[OG68]

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I think we all have said this to our kids or apprentices at one time or another. As a retired electrician I definitely know better and have had a few incidents over the last 50 years. But by the Grace of God I shouldn't be here.

The latest was a few days ago. While not life threatening it was a wake up call.
I was installing a pair of 6 volt batteries in my trailer. As I was tightening up the last cable connection the hand turning the ratchet and my wedding ring touched the other terminal. A nice arc took out a millimeter chunk of my ring but a second later I felt PAIN!
Over 200 amps heated up my ring where it burned into my ring and middle fingers. It was so hot that I burned the fingertips of my other hand as I was trying to get it off. Of course I was alone in the storage yard but had the presence of mind to remember I had a first aid kit behind the seat of my truck. A little first aid and I felt good enough to finish the job and go home. My fingers were blistered with some skin missing but it didn't look too bad. A few days later the fingers were swollen as the healing process toke place. (photos)
I finally decided to go to Urgent Care where the doctor said it looked good, gave me some antibiotics and said "Don't do that anymore".
It's now been six days, my fingers are really nasty looking but healing, so I'm saying...

REMOVE ALL JEWELRY FROM YOUR HANDS AND WRISTS WHEN DOING ELECTRICAL WORK!