• rtxn@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    We used to routinely disable safety interlocks on production machines. A guy almost got decapitated once while performing maintenance.

    • wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      16 hours ago

      We as in you did? If so, Fuck you. I know too many people who have been injured because of assholes who disabled those interlocks. LOTO is a lifesaver.

      Edit: ok I saw in a later post that you didn’t do that. But still - to anyone who considers disabling a safety interlock - just jump right in after doing so.

      • ToeKneegee@lemm.ee
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        13 hours ago

        I tell all the new guys “if your manager doesn’t want you want to lock something out, call me. I’ll lock it out. There’s nothing in this place worth getting hurt for.”

        Here, our equipment is old enough that sometimes powering things down means they don’t come back up properly. I’d rather fight getting a machine back up and running vs having to hear about someone being injured.

      • rtxn@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        Calm the fuck down. This wasn’t a “Russian lathe accident” situation. We were trained professionals, and never left the machines unattended in an unsafe state. There were no injuries and only that one close call (which IIRC was traced back to a faulty e-stop button).

        We never fell victim to complacency and I am quite proud of that.

      • Remorhaz@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Not the original post, but it’s usually speed. Manufacturing employees get pushed for more output, and usually that means that maintenance gets rushed.

        A decade ago I was working somewhere with massive production machines with big rollers to pull the product through. One guy left the machine running to clean it so he could just sort of buff the rollers to clean them instead of scrubbing.

        He got his arm sucked in up to his shoulder before someone was able to hit the e-stop

      • rtxn@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Sometimes for maintenance, sometimes because manual intervention was necessary. The machines where we did this were built in the 90s and have been in near constant operation. Moving parts are worn out and the tolerances are gone. Replacement parts are difficult to find and expensive to manufacture, so if something more complex than a ball bearing or axle got out of alignment, we had to pound it back into place (sometimes literally).

        I personally never bypassed the interlock, I wasn’t paid enough to take on that responsibility. I would just file a downtime notice and call the on-site mechanic when needed. I didn’t give a shit about reduced output.

        Tagging @Remorhaz@lemmy.world