5 Replies

Sounds like a worthy cause and an interesting concept.
Dust collection wouldn’t have a chance now :))

woodworking classes, custom furniture maker

hmmm…perhaps you guys could get Clearvue cyclones to sponsor your next trip!

Rob, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Sounds like a worthy charity. Good for you. Looks like they need a shovel more than a DC. Somebody’s going to lose a child in that mess.

Losing fingers since 1969

Sadly an example of why compentency based training was introduced before being allowed near machinery.

It that was me on the trip I would be recommending a stop work and attend a education session (in swahili if necessary) then a clean up before a power up.
The mortality rate in that area of our world is bad enough without adding to it by introducing additional based machine risks.

Just out of interest what were the recommendations and conclusions resulting from the visit?

Regards Rob

To be honest they were not a group we had dealings with. I just saw the millworks as I was walking. As a part of our program with SIDO we provide both technical and business training. The business training is a bit silly, if you ask me, after all a group of rural blacksmiths making axe heads and selling them by the side of the road don’t really need brand awareness training.

We do teach basic safety and what not, mostly how to keep the tools in working order, but the reality is once they get going they do what they need to to get the product to market and there is no one to tell them it’s wrong. They know it’s dangerous. They know that running a planer with broken blades is wrong but they can’t just whip ‘round to Home Depot and get new ones and so the planer gets used. It’s the main reason we don’t send large power tools.

One of the purposes of our trip was to follow up, make sure the tools we provided (not big power tools) were working and being used appropriately.

We do what we can.

-- Alec (Friends call me Wolf, no idea why)