Banged up my finger at work!

[ThomR]

I was at work on Tuesday and to make a long story short I ended up sticking the middle finger of my right hand into a small high speed fan. Thankfully nothing was broken, just two dislocated joints and a fair amount of skin damage.
The guard on that fan had apparently came off somehow. The location of the fan is on the top of a vacuum loader that I can't see the top of. I stuck my hand on the top of the vacuum loader to see if it was still hot and it kinda just grabbed onto my finger.
Be praying for a speedy recovery and no complications.

[merlin101]

I guess that'll teach you to keep your finger out of places it doesn't belong!
Glad you didn't lose it!

[country gent]

Hope for a speedy recovery. Painful injury there. Fans can be dangerous. I have seen fingers lost to fans, probably bigger than the one you dealt with but those blades spinning arnt forgiving at all

[ThomR]

I was up on about a 4 foot platform with guard rails on three sides. I'm very very thankful I didn't pass out and fall backwards off the platform.

[ThomR]

I have a picture of my finger if anyone wants to see it.

[00buck]

It not your trigger finger I hope

[country gent]

We had a tradesman lose 3 1/2 fingers in a fan on the roof of the plant. Adjusting the thermostats "on point and had his other hand supporting him inside the fans housing. When the fan kicked on it took part of hand index finger and next along with part of middle finger. To much damage and dirt to reattach. This was a ventilation fan for the plant.

[Geezer in NH]

It not your trigger finger I hope

Appears to be more important.

[ThomR]

It's the middle finger on my right(dominant) hand. The only real damage is past the last joint so I will be fine. I might lose the nail on that finger, and there is a pretty good chunk of skin missing, but no internal damage. I still have feeling in the end of my finger. The last joint was dislocated and the end of the finger was bent at almost a 90 degree angle downwards.

[NyFirefighter357]

I was at work on Tuesday and to make a long story short I ended up sticking the middle finger of my right hand into a small high speed fan. Thankfully nothing was broken, just two dislocated joints and a fair amount of skin damage.
The guard on that fan had apparently came off somehow. The location of the fan is on the top of a vacuum loader that I can't see the top of. I stuck my hand on the top of the vacuum loader to see if it was still hot and it kinda just grabbed onto my finger.
Be praying for a speedy recovery and no complications.

Sound like a lawsuit in the waiting. Can't compete in the weekend shooting matches or Sat. night bowling league. That was the only finger you picked your nose with. Can't sleep, having nightmares of killer fans chasing you. Can't signal to drivers that have cut you off. lol Hope for a speedy recovery.

[jcren]

When I built industrial bandsaws for a living, I lost a lot of hide to carbide burrs in die grinders cleaning up plasma burn holes. Burr would bind and kick out and anything close by was in peril. The worst i saw (on hands any way) was we were loading a huge saw on the truck and one of the guys tried to reposition a block but got his thumb under the saw foot and the entire 6,000 pound saw was set down bfore he hollered. Popped the end of his thumb like a grape.

[abunaitoo]

Did the company report it to OSHA?????
I hope your company is paying for the injury and not charging you for time off.
Workers comp injury.
It is an OSHA violation to have a operational fan, with no guard, working on site.
With the injury, the fine from OSHA will be outrageous.

[ThomR]

Sound like a lawsuit in the waiting. Can't compete in the weekend shooting matches or Sat. night bowling league. That was the only finger you picked your nose with. Can't sleep, having nightmares of killer fans chasing you. Can't signal to drivers that have cut you off. lol Hope for a speedy recovery.

My finger is going to be fine. My time off is paid. This was the first time the guard on any of vacuum loaders had come off and there was no way to tell it was off because it can't be seen by your average person.

[Handloader109]

Well, I banged my left had about 18 months ago while trying to loosen a bolt on my car. I didn't have insurance and with no blood, or true dislocation, I thought it would be OK. Ring finger. It moves fine during the day, but in morning it hurts like all get out to bend it the first couple of times. Good luck....

[ThomR]

My wife changed the bandage on it a few minutes ago. I only have a small sliver of fingernail left, there is a pretty good gash on the right side of the finger and it got skinned up pretty good. Fortunately it doesn't hurt very much now that I got that god forsaken splint off.

[FISH4BUGS]

Man it HURTS just to read these descriptions!

[beemer]

I worked around woodworking machinery all my life, I certainly understand how fast things can happen. Hope for a speedy and full recovery.

[ThomR]

Did the company report it to OSHA?????
I hope your company is paying for the injury and not charging you for time off.
Workers comp injury.
It is an OSHA violation to have a operational fan, with no guard, working on site.
With the injury, the fine from OSHA will be outrageous.

All workplace injuries where I work get reported to OSHA. My time off is compensated. The fan can not be seen from the platform I was standing on. They went a long time without having any injuries at work. They recently had three within a few weeks of each other and got an inspection from OSHA. It's generally a very safe work environment.

[ThomR]

I have an appointment in the morning to see the orthopedic surgeon. I'm expecting they are going to want to perform surgery.

[nylocmik]

Does it look as bad as poor fella?Attachment 225957