NEWS
Portable Grinder Safety View Safety Bulletin from Mike Bruffey
In a recent incident at a San Luis Obispo County Public School involving a hand held portable disc sander, an employee was injured when the cut-off wheel unexpectedly disintegrated, sending pieces flying across the workshop. The employee received minor injuries to his leg from one of the flying pieces. Upon inspection of the disc sander and type of wheel being used at the time, several issues were discovered that led to the accident.
- The disc sander in question was rated for 23,000 RPM and tested at 19,500.
- The mounted cut-off wheel had a max RPM rating of 13,580.
- The cut-off wheel was unknowingly mounted on the arbor (serving as a disc pad) and a sanding disc was mounted on top of it (see photos at end of report).
- Disc Sander being used may have been too large to fit into the space being worked on and the wheel may have hit the metal being sanded in two places at the same time.
These types of incidents involving grinders do not happen often, but when they do, the results can lead to serious injuries and even death. Besides grinding wheels disintegrating, other types of incidents involve kickbacks and entanglements with clothing and other materials.