I searched UL.com and found a "sharp edge tester."
http://ulstandardsinfonet.ul.com/catalog/testequippics1.html

The 2005 NEC includes some references concerning sharp edges too.

Have you ever cut your skin when working on older equipment where the original paint has worn away?

I have on cabinet covers, have scars too prove it.

What should be done about this, get everyone a "sharp edge tester?"

I already have 10, 5 on each hand. I seem to be able to find every sharp edge without even thinking I am getting close to them.

I find more sharp edges on new equipment than due to wear on old stuff.

Seems that if I get within five feet of sheetmetal I start to bleed!

Cuts to hands have become such an issue that the company I work issues gloves and requires them to be worn for certain tasks.

While handling drop in light fixtures is one of the times the gloves must be on.

Most of our guys will cover the inside lip of panel tubs with a strip of electrical tape to cover the sharp edge.

I thought most troffers were made by gilette anyway.

I wish they could smooth out the rough edges on mud rings. Seen some cut their hands on the lip of can lights. A flourescent closet light sliced one guy good.

T-Bar ceiling wires aren't exactly sharp edges, but they are what make me the most paraniod since they always seem to be at head level, going right for your eyes or the top of your head. Sharp pointy steel tie wire and mc that whips and flails are #2 on my list. I find that those blue palmed rubber gloves tame the sharp edges on sheetmetal, it is the lacerations and punctures- the wounds caused by scraping and brushing that cause me the most trouble

PS- how does that edge tester operate? I am not sure what issuing these to everyone or anyone would accomplish because at the end of the day, the work still has to get done, sharp edges or no.

I believe those are tools for getting UL listings. UL probably wont list you if your fixture has razor sharp edges, so thats a tool for them to tell you to round it off some.

We have found that the stainless steel switch and receptacle plates are extremely sharp. Just had a guy 2 months ago that sliced his index finger opening one of the packages by grabbing the cover and pulling the plastic off at an angle. The plate caught him right in the crease of his finger. He had to go to the hospital and get 6 stitches in his finger to get it to close up.

Seems he had done it that way since he started years ago. Funny how things will catch up with ya.

I agree with the grid wires being dangerous. I've only been poked in the eye by one once. When I get above a ceiling like that, the first thing I do is bend those wires over with my linesmans.
The lighting industry is famous for cheapness. There is a continuing battle between the engineering department and the bean counters. "Can't you use thinner metal? We can save 1 cent per fixture." "If I made it any thinner, I would be using tinfoil."
I've been to afactory and they have a team of Filipino women whose specialty is honing the edges of mud rings razor sharp. I think it is part of the NEMA standards that all boxes and fittings must have sharp corners and edges.
~Peter

Interesting stuff Joe,
I've always wondered what the "Standard Test Finger" looked like.
Oddly enough, I used to find the edges around the terminal acess cover on new electric stoves a real hazard here.
These are bare, galvanised sheet steel, formed, I believe with a stamping tool
What makes it worse is the fact you have to insert your hand inside the cover to manipulate the wires to get them into the terminals.
The chances of cutting your wrist is then very good, I know this for a fact.
I started wearing a Kevlar glove on my left hand after it happened to me.
Boy did it cut deep!.

Can lights have never been my friends... every night I came home from rigging cans, my wife would ask me how many new scars I had

Changing razor-sharp planer blades is the worst job in my shop, I get at least one cut per change, usually on the worst place- the fingertips. Tried gloves- too clumsy.
Alan

I don't have time to bleed.


Dnk......

Bleed ?? Blood ??? Never !!
My wife told me years ago that I have have ice water in my veins !!

[This message has been edited by luckyshadow (edited 07-05-2005).]

I more often seem to find sharp edges on new equipment than old.

I've had my share of cuts from troffer fixtures of course, but have been cut much more often by the cardboard while taking them out of the cartons

I wear those blue-palmed gloves all day at work. I take them off for breaks or when handling lubed wire - that's about it.

The gypsum, concrete, and petroleum-coated metals, along with the flexing and abrasion from working hand-tools make my hands cracked, raw, and bleeding after only a couple of days working without gloves. (Psoriatic skin conditions aren't much fun )

I've gotten used to handling screws and other fine tasks. There is a learning curve to this. Finishing work - no problem either (just put on a clean pair ) I feel I'm more productive and safer on the job with gloves. You get a better grip on everything (nice when climbing) and you're less 'shy' about a particular action or motion when you're not worrying about that cut, scrape, or chafe you might incur.

IMO, there is still an attitude about gloves in this trade. Usually the older guys.. "Gotta work a little harder and maybe those girly hands will toughen up." Ask for gloves and you get a stare back like you just asked for double-digit pay increase. "Didn't I give you pair of gloves 2 weeks ago?" "You're in the wrong line of work if you need to wear gloves fulltime."

electure


Have you tried ordering troffers without boxes?

We will generally have them shipped on single width pallets, standing on end and shrink wrapped, pre-lamped of course.

By doing it this way we can pallet jack them through standard doors. You do need a narrow pallet jack which is also good for transformers.

Some of the larger EC's in the bay area require and supply the appropriate cloth, blue palm, or leather glove. Hand injuries are probably the most common recordable accident in construction. If you have employees, you need to keep your workers comp risk mod as low as possible, a safety program with supplied PPE can go a long way to lowering costs and to keep productive employees working. That includes safety glasses to help prevent that poke in the eye from those ceiling wires. Eyes, (and hands) come 2 per unit and are not considered consumables no matter who the owner is. The goal; Everyone goes home in in the condition they came to work in.

Had that happen the other day while replacing a disco mounted on an A/C condenser. Went to turn the condenser, it stayed still while my hand slid across the (what I thought was dull) sheet-metal edge. Left a trail of blood all the way back to the shop.
After the first time I cut myself doing construction, that was the response I got when I asked my foreman where the first-aid kit was. He handed me electrical tape. I still think it's one of the best all-purpose bandages out there.

Need to add a pair of kevlar gloves (with wrists) to my PPE.

-John

to quote Ben Stiller in "Dodgeball"....."No one makes me bleed my own blood!" good flick for one liners. :-)