Classroom Idea

I teach woodworking in Desamparados, Costa Rica. As a motivating safety tool, I had the idea of hanging rather large and gruesom photos of injuries incurred during woodwork. What do you guys think of this idea? And does anyone have photos they are willing to share?

The "saw-stop" video's are always great,
Youtubing table saw kickback is a great intro to setting up a saw and using the saftey gear.

Not sure it will help. Kids think they are 10 foot tall and bulletproof, but try it and see.

If you need images try a GOOGLE image search on power tool injuries or somethin similar like table saw injuries. Lots of blood, missing meat and long rows of stitches. Power grinders and sanders can do some impressive meat removal.

Good Luck with this project.

When I was in shop class, the most motivating safety feature was the fact that my shop teacher had nine fingers.

Perhaps teaching people to safely use the machines would have a better outcome.

I would use caution. I teach Design and Technology, as well as metalwork. I was teaching Year 11 metal, a lesson on workplace injuries. I googled it on the screen at the front of the classroom and the class was quickly confronted with large images of the aftermath of a metal lathe accident. Basically we were looking at a headless corpse draped around a lathe splattered with blood and brain. Far more gruesome than I had intended.

I did show some of my students images of de-gloving injuries, which convinced them to remove jewellery around machinery.

Back in the day... We watched these shop-disaster movies in my shop class. Nobody used the power tools for weeks. We all found hand tool projects to work on.

oudin said:

I teach woodworking in Desamparados, Costa Rica. As a motivating safety tool, I had the idea of hanging rather large and gruesom photos of injuries incurred during woodwork. What do you guys think of this idea? And does anyone have photos they are willing to share?

Click to expand...

A trail of dripping blood on the workshop floor normally works.

I think it is a horrible idea. I taught woodworking to middle and high school students for many years and also taught adult classes at night. My approach was always to teach students how to properly and safely set up and use each machine, watch carefully while they demonstrated proficiency, and then monitor the shop closely while students were working. The result: eleven years of teaching, no accidents, and a lot of beautiful work out the door (and some not so beautiful work...but beauty is in the eye of the beholder).

The goal was always to develop people who were confident in their abilities and respectful of the tools...hand tools and machines alike. The last thing I wanted in the shop was a bunch of tentative woodworkers frightened and spooked by the stupidity or bad fortunes of others.

Just my approach.

It may just be me, but stuff like that didn't work on me back when I was in shop. I had good teachers who instilled proper tool use which I think was much more helpful.

I do remember one of the 'scare' movies 30 years later, however. It was a guy who got metal chips in his eyes and was blinded. Throughout the movie he folded and unfolded a walking cane probably at least a dozen times every time he moved, to show us what we could expect if we weren't careful. But the part that sticks with me is him saying is 'my safety glasses were in my pocket, lot of good they did me there'. I still say 'lot of good they did me there' for all kinds of things, but I don't think that's what I was supposed to take away from the film.