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View Full Version : A Tragic Accident at Yale



Rob Cunningham
04-14-2011, 12:35 PM
A young woman was killed yesterday at Yale University in a machine shop accident. She was a senior with only several weeks until graduation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42569811/ns/us_news-life/
This hits me close to home in two ways.
First- My oldest son and my daughter are both college seniors frantically trying to get projects done before graduation. I can't imagine what the family must be going through right now when they should be celebrating their daughter's accomplishment.
Secondly- I work in the machine shop of a local college. We support the five science departments. For the most part, my co-worker and I do all the work. There have been occasions where a student will show an interest in machining and we will work with them, always stressing safety. They are never left alone to run a machine.
I have worked in machine shops for over 30 years and have seen several accidents but never the loss of life.
My thought and prayers go out to the family, faculty and students.

Rod Sheridan
04-14-2011, 1:15 PM
Absolutely tragic that such a bright young woman could lose her life in what could be the poster accident for lathe safety.

My sincere condolences to her family and friends.........Rod.

Jim Rimmer
04-14-2011, 1:15 PM
What a tragic loss. I feel for the family. I have worked in and around machine shops for 30+ years. Long hair, loose clothing, and jewelry is always a danger.

Bob Rufener
04-15-2011, 7:10 PM
What a tragedy. I looked up the article and her long hair got caught in a lathe. A reminder to all of us to not wear jewelry, long sleeves unless tight on your arm, long hair near the lathe etc. How unfortunate.

Josh Richard
04-15-2011, 7:40 PM
This is one of my biggest fears when working with students. One of the the most important safety precautions is NEVER work around machines alone.

Brian Elfert
04-15-2011, 10:09 PM
This is one of my biggest fears when working with students. One of the the most important safety precautions is NEVER work around machines alone.

What is someone who lives alone as I do supposed to do? There are plenty of woodworkers on this very site who work alone in their shops all the time. Even if they don't live alone I bet the rest of the family is not generally within earshot.

Steve Griffin
04-15-2011, 11:36 PM
I always think the best way to honor someone who dies tragically is to learn something from it. I know if I died accidentally, I would hope as many people as possible could learn from it and perhaps some human suffering in the future might be avoided.

Having said that, I will continue to work alone and so will my employees on occasion. I suppose in a teaching setting, or in larger shops rules about working alone are called for, but I have mixed feelings about that too. Had my high school teacher not opened the shop for me to work in the early hours before school, I wonder where I'd be today. Would I have continued a life long love of woodworking and enjoy a successful business???? Maybe, maybe not.

But that debate aside, here's how I will honor the young women:

1)Remind employees and myself about loose clothing/hair/rings. Handle wood as far away from infeed of planer and belt sander as possible in case you get tangled up in a splinter.

2)Repeat my safety talk about working alone: Be prepared to stop bleeding fast, keep cell phone handy, scream as loud as you can even if you think it is minor (My office/home is 75' away)

3)Most important is to not get hurt in the first place. I always say if you are alone you should go 10% slower.

Stay safe guys,
-Steve

John Shuk
04-17-2011, 1:14 PM
That is tragic. Just terrible.

Ken Fitzgerald
04-17-2011, 1:21 PM
Terribly tragic and a good reminder.

I work alone in a detached shop and I recently became deaf. I can't hear any of my power tools run except the DC. I don't actually hear the DC but hear a distorted sound caused by air movement at the tool I am using.

It just means that those of us who work alone have to be more vigilant and work on the side of caution when using tools.

Callan Campbell
04-18-2011, 12:37 PM
It is a tragedy. It also takes me back to my high school days when a slightly older student than me got seriously hurt with his longer hair getting caught in a drill press that he was using. I was also shown an X-Ray during machine shop class at Ranken Tech that clearly showed a large file embeded in someone's arm since they elected to use a file on a turning shaft without a handle covering the file tang. It all seems so simple, so preventable. My thoughts go out to her family.

Jeffrey Makiel
04-19-2011, 7:48 AM
College students (undergraduate and graduate) in the scientific fields often operate equipment with little or no training or supervision. However, this is changing. It's a problem at educational institutions as well as national laboratories. And, the risk is not just from traditional machinery like lathes and mills, it includes non-traditional equipment like lasers, vacuum pressure vessels, high voltage sources, etc., that are commonly used in experiments.

Working alone, especially at unusual hours of the day, increases the risk of incident and consequence. As a homeowner/hobbyist, this is your choice. As a student, technician or faculty member at an eductional institution, working alone with machinery should be prohibited, appropriate training should be provided on its operation, use of personal protective equipment enforced, and periodic equipment inspection/safety reviews should be done.

-Jeff :)

-Jeff

Chuck Wintle
04-19-2011, 7:52 AM
Yes what a tragic accident but accidents do happen in shops. My first thought was why didn't this you young woman have her hair fixed so as not to fall onto moving parts. Was there a shop manager there to watch over this sort of thing? again my thoughts go out to the family...the loss of a child is so hard for parents.