I think that is unfair to label him as "stupid". A lot of people don't know how to use a wood chipper now are familiar with one. We were all "stupid" until we were taught. I do think that if someone is using a dangerous piece of equipment on the job, there needs to be adequate training and instruction.

Really? You are going to call him an "idiot"? Wow. He may have even seen other men do something similar that worked there too. Sheesh.

If you don't have experience with a piece of equipment then you dont' necessarily understand the dangers. And, i have seen men who are experienced with equipment who still manage to chop off one of their fingers or whatever in a moment when they are trying to hurry or whatever. So, yes, what he did was moment in time that was not a smart thing to do. But, to label and judge him as an "Idiot" is really crappy.

Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:

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Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

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Really? You are going to call him an "idiot"? Wow. He may have even seen other men do something similar that worked there too. Sheesh.

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 This is a terrible, terrible thing for the family to suffer through, and my heart breaks for them. 

But sh!t like this makes me angry. 

It was so preventable. Machines like that are PLASTERED in warnings. All you have to do is use an ounce of common semse, amd not try and show off what a bad ass you are on your first day of work. 

Stupid. Careless. Idiotic. 

He had his whole life ahead of him, and threw it away because he couldn't be bothered to take a minute to do the job safely. 

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 Um, it was his FIRST day.  You are supposed to TRAIN people.  Wow.

I said TRAINED.

Accidents happen.

Pretty much ALL accidents are preventable, but thousands of them happen every day.

All the training in the world does not fix stupid.
A local kid completely crushed his arm reaching into a vat to fix it while it was running. He had worked there 4 years, with mandatory safety training every two months.
Another guy broke his leg while walking in a restricted area. Again, mandatory safety training.
The kid cleaning the chopper grew up on a farm, worked on one his whole life. Died doing something he KNEW was dangerous and stupid.

To try and argue that this teen somehow DIDN'T KNOW what he was doing was wrong and dangerous is ludacris. There is no way a machine like that is NOT dangerous.
I am saying he is an idiot for doing what he did, but if you insist that he somehow didn't know it was dangerous, you are giving him even less credit.

huskerbb wrote:

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Accidents happen.

Pretty much ALL accidents are preventable, but thousands of them happen every day.

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 And most of them are caused by normal, decent people doing STUPID STUPID SH!T. 

I don't think any worker of any age should be working with such a dangerous machine on the first day of work without proper training.

lilyofcourse wrote:

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Do you know how many 19 yr olds don't know how to wash dishes?

So putting one to work with a wood chipper with no more instruction than "it goes in here" is ridiculous.

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 And how on earth do you know how much training he got or didn't get? You don't. 

Anyways,  being trained on a piece of equipment like that isn't rocket science. There is the power source, amd the controls, and it is stationary.  You just have to feed in the product, in this case, trees. 

I am 100% sure the machine has guards and warning signs on it. All you have to do with stuff like this is keep your body away from the moving parts. 

Stupid. A needless loss of a bright young life. 

Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:

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lilyofcourse wrote:

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Do you know how many 19 yr olds don't know how to wash dishes?

So putting one to work with a wood chipper with no more instruction than "it goes in here" is ridiculous.

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 And how on earth do you know how much training he got or didn't get? You don't. 

Anyways,  being trained on a piece of equipment like that isn't rocket science. There is the power source, amd the controls, and it is stationary.  You just have to feed in the product, in this case, trees. 

I am 100% sure the machine has guards and warning signs on it. All you have to do with stuff like this is keep your body away from the moving parts. 

Stupid. A needless loss of a bright young life. 

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 I agree, Dona.

flan

p.s. If a 19-year-old does NOT know how to wash dishes, there is something very wrong. Does he know how to wash his face? His hair?

Lawyerlady wrote:

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You'd be amazed how many go off to college not knowing how to work a washing machine.

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 But dishes can be washed by hand.

flan

flan327 wrote:

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Lawyerlady wrote:

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I don't think any worker of any age should be working with such a dangerous machine on the first day of work without proper training.

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 I agree. The fact that he was so young, unfortunately, likely meant that he never thought it could happen to HIM.

flan

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 This. I don't think he was an idiot. I think he was like a lot of teenagers who think they are invincible. 

Lexxy wrote:

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Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:

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lilyofcourse wrote:

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Do you know how many 19 yr olds don't know how to wash dishes?

So putting one to work with a wood chipper with no more instruction than "it goes in here" is ridiculous.

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 And how on earth do you know how much training he got or didn't get? You don't. 

Anyways,  being trained on a piece of equipment like that isn't rocket science. There is the power source, amd the controls, and it is stationary.  You just have to feed in the product, in this case, trees. 

I am 100% sure the machine has guards and warning signs on it. All you have to do with stuff like this is keep your body away from the moving parts. 

Stupid. A needless loss of a bright young life. 

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 You would be surprised how often guards are removed.  Since OSHA is investigating I hope for the sake of the business owner that the guards are in place.

What a horrible way to die.

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 Guards get removed all the time, that is true,  but some pieces of equipment you just have to be smart around. And he was not.

Reminds me of a neighbor (farmer) we had when I was growing up. His combine stopped on him and he (stupidly) put his hand in to pull out the stalks, etc. that were blocking it and, yep, took his hand off. Believe it or not, a year later he did the same thing (the other hand, of course). I could never figure out why he did this either time. He was a great guy, good farmer, etc. Just not thinking, I guess. Maybe this kid was the same way, just did not think about how dangerous this wood chipper was. Tragedy for him....

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:

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huskerbb wrote:

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We don't know that he wasn't trained.

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 Um yeah we do.  It was his first day.  Duh.

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So?  When do you think they would train you for a wood-chipper job? Day 30?   

He probably just did what he saw one of the other guys do several times.

Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:

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huskerbb wrote:

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He probably just did what he saw one of the other guys do several times.

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 Maybe, maybe not.  Not all guys are fvcking stupid around dangerous equipment.

But lots are.

My BF os going to die doing something he knows damn well is dangerous, and I will be SO VERY ANGRY.

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That's probably how they get it to "go".  The older guys have probably done it hundreds of times.  I'm not even sure how it would have pulled him in, but this time it did.   

He was probably so excited about having the job and wanting to impress that his emotions clouded any training he had or warnings. He was young and that is how young minds roll. Very sad.

Training on a woodchipper takes, at most, about 10 minutes.

[Begin Woodchipper Training]
On/Off switch is here ->
Wood goes in here ->
You feed it in like so (show example by feeding in a dozen or so limbs)
Wood chips come out here ->
Got it?
[End Woodchipper Training]


I'm sorry for his family, but this kid was an idiot and he Darwin'ed himself.

He made a tragic mistake. People make mistakes. But, labeling people as "idiots" or giving them "Darwin" awards seems pretty ignorant. It's like heaping scorn on the dead. I just find that pretty rude.

Lawyerlady wrote:

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Sometimes accidents are just accidents.

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   I agree with that.  That doesn't make him a "stupid, moronic, idiot who deserved to die aka Darwin" .  Yeah, we are human beings.  Things happen.  That doesn't mean their child was 'stupid".  Obviously what he did was a bad decision.  But, we have all done things.  I wouldn't label my child as being a "stupid idiot" for making a mistake or making a poor decision once in awhile.  This mistake just happened to be lethal.  

I think we all done things when we were young that just by the Grace of God we survived. I feel so sorry for his family and for his boss. I'm sure he is blaming himself.