher/fire blankets (scattered around he workshop) locations, and try to keep track of hazards in the workshop, and always take the various saws, sanders and hot things seriously.

Be careful, if anything happened to any of you we would all feel really bad for like, a week. No one wants that. 

Also you'll get blood on your boat.

Tim.

[Aleksandr Motsjonov]

My Hope and Dream already kinda came true .... 

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[Ghost]

I hope you get better soon mate.

we all have to be careful, it is easy to be a lemming from time to time.
(lord know I am one)

Cheers
Stephen

[Gav]

Well put Tim. 

I'll just add that there's always a safe way to do things, and if you're not sure how to do something, please ask around to find out. We're never in too much of a hurry to do it safely. 

A lot of safety comes down to knowing tricks. To use the RC stuff as an example

• When you're testing the RC motors, clamping it to the table with a G-clamp (at the end of the bench, we have plenty) will stop it being knocked over and skittering away. 
  
• If you were testing for longer than a few seconds, I'd also put one of those clear plastic boxes around the prop and tape the edges down to the table. That'll stop people accidentally reaching across or knocking something into the blades. 
  
• LiPo batteries are basically full of fire looking for an excuse to come out. Before you plug in the battery for the first time check with a multimeter that your wiring doesn't have a short. The last thing you want is your cable to get red hot, or your battery to catch fire. 

The free benefit from doing it safely is you're more likely to test it for longer as well, when you're not juggling wires and motors with one hand and a transmitter in the other. Gives you more of a chance to realise the steering's backwards, or the throttle is scaled wrong, before you get it to a lake/flying field and figure out the hard way. :-)

And also, if you see someone else doing something dangerous, have a word with them, or one of us. We want RnD to be safe and fun for everyone. 

Cheers,

Gavin 

[Tim]

Usually with RC planes you just take the prop off :p

No matter how angry the motor it can't do much in its own.

[kris]

also, accidents happen, so when you come to the space, why not eyeball the first aid kit. it's much easier to find if you already know where it is.

[John Slee]

On Wednesday, 11 February 2015 12:43:58 UTC+11, Gav wrote:

• LiPo batteries are basically full of fire looking for an excuse to come out

So I don't tend to work with batteries much, but other folks clearly do. To save folks googling while Meadowbank burns, what IS the correct procedure for dealing with a LiPo fire? Don't feel the need to answer that - I'm sure Google knows - but I mention it thinking that maybe the space needs some a targeted selection of quick ref cards stuck up on a wall somewhere - in case we have a situation where _nobody_ present at the space knows what to do

I have a paper laminating thingy that I could donate to this end, and some suitable plasticky media 

John

[Julian Sortland]

And if anyone builds a "Locost 7" sports car, make sure it fits out the door first.  :)

Actually, the spaceframe could be carried out a normal door on its side by 2 people.

Julian.

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