What not to do when working on your car

[sperry]

Car jack fatalities in Australia '89-'92

http://www.nohsc.gov.au/PDF/Statistics/report_jacks.pdf

And by "car jack", we're not talking about "getting jacked", we're talking about jackin up the car to work on it, and getting crushed.

Here's the best one:

A gardener/carpenter was underneath a page rotary slasher class 1000z (weight 750 kg) that was connected to a tractor by means of a power take off (PTO) shaft that revolved at 1890 rpm. He was attempting to change the blades of the slasher, as one of the blades was broken. The slasher was not chocked up and was accidentally lowered onto the gardener/carpenter when a dog bumped the controls in the cabin of the tractor.

The tractor was started up to engage the hydraulics to lift the slasher off the gardener, but the operator had forgotten the PTO was on and the worker received massive head injuries from the blades of the slasher. Initially the PTO had been turned off, as was usual practice. However, the blades of the slasher kept revolving making it difficult to hange the blade, so the PTO was turned on to keep the blades still. An employee of the gardener was also underneath the slasher when it came down, however he was able to escape being pinned by the slasher. The gardener/carpenter had ordered support blocks for the slasher, but they had not yet arrived.

There was some time pressure to complete the job. The gardener had been given a government contract that would usually take up to seven or eight weeks to complete. However, it had to be completed in six weeks (reason not specified).

An occupational health and safety (OHS) inspector issued a prohibition notice on the slasher and this was to remain in force until the machine was repaired and maintained in a safe condition. The Coroner supported recommendations made by the OHS report and also added that animals or young children should not be left unattended in the cabins of vehicles where there is likelihood that their interference with levers or switches could create a dangerous situation.

The OHS inspector stated the contributing factors to the incident were:
(1) no wooden supports, steel props or other means were used to support the rotary slasher during the removal of the blades;
(2) the PTO was engaged;
(3) a dog had access to and was inside the tractor cab; and
(4) the engine was started with a person under the slasher.

A department of OHS recommended:
(1) all rotary slasher machines shall be equipped with suitable means of support to be used at all times when maintenance work is performed;
(2) suitable warning signs be displayed on the rotating slasher advising the use of support props when maintenance is performed; and
(3) manufacture’s instruction manual to include a caution note regarding rotary slasher’s safety precautions.

Mmmm... "massive head injuries"...