Portable grinders – what ’ s the danger ?
By Chris Coetzee
HEALTH AND SAFETY
33
In June 2024 , at the Plumbing ’ s Traveling Exhibition , I had the opportunity to chat to some plumbers working out in the field . We spoke about various issues and the dangers of tools and equipment being used on site , and to my surprise , I met a young man who almost lost his arm because of a grinder .
“ I wasn ’ t sure why it jumped out at me . There shouldn ’ t have been anything behind the wood in that area . Maybe the carpenter put an extra-long screw in that I didn ’ t know about ,” said the plumber .
Not knowing what previous trades had done to ensure their work was installed led to a serious incident that could have ended the life of this plumber . The grinder caught him on the arm , ripping through the muscle and nearly severed the radial artery . If this had happened , he may not have been at the expo to tell me his story .
Eleanor Roosevelt said : “ Learn from the mistakes of others .”
What can we learn from this experience that left a plumber with minimal use of his hand , a vital tool in the plumber ’ s trade ? We first need to understand the scenario to get a clear picture of what went wrong .
According to the plumber , he had the task of using a portable electrical grinding machine to cut through some wood in order to make space for an installation . Without warning , the grinder caught onto something that the caused the grinder to ricochet backward toward his face , in instinct , he put his left arm up to protect his face and the grinding disc made contact with his arm , causing a serious injury .
The second thing we need to understand is that this is a common occurrence . We need to know what measures can be taken to prevent this type of incident . Since I did not have the opportunity to do the incident investigation , we can only speculate at the results and try to recreate the events based on what we have heard . We do know that according to the plumber , he was not working near the corner of the woodwork and so , in his mind , there should not have been any metal objects near where he was grinding , about 500mm away from the corner .
As a plumber , you no doubt know the importance of locating services in unseen areas before commencing works . Often this is left out in the quote and the onus is on the client to stipulate where services may be in the installation area . Other plumbing companies place this on their quotes as an added optional extra for the client to see and approve if they wish .
Still other plumbing companies I have spoken to state that they include scanning for services if they have identified through trial and error , the most common areas for services to be found . They always go with ‘ worst case scenario ’ tactics as its better to be safe than sorry . However , since this was not the case with the task being performed by our brave plumber , who stated , “ There should not have been any metal objects near where I was grinding ,” we are left to accept that this was a once off occurrence that unfortunately led to a serious incident and a lifetime of pain and rehabilitation .
Does this leave us with nothing to glean from our unfortunate victim and the scars he will carry around forever ? Not at all . We can learn a lot from this scenario , as well as what was mentioned about our plumber ’ s time in the hospital and rehabilitation centre .
There were three other individuals who had a similar experience with a grinder being treated for
August 2024 Volume 30 I Number 6 www . plumbingafrica . co . za