Ever Get Injured At Work?

[Passport1]

Long time ago when I was a VW mechanic I sustained a couple of minor injuries to my right hand. One still bothers me a bit today. Went back to the shop when it healed. No worker's comp. A couple of the other mechanics had worse shop injuries than I ever got. Most of us suffered from mild CO poisoning in the winter because of inadequate ventilation. No OSHA back then. I quit because of that. Auto mechanics seem to be prone to occupational injuries.

Anybody else ever been hurt working on vehicles?

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Got a hernia moving old batteries to recycle. Didn't report it right away and got screwed because of that. Had to pay out of pocket because I couldn't prove it happened at work.

 

[TimeFlies]

Many times, often hitting my head due to being taller than average.

 

[cptbarkey]

Mentally, many times.

 

[supton]

Anybody else ever been hurt working on vehicles?

I DIY, not a mechanic, but anything that is longer than 30 minutes of automotive work usually involves band-aids. The boss (wife) tells me to rub dirt into it and go finish the job already.

 

[bdcardinal]

When I worked at Sears I did get hurt. I was mounting a General Ameritrac 225/70/15 on a Escape wheel and felt a pop in my back when I hit the pedal on the tire machine to set the bead. Those tires were always a pain to do since the sidewalls were soft and the beads would be touching eachother. Still have a twinge of pain now and again 18 years later.

 

[TMoto]

I DIY, not a mechanic, but anything that is longer than 30 minutes of automotive work usually involves band-aids. The boss (wife) tells me to rub dirt into it and go finish the job already.

My wife used to ask where I got various cuts and scrapes after working on the car/house/whatever and most of the time I had no idea, they just magically appeared.

 

[bovine1]

Wasn't me but I was there. Working late on the farm one night me and another guy were sent to fill a fuel trailer. It had a low tire so we were gonna fill it with propane from the pickup. I was driving so I worked the valve and the guy with me was blowing the tire up. I heard a loud boom which I thought was the propane exploding but it was the 2 piece wheel blowing up. The ring caught the guy mid forearm and broke both bones. I was a teenager at the time. We had other bad experiences with propane in tires but expedience was too good to pass up. This was in the early to mid 70's. Most pickups on the farms I worked at were on propane.

 

[Dave Hess]

Yes, hurt my back a few times unloading produce trucks at Publix Supermarket.

 

[Ursatdx]

All the time. As owner I would sue myself for any minor injury.
I would gladly settle and enjoy paying any, and , all penalties . The settlement funds received would almost always be used to buy frivolous toys.
Pro Bono Quid pro quo?

 

[Brons2]

It's not a good DIY job if something isn't bleeding when you're done.

 

[eljefino]

Yup, ended my "mechanic" career busting tires and led me back to working in a TV station.

Had a dodge Dakota with the infamous swollen lug nuts and the nuts kept getting stuck in my socket. I kept zipping over to my tool box to get a punch to knock them out. Well I zipped between two lift posts that had about ten inches between them but my ankle didn't zip so it broke in three places instead.

I was working there on weekends and in TV on weekdays so worker's comp had to pay both my salaries.

 

[JTK]

Years back while on shift, I rolled my ankle, which messed up my knee. Torn meniscus and ACL. I didn't miss any work until I had surgery, but that process of OK-ing surgery under workers comp took 1.5yrs. Workers comp didn't want to cover knee surgery because I had Arthroscopic surgery on that same knee 20yrs prior. Took several court cases, etc. What a horrible process. Once a comp case is started, you can't use your own insurance to cover anything, which is why I was stuck for so long. You either get the comp case dismissed, or your push through. I only took 2 weeks off after the surgery and still had to go through my employer's 3rd party to get paid through short term disability, which after a few weeks is a percentage of your base pay. What a joy that process is. I take every precaution to not get hurt at work. Not only is that horrible in itself, a percentage of my base pay doesn't cut it for me.

 

[02SE]

Yep, too many times to count.

 

[Chris142]

Cut the tip of my finger off 3 years ago. Went to the hospital and got stitches. Released @2a and was back at work by 7a. Had to finish the tractor I was working on when I got hurt.

 

[nomas]

I fell and put my hand out to break the fall and landed on some equipment that was on the floor . Cut my hand and got 9 stitches .

 

[GSCJR]

Yes, as an 18 year old apprentice; never been the same since.

 

[greenjp]

Tore my meniscus by hyperextending my knee while on the job. My work is mostly desk job engineering but I work on ships/facilities from time to time. Treatment was covered and it's been fine in the 10 years since it happened.

jeff

 

[Shannow]

Yeah, a few time, not counting brain.

Left my ACL at Burrinjuck Power Station in about 1990...

 

[BaronHK]

Long time ago when I was a VW mechanic I sustained a couple of minor injuries to my right hand. One still bothers me a bit today. Went back to the shop when it healed. No worker's comp. A couple of the other mechanics had worse shop injuries than I ever got. Most of us suffered from mild CO poisoning in the winter because of inadequate ventilation. No OSHA back then. I quit because of that. Auto mechanics seem to be prone to occupational injuries.

Anybody else ever been hurt working on vehicles?

I got hurt at a job once and they took me to the hospital with a concussion and bleeding from my head then put me on "light duty" while I could hardly stand up and blamed the whole thing on me and wrote me up.

The constant is all employers want you to do the work of two people then when you try to do that, that's when accidents happen, and they blame you for that too, to try to limit their liability.

My mom's ex-husband tore his meniscus at work and had to have surgery on worker's comp. The doctor told him to take all month off, and then he found out it was worker's comp in Indiana and he put him on "light duty" so they had him in an office mailing letters and stuff.

They always want you back at work on "light duty" even if they can't do anything important. There has to be a reason and it's probably so they can provide "evidence" in case you sue them or something that "he wasn't hurt that badly".

My first job would have given an OSHA inspector a stroke. I don't know how they never got in trouble. They had me welding on my first day without any training. I used to go home covered in fiberglass. It got all over my clothes, my skin, everything. That place really sucked.