# Man goes through woodchipper and survives **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 30, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166 "2014-01-30T21:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/1 "2014-01-30T21:54:38Z")
[Story here](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/washington-man-sucked-wood-chipper-survives-report-article-1.1596511). I don’t know if I’d call a broken leg, hip, punctured lung and other injuries “being lucky,” unless you consider the alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/2 "2014-01-30T21:59:01Z")
I’m thinking that a career as a wood-chipper-unjammer just isn’t the safest. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/3 "2014-01-30T22:54:32Z")
Maybe not the point here, but it doesn’t say a whole lot for the wood chipper. If I am chipping, I plan on not ending up with man-sized or larger pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/4 "2014-01-30T23:05:13Z")
Admittedly, he started out somewhere inside rather than being fed in via the chute, so perhaps that was part of what saved him. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/5 "2014-01-30T23:11:57Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Maybe not the point here, but it doesn’t say a whole lot for the wood chipper. If I am chipping, I plan on not ending up with man-sized or larger pieces. Yeah, I’m picturing a bunch of Mafia hitmen, serial killers, and Third World dictators crossing that particular model off their lists. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/6 "2014-01-30T23:15:48Z")
In the Navy, we had bright red Danger Tags. If we were working inside or close enough to a dangerous piece of equipment, we would turn it off, unplug it (if possible), and hang these bright red Danger Tags on the switches/levers/etc that might turn it back on. These rules were very, very rarely broken – and if they were, the violator was in incredibly serious trouble, up to and including being discharged from the Navy less or other than Honrably. I always assumed most industries had rules like this, and I wonder what safety rules were broken in this case. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/7 "2014-01-30T23:31:52Z")
At the steel mills I worked at we had lock boxes. A steel box with several holes punched in the sides and lid. When a machine was shut down it had padlocks put on the switches to keep it from being turned on. The keys from this were then put into the lock box. Everyone who was working on the locked-out machine had their own padlock (and the only keys for it) which was then put on the lock box. The machine could not be turned on until every person involved removed their lock and was accounted for. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/8 "2014-01-30T23:43:05Z")
Yeah, that should have been locked out. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/9 "2014-01-31T00:02:06Z")
Oh my gosh, there’s a related story link of a 6-year-old helping his father on a tree removal job and getting sucked into the chippa. What was the dad thinking. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/10 "2014-01-31T00:06:42Z")
If I had survived that, I’d be feeling quite chipper. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/11 "2014-01-31T00:10:57Z")
He went into it, but I don’t see how he could have survived going through one. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/12 "2014-01-31T00:12:17Z")
I can’t stop thinking of Fargo. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/13 "2014-01-31T00:31:26Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > I can’t stop thinking of Fargo. …if they recast that role with Bret from _Flight of the Conchords_. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/14 "2014-01-31T00:47:44Z")
In Hartville Ohio, we had a local mulch yard send out two guys to feed tree branches into a chipper. One guy forgot to let go. Not much left of him to take to a hospital. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/15 "2014-01-31T01:41:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > In the Navy, we had bright red Danger Tags. If we were working inside or close enough to a dangerous piece of equipment, we would turn it off, unplug it (if possible), and hang these bright red Danger Tags on the switches/levers/etc that might turn it back on. In an industrial safety training class I once attended, they went on to say that after the machine had been locked and tagged out (and there is often a list or procedure with photos), you should ask an operator to try to start the machine. Sometimes, there are other energy sources that are overlooked like compressed air lines or multiple electrical supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/16 "2014-01-31T02:00:42Z")
Lock-out, tag-out. Live by it or die by it. There will probably be a large OSHA fine coming down the road. And if the company can show documentation that this guy had been properly trained on lock-out/tag-out he will probably get fired after he recovers. I attend training each year, and sign the paperwork that documents the training, and if I so much as break my finger due to a personal lock-out/tag-out error then I will be trotted right out the door. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/17 "2014-01-31T02:18:59Z")
For those not familiar with what we are talking about when referring to lock-out/tag-out here is a picture of a locked out power source. > **[safetypartnersltd.com](http://ww38.safetypartnersltd.com/lock-out-tag-out-training-and-its-importance-in-the-workplace/?subid1=20230613-0041-3316-8a0a-e2f804459f06)** > > This domain may be for sale! There could be up to 6 individual locks on this power source and each one can only be removed by the person whose lock it is. So that if multiple people are working on the same piece of equipment, or in the same powered area, they do not have to keep track of what the other people are doing. The machine or area cannot be reactivated until each person has finished their task and removed their lock. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/18 "2014-01-31T02:48:02Z")
> [@Woodchipper Survivor](#): > > I felt I had a lot of angels out there with me that day psst…Frank…the chipper’s turned off, it’s perfectly safe to jump in. And later on you can stick your hand down the garbage disposal to unjam it…never fear, Frank, remember, we’re looking out for you. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/19 "2014-01-31T02:59:21Z")
He reckons an Angel was looking after him? I reckon the Angel has a twisted sense of humour to turn the thing on in the first place while he was in there. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166/20 "2014-01-31T03:02:40Z")
Look- we’ve all had moments where we wanted to be Steve Buscemi, but it’s just not worth it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-goes-through-woodchipper-and-survives/680166.md?page=2)