Stay focused on safety

[Ed Allegretti]

I dodged a bullet today when a car I was unloading ran over my fingers. I literally thought I had amputated my fingers. Appears no major damage, I probably won't be a guitar hero but all the digits are still on. Here's what happened: the car was a junk had a broken rear axle and locked up front brakes. I dragged it on the deck. All 4 wheels locked up but it was raining today so no dollies or skates. Front wheels turned all the way due to accident damage.. When unloading I unhooked the winch 1st because I reattached it with a snatch block to winch it off the deck. As soon as I tilted the deck the car rolled off the side/end and fast running over my hand that was resting on the rail. The ride must have loosened up the wheels. So lesson learned [1] don't camp out the free hand on the deck [2] don't assume the car is jammed up [3] remember when the winch is slack and [4] the safety mindset doesn't stop once your off the highway. I was afraid to remove my glove while I was in shock and couldn't feel any of my fingers. 

[yoBdaBenO]

Plenty of safety reminders for our meeting tomorrow. Thanks Ed for sharing on TowForce, hope it's much better now. I've done one finger, Ice right away takes away the sting. Dad used to talk about how he got his finger caught in the car door when he was very young. Says the doors were real metal back then. LOL sorry it had to hurt.....

[Ed Allegretti]

So it looks like I scribbled on my finger with a black magic marker but everything works ok. What had happened is the driveshaft rusted into 2 pieces must have happened when I was winching it on. That's why it wasn't in park anymore when I tilted the deck. The stupid thing is I know better than to get under or in front of a car that's not strapped in case it slides off but I didn't access the whole situation properly to think and understand that the wheels were pointing towards me at the controls.  I really was only thinking that it was going to be a b&tch to get off the deck and why did I even take the job due to the muddy mess that it was. 

[yoBdaBenO]

We hold regular meetings on these topics even if not all the drivers are present. If that's the case then we review it again the next week. I've held a meeting with just myself, then did the very same meeting the next week. These are actually safety meetings but we go over much more so I dropped safety for mandatory meeting. What mandatory meeting means in towing I don't know, but it sounds good. We've been so busy the past few weeks this will be our first meeting in 3 weeks now. Much to share in an hour, it's gonna run over as there is always some conversation and debate.