Had a union steward set me straight about my grinder technique

Old timer named Mike from Local 74 in Gary pulled me aside last shift. He watched me running a 4.5 inch grinder with the guard off and said 'you're gonna lose a finger before you turn 30, kid.' Made me realize I was being an ass just to save 30 seconds per cut. Anybody else had an old head call them out on something dangerous?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles2771mo ago

Now that's a valuable lesson right there. That guard is there for more than just looking official. I saw a guy have a cutoff wheel shatter on him once because he was leaning into it too hard, and that guard would have caught most of the debris. Lucky for him he was wearing safety glasses, but the scar on his cheek was a permanent reminder. Sometimes we think we're saving time when we're really just borrowing trouble.

felix1551mo ago

Always ran mine with the guard on and never had an issue.