Be Careful !

[Toddy]

We all have pieces of kit that we use with almost thoughtless ease that we sometimes forget that others aren't so aware of the potential problems.
An article on BBC Scotland's website this morning kind of brought this topic to mind, and I thought it might not be a bad idea for a thread.
So, Be Careful! .....first up, my Kelly Kettle.

My Kelly Kettle has had a lot of use and I haven't blown myself up with it yet but I know of daft, and downright dangerous things that have been done with it.

Don't feed it cattail heads It goes off like a dozen feather pillows exploding and the mess is unbelievable.

Don't leave the cork in when it's lit, and if you can get hold of a ventilated cover, so very much the better.
We were very lucky and F. realised she had left it in just before the kettle boiled. It still shot off wet splattery steam.

These children in Fife weren't so lucky

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-49567580

It's a good piece of kit, but it needs thought.

Any others come to mind ?

M

 

[Herman30]

Strange that those adults did not realise that with cork on in becomes a pressure cooker.

 

[Wayland]

Easily forgotten if your mind is not quite on the job thought.

That's why I thing the ones with the whistle cap are much better really.

 

[daveO]

Ouch, poor kids. I'll stick to the whistle cap and carry the water separately I think. My M-kettle can be a bit of a health and safety nightmare when it boils because it spits water about and you have to pick it up by the body of the kettle. It also gets burning sticks stuck to the underside which can drop onto things when you're moving it about to pour.

 

[GuestD]

the Kelly kettle incident happened over a year ago.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-44547225

it was very unfortunate and totally avoidable, and I feel so sorry for the children who were injured. I regularly use a kelly kettle with outdoor groups and any kettle used has an accompanying laminated sheet outlining the "donts" obviously in today's age of school teachers, common sense and an understanding of basic physics / chemistry is not a requirement. A quick read of how James Watt discovered "steam power" is a good place to start.

 

[Woody girl]

People's lives are so busy they don't realy slow down enough to think about things properly. They have to make the most of the couple of hours they have and just go at it full tilt. "Enjoying themselves "
We have sped our lives up so much that it becomes difficult to realy slow down and work things out properly. Especially the younger generations. Not that we didn't make some mistake ourselves when younger on occasion it must be said.
Yes anything involving fire and water can be hazardous.
Nasty for that lad though. Lesson learned! Hope he's mended ok.

 

[Toddy]

EDIT: Hah! cross posted with Woody girl

The thing is though, we all have that moment of inattention, we all do stupid things, and thankfully, mostly realise it just as it's done so can be rectified. It's when we don't notice the little things, like the cork in the kettle, which keeps the inside clean when transporting it or storing it.
If you have another cap, then that becomes the instinctive bit about using that and not the cork. My cork is chained onto the kettle though, and is used to stabilise it for easy pouring. I think that's why F. wasn't paying attention when she set it alight with the cork in. We got lucky, and she remembered just before it boiled. It came out with a pop and a splatter of hot wet steam, but it didn't erupt.

Sometimes a heads up thread like this, with the added graphics really does get the message stored in the old neurons though.

M

 

[GuestD]

New People's lives are so busy they don't realy slow down enough to think about things properly

Possibly one of the unseen health and safety hazards. As someone who has volunteered, the amount of unnecessary bureaucracy piled on me in some instances became so intolerable it ruined the whole purpose of the exercise.

 

[Herman30]

People's lives are so busy they don't realy slow down enough to think about things properly.

Aah, perhaps. Myself, having nothing but time, don´t often realise how busy "normal" people are. I have so much time that I´m often even bored.

 

[Toddy]

Reply to Deekin...


Y'know ? that's very true.
I worked for an education charity, doing outdoor stuff in Summer one year. I jest you not, the health and safety documents were as thick as an old fashioned phone book. The real bugbear though, minding that the H&S is just really a thought exercise in what can go wrong, what you can do to alter that outcome, and a balance on risk/benefit, was the daily instructions. It could take nearly three quarters of an hour to just go through them every single day. It's a drag, it's time lost, it reaches the stage where no one really is taking it in anymore.
I suggested that we changed things around, made it a training exercise, used examples with everyone given a turn to put forward experience, but no, that would entail a whole new set of 'what is suitable' type meetings, etc.,

I don't do that kind of work anymore

M

 

[Woody girl]

Possibly one of the unseen health and safety hazards. As someone who has volunteered, the amount of unnecessary bureaucracy piled on me in some instances became so intolerable it ruined the whole purpose of the exercise.

I know what you mean. It's such a pain. No room for spontaneity, so many rules and regs to follow. Makes a mockery of it somehow.

 

[GuestD]

New Reply to Deekin...

I honestly don't mind the health and safety stuff. In my case it was the endless stream of e-mail that I had to contend with on a daily basis that had absolutely no bearing whatsoever on what I was doing. Probably orchestrated by someone to justify their position and salary. Sad thing is no one wants to do the stuff I was doing for this very same reason.

 

[GuestD]

Since reading this post I've spoken to a friend who also takes outdoor groups. From day one, they removed the plug from the Kelly kettle chain, and fitted a simple "T" handle for pouring to avoid any similar accidents, as always there is a simple solution.

 

[Woody girl]

I'm afraid I don't take in health and safety instructions myself. I kind of switch off as you say Toddy. I find I do it automatically anyway and it's pretty much a waste of time for me. When I worked for btcv every morning we had a tool safety talk. Identical to the last one. So bored I switched off for that bit. I just wanted to get on with the days work. I could understand if we had a new person, and a refresher once a month would have been more than enough.
Don't get me wrong. Not against health and safety which is realy a posh name for common sense.. but I don't like it rammed down my throat at every turn.
When I did my c&g in forestry we had a safety talk on each subject then we were expected to heed and remember and act upon. Self responsibility.
Didn't stop the boss turning a tractor over on a steep slope tho ..... I did warn him! he wanted me to drive it , I said no too dangerous he got a pip on and did it himself. Proved me right. He wasn't happy with me on both counts of refusing to do something and being right about the danger. As I say common sense. All his health and safety blurb didn't help one bit.
Still have a laugh about it now. (He wasn't badly hurt just a few bruises and his pride.)

 

[SimonL]

I'm going to have to put my hand up here (no pun intended) and confess to having (on SEVERAL occasions) forgetting that when putting the Kelly on top of the fire base one should NOT do the most instinctive thing and simply grab the handle and lower the kettle onto the base...on the up side, it does generally remind me that once it has boiled, I should be careful to remove it as per the instructions.

 

[petrochemicals]

Health and safety is the thing, compensation etc, anyting dangerous is obviously not allowed and therefore someone else's fault. No one should be supplying anything like a Kelly kettle, pointy knives, sharp knives posonous medical things, so everything is safe. Cotton wool leads to wolly minds imo

 

[Nice65]

Health and safety is the thing, compensation etc, anyting dangerous is obviously not allowed and therefore someone else's fault. No one should be supplying anything like a Kelly kettle, pointy knives, sharp knives posonous medical things, so everything is safe. Cotton wool leads to wolly minds imo

Imagine if someone invented a machine that was powered by thousands of explosions per minute, and all the explosives were stored in a tank sloshing about underneath it! I think many just take it for granted that things are safe, or have been made safe for us, and then get a bit of a shock when something goes wrong.

 

[Janne]

Accidents caused by misfortune will always happen, but many could be avoided if people listened, learned and used their brain.

This thread reminds me of an earlier one, where the OP did not believe in traditional ( my word) teaching methods but was more in favour of the student finding the correct way by himself?

 

[GuestD]

A quote from a friend:

"The more idiot proof you make something, the bigger the idiot becomes that uses it".

My own one:

"Stupidity is nothing new.'

 

[Toddy]

I'm going to have to put my hand up here (no pun intended) and confess to having (on SEVERAL occasions) forgetting that when putting the Kelly on top of the fire base one should NOT do the most instinctive thing and simply grab the handle and lower the kettle onto the base...on the up side, it does generally remind me that once it has boiled, I should be careful to remove it as per the instructions.

I forgot about that one, been there, done that, and got the scorched hand as the chimney did it's job. Such an easy silly move to make.

M