History in the making!
The Fluid Power Safety Institute launches a new era in Fluid Power Safety
The Fluid Power Safety Institute makes history by releasing the first in a series of safety DVD’s aimed at hydraulic safety. According to FPSI’s Founder and Director, Rory S. McLaren, hydraulic safety can no longer be ignored while accidents related to hydraulics, and especially “near-misses,” reach epidemic proportions.”
According to Mr. McLaren, “hydraulic safety is a “top down” problem – system design engineers; safety officials; supervisors and managers; and, State and Federal safety organizations, generally aren’t exposed to hydraulic safety issues. The net result, operators and technicians – the people in the trenches – routinely service and repair hydraulic systems by trial-and-error: accidents are inevitable!”
According to FPSI’s Director, “the industry’s most urgent problem is preventing debilitating oil injection injuries, so we made this our first priority.”
High-pressure injection injuries are becoming increasingly prevalent. Their innocuous appearance leads to underestimation of their severity and results in significant morbidity. An early referral to a hand surgeon may help in reducing morbidity.
The nature of the substance injected (volume, viscosity, and toxicity) the sight of injection; dispersal; pressure of injection; and delay in surgical treatment are believed to be the main factors that contribute to the outcome of injection injuries.
Most patients will require extensive postoperative hand therapy, prolonged healing time, and will usually be left with long-term motor and sensory deficits.
“The Lethal Strike” is an exceptional safety presentation, which focuses on the correct pre-hospitalization management of oil injection injuries. It is an absolute “must see” for everyone in the hydraulics industry – no exceptions!
www.fluidpowersafety.com

I'm all for safety, but $475 worth?

Jos;
Sales of Fluid Power Safety and Training material is not one of the most lucrative businesses in the world.

To get any return on an invesment of Fluid Power training stuff the up front price is usually high. Of course that means only larger companies and the government buys the stuff.

Most of the time the main reason for writing Fluid Power material is for the personal use of persons doing Fluid Power training. That way it is spread over the cost of many participants.

That is also why a lot of Fluid Power books have been prsented in H&P Magazine over the years. At least there is some satisfaction of seeing more persons getting the information. On top of that you always get paid for the material.

Mr. Cosford:
I applogize for the error in pricing the DVD - it is in fact $275.00
However, i'm offended! Does safety actually have a price? In 1995 I befriended an accident victim. After a month in the hospital they presented his family with a bill for $500,000.00. After three months his bill was one million dollars. He will never embrace his little girl or his lovely wife (he had no health insurance, and the State of Idaho, at the time, offered no worker's compensation for farm workers).
An unrelated accident that I investigated resulted a $140 million dollar lawsuit after the victim lost half of his face, and is now blind.
A safety DVD may very well have averted both of these (and other) senseless tragedies!
However, let me remind our audience what costs are associated with treating an injection injury. Undoubtedly an injection injury involves a trip to the ER and inevitably a visit to a hand surgeon. The surgical procedure usually lasts about two hours (depending on toxicity of injected materials, delay in treatment, volume, etc). There is a high probability that there will be additional surgery. The most recent victim of an oil injection, whom I interviewed underwent two, two-and-a-half hour surgeries. His bill totalled $75,000.00. He underwent extensive rehabilitation for five months - obviously during this time he did not work. He still suffers from limited hand mobility and pain.
Another victim had five surgeries after being injected in the hand. The last one was to amputate his arm - however, the tide turned and his arm was spared.
The people who purchase my hydraulic safety DVD's - or any safety DVD's for that matter - must decide if the price outweighs the investment, bearing in mind that injection injuries have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Let me hasten to add: regrettably, "hydraulics" is not a recognized occupational hazard. Accordingly, their are no data regarding near-misses associated with oil injection injuries. This begs the question: How many people who work on and around hydraulic systems have almost been injected with hydraulic oil?
Incidentally, the victim who is the subject of this discussion was a tow-truck driver. He was injected while looking for a leak within a bundle of hoses, which is typically when an injection injury is most likely to occur
One other item - I hired a professional film crew and a cast which included a hand surgeon. We filmed in a heavy equipment shop, an emergency room, the hand surgeon's office, and other locations. This was a very expensive undertaking.
If people feel my DVD's are too expensive, I suggest they visit my website where they can get free information about injection injuries, and other hydraulic safety issues.
What we must all agree on is that people need to be informed about hydraulic safety so they are empowered to make the right decisions and avoid accidents. www.fluidpowersafety.com
Respectfully,
Rory S. McLaren

I think it's a great idea, but how can you put ANY price on safety? Should a Joe Schmoe shop be discluded from safe workplace practices because he cannnot afford $275?

I apologize though, as I can find no fault in someone trying to help others. The state of Canadian health care is much different than it is there, so it's hard for me to relate to arbitrary medical bills. If I had a health concern, the government would do everything it is capable of to make me better, regardless of cost. So it's easy for me to assume that workplaces in the US are much more conscious of work related injury, making a DVD like this more lucrative there.

Dear Josh:
Apology accepted. As a matter of interest, I donate the books I have written and my PowerPoint presentations - now my DVD's to company's and people who legitimately cannot afford it. I agree with you, no one should be denied the opportunity to receive safety training or health care because of cost. With respect to healthcare, you are fortunate to live in a country where people cannot be denied healthcare based on their ability to pay.
I wish you and your company continued success.
Kindest regards,
Rory S. McLaren

Rory stated:

quote:

As a matter of interest, I donate the books I have written and my PowerPoint presentations - now my DVD's to company's and people who legitimately cannot afford it.

I have been grateful many times over the years for the giving atmosphere in the Fluid Power field. I would have had a lot harder time gettiig information and learning Fluid Power had it not been for the Hydraulics & Pneumatics Magazine publishing complete books from knowledgeable persons. Also, for the giving of free literature on several occasions.

I can testify to the fact that making a return on the investment of writing and printing of Fluid Power books will not pay the rent or put money in the bank. The interst is just no there.

I applaud your efforts to raise the awareness of the dangers, and how to mitigate them through education. Safety, is a complex issue and difficult to sell. How do you justify the expense of prevention, of an accident that didn't occure. I dealt with this issue in over 20 years of both government and commercial aviation. Fortunately or unfortunately, the cost of the machinery was very high, so people could be persuaded to listen. Keep up the pressure, so to speak. Safety is everybody's business.

P.S. My awareness fo the dangers, as a consumer, have been elevated by my exposure to this forum. I am impressed by the selflessness I find here.

If they can't afford or are just too cheap to call a hydraulic shop for service, they probably won't splurge on a safety dvd so they don't blow their hands off! Hmmm, 10000 p.s.i... nothin' to worry about mate, it's just a little oil!!!