How much of a hazard can a pop rivet gun be?
We all know any tool can be dangerous, but a pop rivet gun is real simple. Drill your hole, place a pop rivet in and squeeze the handle. Simple? Well maybe not for some.
One of our female employees, (and she did give permission for this story, but out of respect, I will not name her) has a great safety track record for many years. That is until last week.
She starts with pop riveting a gable vent together as she does every day. The slats on the vent are lining great and she starts to pick up her speed. After about ten vents, she is really doing great and pumping out the vents. About half way through her last vent for the day, I hear a faint high pitch squeal like she may have pinched her finger. I look over and see her biting her lip and holding her arms crossed with her hands tucked in behind her arms. I asked what happened and she said she was just going to go home. I asked to see her fingers to make sure she didn't need medical attention. She showed me her fingers without a mark on them. But, she was still doubled over and had a painful look on her face as she began the "laugh it off" face. She finally stood up straight and said, "The pop rivet gun pinched my nipple." To keep from laughing too much in front of her, I gave her the rest of the day off and laughed all the way to quitting time. I have never seen or even heard of such. And I was not qualified to see if that required a band aid.
The next morning, she came back to work just fine and walked over to her station. She looked down, gave the pop rivet gun an evil look and said it was not going to get her again.
Later that day, it struck back. She had been smacking it around and cursing it for the pinching incident the day before. This time she had just popped a rivet and the rivet end did not properly dislodge and fall out. As she flipped the gun in her hand to load the next rivet, the pointy end stabbed her hand in the meaty portion between her first finger and thumb. The pop rivet gun then took a flying lesson, which it failed miserably. All her life, she has used these tools and many other, more dangerous tools and never had a scratch. But this pop rivet gun, she swears is possessed.
I did get her a new pop rivet gun. So far, so good.
To see the gable vents like the ones she was making, visit shop.onyxxteriors.com
