Submitted by Steve Winicker
LAST WEEKENDS SHOP ACTIVITY
A busy week at the shop but not a lot of progress on the 765. Tim did get in some quality needle gun time on the tender interior. I cleaned up and repaired the sandblast cabinet. Rich Wolfgang finished the framing on the end of the Wabash caboose then moved over to the north side of the cupola. It looked pretty good, so we were not expecting to find much work, but he managed to pick it apart and made it look at least as bad as the south side did. Since the fix has been practiced on the south side work on repair will begin next week. # 1’s tender received some work as well with me removing the remaining rivets on the “coupler brace box”. Matt Lee came out and looked at the coupler pin area with the plan to weld up the casting so it could be re-bored but instead removed two bushings which appeared to remove much of the oblong wear in the area. He then worked on the part I am calling the “coupler brace box” Carl and Matt ground out the crack on either end of that piece then welded it up. The plan was to cut out the remaining cracked area, but this proved difficult to impossible, so we are reassessing the next step. Possibly rebuild it with steel. Sunday Matt removed the injector so we can work on fixing some leaking joints then began boring out and cutting the outside of the staybolts we are removing. He cut off several before having to head home. Much wire repair and cleaning were done over the week on the 358. A good time was had by all.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Hopefully we will continue with the tender needle gun work and get it finished up and ready for cleaning up the rust and dust. Long term the goal is to get the interior ready for tank interior paint. Some stay bolt tell tales still need cleaned out and the stay bolts that need to be removed need to be removed. Those are the projects that will be receiving some attention over the week and for the foreseeable future weekends.
SAFETY SENSE
Let’s look at some quick facts about burn injuries….
· Burn Injuries Receiving Medical Treatment Per Year: 500,000
· Fire and Burn Deaths Per Year: 4,000
· Hospitalizations for Burn Injury Per Year: 40,000 total, including 25,000 admissions to hospitals with specialized burn centers
· Burn Cause: 46% fire/flame, 32% scald, 8% hot object contact, 4% electrical, 3% chemical, 6% other
· Place of Occurrence: 43% home, 17% street/highway, 8% occupational, 32% other
Although fewer burn injuries occur at work compared to home, the risk is still around us. Steam pipes, electrical arc flashes, hot machine components and chemicals are just a few of the areas where you have exposure to burn injuries.
Your best protection for these types of exposures is awareness. Often, people get burned at work by coming in contact with hot components unexpectedly. They didn’t realize the component was hot or they weren’t aware of their body’s position to the hot object. Take some extra time when around these areas of the Shop to ensure you know the hazard and make a conscious effort to keep away from these hot components.
The other line of defense for these injuries is to wear all proper PPE when working in close proximately to these burn hazards. Whether using rubber gloves when working with chemicals or thermal gloves when dealing with heated metal or steam lines, PPE awareness and knowledge can afford you the protection you need.
SAFETY IS JOB 1
SAFETY FIRST ALWAYS
