[Third Person]

Here is a link to the original story:

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/04/13/news/doc4da58c22c4b1f135149346.txt?viewmode=default

[al baby]

Very sad. Very avoidable

[Paved Paradise]

Long hair is a hazard in itself, as are men’s ties, long scarves, and even wedding rings, depending on one’s occupation. I still remember when I was a child and those winter scarves that were a few feet long were all the rage until some kid was strangled by one...I believe on an escalator. The year was probably 1965 or 66. Those disappeared faster than you could shake the snow from your hat.

[Deaf Smith]

"Calling the training “exemplary,” Yale’s consultant stated: “Ms. Dufault was well versed in both lathe operation and safety."

Except when no one is there to boss her around about tying up her hair.

[Third Person]

Let's try the linky again:

here is the link to the original article.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

So, when somebody gets themselves killed because they didn't follow the rules, the solution is to add more rules?

What does that change?

Other than making it harder for the people who followed the old rules?

[Whitebread]

Who knew you could take shop class at Yale?

[IAMIUBU]

My hair is to my waist. I use power tools almost every day, as I have since the age of 5 some 60 years ago. I’m very sorry to hear of this young persons death. The FIRST thing I told my 20 something assistant a few years ago was ‘a power tool and long hair, hers was longer than mine, is a dangerous combination. Always be aware.’

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I have worked alone with lathes (metal and wood), other power tools and milling machines for years. This appears to be a simple failure to take safety precautions like no loose sleeves, ties, or pony tails.

It is almost impossible to design a safety guard for lathes. You just have to be extra careful.

[coloradan]

When one person is killed by one lathe, the nation mobilizes to ensure it can never happen again. Now, how many innocent people have been killed in no-knock wrong-address raids, all of which were deemed “good shoots” by their respective departments?

[Redbob]

You don’t put “guards” on an experimental lathe; you keep your hair out of it. You keep your long clothing out of it. You keep your shoelaces out of it.
In point of fact, you try to train people not to behave in an unsafe manner around it, and those who are untrainable should be kept away from it.

Or else Darwinian selection will rear its ugly head.

[familyop]

After all of those decades, our bosses find it necessary to go far beyond the machine safety modifications requested by us. I wonder why...not.

No loose ponytails. That’s a very old and good rule for lathe operators.

[rottndog]

A manual metal lathe located in the Bray Laboratory Building machine shop is similar to the machine that killed Yale senior Michele Dufault on April 12.


The ONLY conceivable safety device that may have prevented this death is not on these lathes....a foot brake. I don't believe Michele, once she was caught in the spindle, could possibly have had the presence of mind to blindly hit the E-stop or reach the on/off lever and shut it off. A foot brake, however, extends the length of the bed of the lathe and not only turns off the spindle, but stops it almost instantly.

That being said, there is nothing that can make a manual lathe any less dangerous outside of good safety training, and an operator who strictly follows those safety rules. One of the most basic safety rules concerning the operation of ANY rotating equipment is to not work around it with anything attached to you...clothing, jewelry, HAIR....that can be caught and pull you in. In the Navy we were constantly reminded that most safety rules were written in blood. Something tells me Yale was deficient in getting that point across.

[reg45]

Obviously, the lathe already had a “kill” switch.