Follow-up on the safety stand down

[Shawn Pixley]

So our thread on safety raised a related question. What do you do when you see your neighbor doing something unsafe?

One of my neighbors is a semi-retired lawyer. Periodically, he makes lamps from driftwood and does a nice job at that. Over the last couple of weeks, he has been trying to make a sidetable without much success. I have offered help/advise or the use of some of my tools but he has declined to do so. The other day, I saw him cutting a 3'x3' piece of plywood on his badly set up up table saw without a fence. He was done before I could stop him. Luckly he wasn't hurt.

I have other neighbors with equal lapses of judgement. I won't loan dangerous tools (chainsaws, etc...) to people without the skills to keep them safe. However, I won't just do the work for them. It is a situational thing. At work, I feel no reluctance at all to stop others from doing something unsafe. My general approach with neighbors is not to provide advise unless asked.

What do you do when you see neighbors doing something in an unsafe menner?

[Stephen Cherry]

I saw him cutting a 3'x3' piece of plywood on his badly set up up table saw without a fence. He was done before I could stop him.

Usually I keep quiet, but in this case I would need to say something.

[Dan Hintz]

I now keep my mouth shut. On several occasions I made the mistake of suggesting using safety equipment when it wasn't being used... it wasn't taken well, and I lost a good friend because of the ensuing friction. People are adults, so they have to be responsible for their own skin...

[Jamie Lynch]

At work I'm obligated by company policy to use SWA (stop work authority) whenever I see something unsafe happening or about to happen. That said, I'd probably be pretty ticked if every time I turned around my neighbor was using SWA on me.
I generally don't try and correct my neighbors unsafe actions directly, I'll usually ask if they need a hand and then subtly teach the safer process. If they turn me down that's okay. That is their right as a free man.


I'd feel pretty bad if I didn't say anything and something did happen.

[Joe Hillmann]

I would say something. He may not have had any idea he was doing anything dangerous. Or maybe he knew exactly how dangerous it was and he wouldn't have listened to your warning. If that is the case if he dose hurt himself at least you won't have to live with knowing that maybe you could have prevented it just by speaking up.

I have spoken up several times when someone was doing something I thought wasn't safe. Usually a few minutes spent thinking a safe way to do it can be figured out. Although I have also walked away from situations like that before when the person kept insisting they were going to do whatever it was they were going to do, and I didn't want anything to do with it. Which has led to strained relationships.

[Jim Rimmer]

That's a touchy situation. I tend to side with the ones who walk away rather than risk an angry neighbor. There are two teen age boys across the street from living with their grandfather. Good kids, hardworking. I see them doing yard work and I cringe. Mowing barefooted, running gas powered edgers with no hearing protection, etc. But I don't know them well enough to intervene. Maybe I should. :o

[Ellen Benkin]

I would feel very guilty if I saw something dangerous and didn't say something and then the worst happened. I would say something ONCE. If I saw the same thing happening again I would assume the person decided to use a dangerous methodology. I would approach the situation by asking them to stop and do it right because they were making me very nervous and if they insisted on doing it their way I would stand by ready to call 911. By the way, where were you when you could see your neighbot doing something wrong?

[Ryan Mooney]

I'll usually point out the two or three scars I have from doing something similarly stupid (kind of a slow learner myself I suppose :rolleyes:) and say "y'know that can go way sideways in a bad way like.. so.. and so.. and so..". If they're interested they'll listen and if not there's generally nothing you can say to change it. Trying to convince someone of something they don't want to be convinced of is an exercise in futility.

Now if they're using my machines or we're actually working together its a different story.

[Larry Frank]

This is a tough situation. When I was working in a steelmaking shop, I stopped a guy and asked him to put his eye protection back on. He did it but was really mad. A few minutes later, I saw him again and stopped to talk with him. I told him that I could not live with myself if I saw something like that, said nothing and then he got hurt. I was surprised when he turned and said that he understood.
Of course, at the time, that was part of my job. Now, if I saw someone doing something really dangerous, I would probably have to say something in as nice a way as possible. I just would really be unhappy if I did not say something and they got hurt. You have to know that you are probably not going to make any friends.

[Peter Quinn]

While I would be tempted to say something sharp like "Hey, do they teach stupid in law school?" or perhaps "Its gonna be tough to pick up your teeth with severed fingers", I'd most likely just walk away. His shop, his problem. If he asked "how do you do this" I'd sure do my best to keep him safe, but I've found you can't reach the unwilling. And some guys ego's aren't going to let them hear you until you are calling 911 for them because they have only nubs left. Sad but true.

I had a friend, professional carpenter, uses the TS all the time, but a carpenters job site saw, not a cabinet saw. He's used those too, but one forgets. He's in my shop, removes the fence, gets ready to freehand scribe a piece of 1X, I pull the plug and firmly tell him that sort of thing won't fly in my space, and he's frankly a fool for attempting that on a 5HP saw, particularly when there is a rather capable BS 20' away. He's miffed, he does it all the time at work, etc, but we have a relationship that can survive that. And I hate cleaning flesh from my tools. A few minutes later he has removed the splitter, cause those things get in the way, and he is being very cavalier about ripping a not so straight piece of wood, he's half way into it, no push stick, starts binding, starts turning, hands close to blade, he lets go of the board. I'm standing on the out feed end doing something else. Whamo, it fires back like a cannon straight into his stomach. He finds the floor, or it finds him. I shut off the saw, help him up, he gets wind back, I make sure he's ok......then I proceed to laugh at him for 20 minutes. We have that kind of relationship. I tell him useful things like "Hey, did I mention a 5hp cabinet saw kicks back harder than a ryobi job site saw?" I had mentioned it. Or "Hey, didn't I say to leave the bies splitter in and use the push stick, and joint the stock straight..." I had mentioned it. Or "hey, have you met my BS, it does't kick like a mule" You know, the basic ingracious rub it in your eye type of thing. If he were really hurt I wouldn't do that sort of thing. But some guys just need that kick to the gut to get the message. He now has a healthy respect for that saw, uses the push stick, prefers the BS. And the welt that took 4 weeks to heal was a teaching moment too.

[Andy Fox]

I'd tell him a kickback story the next time you're chatting about woodworking.