Injuries from dredging

[Sick4gold]

I was with my dredging buddy yesterday and we take turns dredging. The guy not dredging watches and occasionally tests tailings, watches the box, clears rock jams, when he isn't doing anything he is the rock guy.
It was an exceptionally muddy day and you couldnt see anything at all. I was clearing a rock jam in the power jet for him and it was a hell of a jam. I was ramming the pole hard and was very much trying to avoid a shut down to remove the hose when BAM!
I caught my ring finger on the machined screw that the punch plate wing nut screws down onto.
It filleted my finger from the nail back to the 2nd knuckle. After I finally got the bleeding to stop I put my glove on and when it was my turn to dredge it hurt but I sucked it up...
About 10 minutes in a piece of glass or a razor or the sharpest rock on the planet sliced through a Kevlar glove and cut the same finger wide open on the inside.
It's a clean cut so so butterfly bandages are ok but I probably should have gotten stitches.
As soon as it stops seeping blood in a few days I'm sure ill be back at it.

I wonder what injuries other people have gotten while dredging?

 

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[Fullpan]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Better have stitches.

The most common injuries are slip/falls in late summer when the algae starts to cover streamside rocks. Another one while dredging tired is smashed fingers,
mis-judging when you move large rocks to waste pile.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

never wear loose clothes or jewelry while working around machines...of any type.
wait until you go to take off a battery cable and that gold ring makes contact....

 

[MikeMike]

My 2" pressure hose slipped off of the jet. I was yelling at him to turn the engine off. He couldn't hear me and was trying to grab the hose. He got it, then it slipped out of his hands and the hose clamp split his finger open.

Now, I use two clamps and slid the hose past the jet connection and secure it there And the regular place.

When others (non dredgers) go with me I go over what to do and some cool hand signals my buddy showed me.

 

[okbasspro]

Never let the nozzle get close to your regulator. A 4 inch can take it up hose faster than you can grab it back.

 

[Hoser John]

Err on the side a caution as there are many-thousands of nasty critters in every drop of creek water. See a doc man. After a crushed finger I took docs advice,waited 5 days to check for infection,slathered it up with neosporin to waterproof and slipped on a finget cot(think finger rubber) to seal the deal and went back to work. My crushed finger looked cool man -like a beautiful red rose with a bone sticking outta the center,worst injury ever mining-John

 

[63bkpkr]

Be safe not sorry, take care of that damaged digit as having it become infected will ruin more than your dredging for a week and you could loose it!........................63bkpkr

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you sliced yourself on a bolt, you need to take a file and round that sharp sucker down! I have smashed all my fingers over the last few years. I think I smashed my left index finger a dozen times last weekend! I can't believe it's not black and blue. Somehow that one keeps slipping over the edge of the nozzle at just the wrong times. Always wear gloves, rocks can be very sharp and it helps lessen the pain when those big rocks fly out of nowhere to smash fingers on the nozzle.

 

[Hoser John]

Ol Lanny D was quite a site from a winch accident on the trinity,running as fast as he could to the truck with a filthy rag on his stomach(trying to retain guts) and yet another to his face where his eye shoulda been....seen 100s a these type of incidents when logic,common sense and caution was thrown to the wind in the name a gold fever greed sic sic sic-John PS-or poor Larry who retired from SMUD just to die on the SF American a few days later because his partner forced him into a ungodly spot I told him to NEVER EVER even go near. Peer pressure not to be a woosey kilt him deader than a doornail the VERY FIRST DAY and then crawdad food.......many dangers and not many 2nd chances