When I was in the equipment leasing/rental business, for a while I was the guy who demonstrated the use of chainsaws to the folks we had as customers. I had thought originally that being blind might have distracted them from the safety stuff I was saying, but everyone I asked said it really stuck with them after seeing me start and use a saw. Most of the first-time users were all set to do the old drop-start the way they saw linesmen and timber cutters do it in the movies, and disabusing them of that probably really did keep some injuries from happening.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 11:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] My 2 cents about safety There is also the numbers angle. While anyone could run over a can of gas with a snow blower the likelihood of a sighted person doing it is much less. I wouldn't suggest for a moment that the blind wouldn't or shouldn't have accidents neither would I suggest that sighted people on the whole are usually good judges of where all the dangers lay or which are the more significant ones. with sighted people cutting fingers off every day it is unrealistic to assume no blind person will ever cut off a finger, that would be expecting a standard of function above that of sighted persons. While this may often be true it is nevertheless an unrealistic expectation. I am betting that per pedestrian mile walked blind people are less frequently hit by cars than sighted people, I would love to see someone collect statistics on that. We may well actually be safer on foot than sighted people and we may, in general be safer with chain saws or other tools than sighted people. Certainly I have never heard of a blind person killed in an industrial accident the numbers must be very small but then the numbers of blind persons working in industry are way too damn small. I well remember an argument with an insurance salesman when I was purchasing business insurance many many years ago. I wanted a premium discount since I had to sign a waver that I could not claim blindness as a work limiting disability. I felt since that was a potentially very expensive claim they would never face it limited their liability and I should get a discount for that. He tried to tell me that my chances of a work disabling injury were greater since I was blind. I countered that I wasn't so sure of that, I hardly ever flew an aeroplane or drove a car or played football or hockey or drove drunk or any number of other high risk activities sighted people commonly engaged in. I didn't earn my discount of course but it did make me think about this sort of thing quite a bit. Sometimes the injuries we might receive have a bigger impact than they might to a sighted person. I truly don't want to damage my hearing and I fear I have neglected it a little over the years. I really need my fingers too. Of course there is Dennis Brown who was a sighted guy when military ordinance blew off his hands, the lower half of his face, destroyed something like 80% of his hearing and blinded him. I wonder if as a blind person now people would tell him not to fiddle with such dangerous equipment? Probably though it didn't bother the military when he could see. Just some thoughts to thicken the soup. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:DLeavens%40puc.net> net Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: RJ To: blindhandyman@ <mailto:blindhandyman%40yahoogroups.com> yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 10:44 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] My 2 cents about safety It sounds like the doctor that ask to see my thumb a few days after I tried to cut it off with a hand ax while splitting wood. He asked how in the hell did you do that? I told him with a ax. He went on and on how a blind person shouldn't be using tools that are dangerous. I calmly ask him how many blind persons verses sighted people he sees that cut off a finger or two, and bet him there were more sighted persons than blind persons that come to him for this reason. He gave in by telling me after thirty years dealing with me, he should have known better than try to talk sense into my head. By the way, the thumb did heal without medical intervention, which did amazed the doctor. And if the truth was known, it also amazed me. RJ ----- Original Message ----- From: robert moore To: Blind Handyman Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 18:44 Subject: [BlindHandyMan] My 2 cents about safety I am not an authority on safety but this is my 2 cents worth. Concerning chainsaws or any other potentially dangerous piece of equipment. Lets start with the assumption you know the proper use and technique for the tool. The bottom line as it relates to blind VS sighted is this. If any one gets hurt it is the same for sighted or blind alike. I think there are 3 root causes for any injury. First you are doing some thing stupid and or not paying attention. Second the element of the unknown, such as a piece of mettle in the wood that is completely concealed. Making it impossible for the sighted and blind alike to know it is there. And finally equipment failure. Even if the tool appears to be in working condition there is always the unexpected failure that cannot be anticipated. If any one wants to take issue or add to any of these points, please do. I am very safety conscious and any further comments on this topic I will not take offence to. Thanks for letting me rant. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
