Fan/hand encounter

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Thu 27 Feb 2003 08:20
Fan/hand encounter - Ian (Cape Town)
Took the astra in yesterday to get a leak in the exhaust fixed.
the thing blows when cold, but quietens down when warm, so I assume a hairline crack.
By the time I get to exhaust shop, it's all quiet, as the car has heated up.
Up on the lift, the bloke looks underneath, holds hosepipe near ear, and near exhaust...
Car is running, and heats up to the degree that the fan kicks in ...
Bloke can't hear anything, so lowers car, opens bonnet, starts delving around with hosepipe...
leans forward, reaches hand down to steady himself... brrrrrrrrrr as it hits the rapidly-spinning fan ...
makes a mess of three fingers, blood all over the engine compartment ....
this despite the large DANGER/GEVAAR/INGOZI sticker on the cowling above the fan ... (in case people speak other languages)
to cut a long story short, another bloke took over, while moron #1 was dashed to hospital... And I got the crack welded for the price of two beers.
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Thu 27 Feb 2003 08:28
Fan/hand encounter - volvoman
What'll happen to the poor guy Ian ? Will he have any redress via the employer (e.g. for lack of training/supervision) or workplace insurance ? Is he and his family gonna 'go hungry' as a result of this ?
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Thu 27 Feb 2003 08:36
Fan/hand encounter - Ian (Cape Town)
I'm going to call later, and find out what his condition is.
I'll keep things posted.
But I agree, he shouldn't be working on cars if he hasn't been trained.
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Thu 27 Feb 2003 13:33
Fan/hand encounter - frostbite
This happened to my boss at a garage I worked at in the sixties. His fingers were almost severed and they more or less just stuck them back together.

He regained most of the use, but they stiffened up and became painful in cold weather.
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Thu 27 Feb 2003 13:57
Fan/hand encounter - Ian (Cape Town)
The prognosis is good. Lots of flesh damage, and two nails gone, but the fingers should still work once they have healed.
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Thu 27 Feb 2003 19:23
Fan/hand encounter - lauriew
When I was an apprentice at the local bus company (100`s of years ago), we got a breakdown call-out saying that a bus had lost its fan belt. When we got there it was surrounded with police and an ambulance. The bus driver had attempted to replace the belt(s)with the engine running and lost his hand.
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