The morning a 200 pound boiler tube kicked back on me in Gary

I was working on a rerating job at the old steel mill in Gary, Indiana, back in 2017. We were pulling out some worn out superheater tubes, and I was on the end of a 10 foot section. Didn't realize the guy on the other side had already cut his end loose. When I gave mine a final tap, the whole tube sprang out of the saddle and swung right at my gut. Knocked me clean off the staging, landed flat on my back on the deck about 6 feet down. Bruised three ribs and busted the screen on my face shield. Honestly, it was pure luck I didn't break anything worse. The whole crew just stopped and stared for a minute before the foreman yelled at me to get checked out. Has anyone else had one of those "it happened so fast" moments where you didn't even have time to yell a warning?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora5355d ago

Always yell "heads up" before cutting anything loose.

mason_jackson5d ago

Yeah and don't just yell it either. Make eye contact with the people below first. Too many times I've seen guys yell "heads up" while already swinging the line. By the time someone looks up it's too late. Got a nasty cut on my arm once from a rigging line I didn't see coming. Now I always wait until I see them look up and step back before I cut anything loose. Even if it slows things down a bit.