Oh No,👂 Air Hose 👂

This is a story about an incident at work, that gave me PTSD with air hoses.

This about an air hose that is used for pneumatic drills or tools.

It all started with an air hose that was casually wrapped around post. It was near the end of the shift, I was just standing by a work cell. I saw the hose. I thought it was a water hose. I pretended to hose down my coworkers.

I asked my coworkers, why was the hose there. I thought it looks out of place. I had in mind to inform the team leader. I forgot.

Couple of days later. I'm working in my own work cell. It was just before our morning meeting. The team leader came out for the meeting. All of the sudden, he's running towards the value stream. He's yelling and in emergency mode.

I was too far away from what was going on behind me. I looked back, I see an air hose swinging back and forth wildly between 2 value streams, maybe a distance of 500 feet.

Here, it was that hose I found earlier.
The hose was live. The set-up person ran into the hose, opening the valve.

From all the witnesses, that hose hit the girl, and knocked down shelves of instruction manuals. 2 people ran in there where the girl was, while the hose was still whipping around.

The team leader was trying to stop people from going there, so they wouldn't get hurt too.

Here, all they had to do was turn off the emergency switch. Then go help.

That became an emergency morning meeting for all departments. The team leader asked, " Does anyone know where the emergency switch is for the air is?". Only a few knew where to find the switch. Each department took the time to learn how to find the emergency switch.

The team leader made us think about what else could have happened. That air hose had a metal pipe on the end. The air pressure could have launched the pipe like a missle. It was swinging wildly, with speed, and great distance.

Ever since that incident, whenever I hear an air hose blowing, I looked to make sure that hose didn't burst and the operator isn't in trouble. I look up too, make sure it's not happening again. It could be any minute an air hose is ready to blow. It happens when the hose gets worn down.

I have seen it happen with a drill, with a sharp drill bit on the end. Drills are heavy and bits are sharp. When an air hose bursts, the gun would be whipping around. The gun could hit someone in the head. The drill bit could stab or poke.

I still freak out when I hear air hoses hissing or blowing. Because I saw all the damages this air hose caused and saw it whipping around.p