the place i used to work at, had this mechanic. He used to jack up a car with 2 jackstands at the rear, and a hydraulic jack at the front, raising the entire car off the ground while he installed a LPG system...

I'm surprised he's still alive. He works alot late at night by himself too, over weekends as well. So there would be no one around to help him.

when using the angle grinder or something else that makes a huge racket it's always a good idea to use earmuffs. even if it doesn't hurt at the time it certainly doesn't do your hearing any good. also when jacking the car up make sure that the car is sitting flat on all the stands. i help out working on the aussie race cars at race meetings and some of the stuff tafe kids think is alright is amazing. one bloke thought it would be fine that the car was only resting on 3 stands and the other one was about an inch too low, lucky i was there to tell him to do it properly. another couple of kids stuffed up somehow jacking a car up in the workshop and bent the chassis.

Are there any times while working on a datsun 1200 where it would be wise to wear a respirator?

Yeah those tafe boys are crazy. Never let them near your car :P One of my friends did the tafe pre-app, and he told me how one guy did little burnouts in all the clients cars when he was driving them in.

painting it and anything else where you're using strong chemicals or sanding really fine dust away. does anyone know about welding too because sometimes when i blow my nose after welding for a bit it's a weird dark colour.

Well this is an interesting topic, since this my line of work.

As a rule of thumb, if you have to raise your voice to be heard at one metre, you need to wear ear muffs/plugs.

Until the advent of aircon, the number one cause of deafness in australia was driving with the window down. Yes thats right, its not uncommon for people aged 40+ to be more deaf in the right ear due to the wind noise.

The other one is that also until farmsafe requirements to have ROPS installed on all machinay, which basicaly killed all open cab machines, right ear deafness was caused by right handed farmers looking over their left shoulder at the implement. This exposed the right ear more to the already too loud machine more than the left ear.

So over all the ole right ear has copped a flogging in the past.

An intreating point to note is that despite all the measures that we currently have in the industrial workplace, the number of people claiming workplace/industrial deafness is increasing (per capita), so we are still sending people deaf. Something to think about.

But yes the rule of thumb. If you have to raise your voice to speak to another person at one meter apart, then you need to wear ear protection.

Ear protection also comes in variety of types and levels of protection. Getting something that is australia standards approved is not always enough.

Try and buy earplugs/muffs with a 33db rating. This is as good as it gets for a single device, and you can always wear earplugs with muffs if things get very loud, but also remember that you cant add up the ratings on the plugs and muffs to get a total protection rating. It doesent work like that.

I could go on about how safety is used and abused in the workplace and at home, but unlesss someone is intested, ill leave that dry subject alone.

Rock on!

Ahh with welding, you need to be working in a well ventilated area.

I use a household fan and have it blowing on the work area to clear the fumes.

The gasses released from welding are not very good for you and should be avoided.

As far as using a respirator, well you have to remember that there are different types of filters available, and that you need to use the right one for the right job.

Eg a P3 type filter is fine for the paint dust, but will not protect you against the fumes. You wil need to use an organic type filter in conjunction with a P3 for proper protection.

PPE is not as simple in reality unfortunatly.

A family friend was recently pumping up a tyre and accidentally pumped it way too high. The rim (yes thats right the rim, not the tyre) exploded but luckily he wasnt hit by anything. His hearing, however, was severely damaged and he wore earplugs for weeks because of the pain. His hearing is slowly coming back now...

Oh i almost forgot,
Sun safety.

If you're working outdoors, or indoors in direct sunlight, slip slop slap?

Although having greasy sunscreen hands could present a bigger hazard.

Tel said:the place i used to work at, had this mechanic. He used to jack up a car with 2 jackstands at the rear, and a hydraulic jack at the front, raising the entire car off the ground while he installed a LPG system...

I'm surprised he's still alive. He works alot late at night by himself too, over weekends as well. So there would be no one around to help him.

I think I used to work for that guy...
I worked part time for a mechanic when I was 14 yo and didn't know any better, for his engine components he had a cast iron bath full of caustic soda that he'd light a fire under and get it to boil. After it cooled down I had to dip my hands in there and pluck all the stuff out. When I asked for gloves he laughed...

Quote:

Wasking your hands afterwards is the solution to this one. Wearing sunscreen to prevent sunburn which will happen if you expose yourself to the sun, where as slipping off the spanner from greasy hands is not always going to happen.

Also guys, its work using a barrier cream on your hands and forearms before you get grotty.

Human skin begins to break down after about 4-5 washes, so using barrier cream means that the grot comes off eaiser, which means less washing, less break down.
It also means you have softer hands for the ladies....