Do these people qualify for the Darwin Awards?

It just goes to prove that Darwin is alive and at work culling the weak and stupid.

I have to imagine, none of the people that were involved in any "grinder" accidents intentionally went out of their way to do something they foresaw as unsafe. It is only after the accident when many of them say to themselves, "Damn, I should have ............." You can fill in the blank indicating which lesson was learned.

I had a wire cup brush rip across my face once when it hit a V-belt and bounced upward, knocking off my faceshield and doing a number on my face. Luckily I also wear safety glasses, because they most likely saved my right eye from being damaged. The damage wasn't severe, only a few surface kin was lost. It took a couple of weeks for the scabs to clear.

I had a waitress refuse to serve me at the lunch counter until I washed my face. At first I didn't understand what she meant. Then it struck me that she thought all the scabs were dirt. Man, was she ever embarassed when I told her it wasn't dirt, they're scabs from a grinder accident!

Even when you think you are working safe, there is alway a Gremlin named Darwin waiting to catch you off guard.

Best regards - Al

well when i read this posting i just had ta get back to school to read the manual and box on a brand new dewalt grinder and didn't see anything about removing the guard! instructor read the manual , he didn't see it! and wasn't on the box!

FROM THE DEWALT WEB SITE: 

CAUTION: Guards must be used with all grinding wheels, sanding
flap discs, wire brushes, and wire wheels. The tool may be used
without a guard only when sanding with conventional sanding discs.

http://www.dewaltservicenet.com/documents/English/Instruction%20Manual/657671-00,D28065.pdf

just an honest opinion! Safety is up to the individual! all the reg. and rules in the world cant keep u(the individual) safe if u don't regard your own safety highly by cutting corners or ignoring  and  bypassing things put in place to keep u safe! do something 600 times 599 u get lucky the 1 time is what killed ya! jus cuz it works doesn't mean it's safe! we have a fun saying at school"just cuz ya can,doesn't mean ya should"!  just for general knowledge i want to be referred as a d.w.i.t.s. (dumb welder raised in the south) vs. redneck!

We had a visit not too long ago from the area Business Managers from all the trades working on our project.  The plant owners are not going to allow contractors with high accident rates (OSHA recordables & non-recordables) to even BID on future jobs.  Get ready for even tighter safety regs.

Guys,
To get back to the original topic of grinding without a guard.
15 years on the tools as a pipe welder (pipelines, boilers, refineries etc) and 14 years as a CWI so have got a pretty good idea of what goes on in the real world of welding.
Have I used a grinder without a guard - Yes, many times (7" grinding bead on pipelines and 4" on boiler tubes)
Have I used a grinder without a handle - Yes, many times (as above)
Do I look back now and consider it a foolhardy and dangerous practice - Yes, definitely.

On another safety issue, I have seen hundreds and hundreds of times people using a cut-off saw to cut pipe, reo bar, round bar etc and then use the side of the blade to round the sharp edges off. I will stop them and explain about how they are not designed for that and digging grooves in the side of a blade will severely weaken it and if too much pressure is applied could explode.
Go away and come back 1/2 hour later and same guy doing same thing.
The worrying thing is it could be some poor innocent person who could get injured if a weakened blade explodes because of how someone has been abusing it previously.
Regards,
Shane