Too many near misses in work?

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Over the last two weeks there have been two very lively experiences both involving hydraulic jacks. We are making a large 40 ton metal duct and the first incident happened while trying to fit a flange to the end of the duct. Because the flange was a little bit bigger by the time it was welded 90% the way around the "little bit bigger" turned into a massive gap that needed closing (the duct is 13mm thick steel so its not easy). We used two 20 ton bottle jacks, a large 15mm plate cut into an "L" shape and welded the plate on the flange leaving a gap to the jack to fit in to push the duct down. All 3 of is know a half decent weld when we see one and all have welding codings and this weld look perfectly fine to us and the guy that welded it on was a good welder. Welds day in day out for years.

After pumping away on this jack this L shaped plate just cracked its entire weld and flew into the air flying right over us and narrowly missing one guy. It was a massive bang and got everyone's attention that was for sure!!.

The week later this duct needed to be lifted at one end to put a roller in. We put two jacks on either side of the nearest roller and started pumping, even though it was on nice flat metal plates one of them just gave way and shot out sideways which is scary considering you need to stand less than a meter away to pump them and they each weigh 31kg.

Everyone is well seasoned at doing this stuff in work and yet that still happened. I have no idea what it's like for other people in similar environments but if you work in a warehouse, building site, factory or heavy industry is freak accidents like that common too or am I just unlucky? That besides an even closer call a few months ago (involving a 75 ton punch shattering) makes me worry a bit if the job I'm in is genuinely too dangerous to consider long term.

It does seem scary. Statistically I did a job that was paid a small amount of danger money due to it being in the top 10 most dangerous jobs which was a train conductor (Used to be known as a guard). It was the coupling up and uncoupling of coaching stock which I regard was the most dangerous, and one lived in faith because one had to ask the driver to check he or she had switched off the ETH power supply because it was such a heavy current (750 volts D.C.. I don't remember the amps) that if it was not turned off when we unplugged it, even though we were not physically touching the live ends, it would mean certain death. The last few months I worked this I happened to work with a driver from another depot who had a grudge against staff from our depot and he was doing all he could to make my job as unpleasant as he could. (I very nearly quit the job there and then the first day I worked with him doing this, but I was at the furthest point from my depot so it would have been days of walking to get home).

But anyway... Engineering works. I did a few weeks many years ago when in collage as work experience and most of the time I was turning down ramtrees on a big industrial lathe, and hand cutting slots in them. I had blisters on top of blisters! There were a few interesting events while I was there. One involved lifting a large new (Secondhand but this type of lathe was relatively new in those days) CNC lathe from a lorry and into the works. This involved five of us to cling onto the back of the fork lift truck so we could counter balance the lathe and the fork lift truck was balancing on just its two front wheels as a pivot and was turning (Swiveling) because its back wheels that steer were not on the floor.
Another time was when they needed to start the fork lift truck early one frosty morning. It was a diesel. I did not know much about diesels, so when I saw them light newspapers and put them under the engine to warm it up I jumped the hedge and was lying down flat on the ground with my fingers in my ears waiting for the thing to explode! Haha! They thought it was funny!
I was a bundle of nurves working there though because they had big stamping machines to press out what looked like steel hats but flatter. They had taken on a big contract with the MOD to supply these components which were the top half of land mines. The stamping machines would give a big wallop and shake the ground every time they stamped out one of these components and I don't like sudden bangs.
Also, the work enviroment where some of the men would be "Firey" and could quickly errupt into a fit of temper without warning swearing away was not my scene. My Dad could be a bit like that and for me the enviroment was a bit tense, as my Mum and I are the complete opposite.
But though it was hard work for the few weeks I worked there, I learnt a bit and the experience was one that I am glad to have had because even though I did not take on such a profession, it gave me a background of what it was like and one does get the sense of achievement that one is making things even though the ramtrees only lasted a few seconds in use etc. I did also get to skim the head of an engine on one machine, and I spent hours painting newly made metal garden furniature with black paint in the bright summers sunshine where is was soo easy to miss bits! I had to do a few bits I had missed again when the boss inspected them and saw little areas that I had not seen. Not easy painting in such bright sunshine!

In regards to safety. It is a case of trying not to put oneself in positions of danger. I cringe when I see my brother use car jacks while working on his car as if I have to work on my car I have two jacks and at least one or two axle stands and I am only lifting one wheel! My mind is far too visual so I can visualize the worst so I will overdo the safety which annoys others on occasions.

What I will say is that only you know if you think it is safe to work. If the risks are too high, your life is important. I don't know what can be done to make things safe. If there are ways then it is worth recommending them or making suggestions. No doubt the factory owners will be greatful if there is found to be a safer way because these days an injury can cost them their business if things go wrong. I realize that it is not always so easy to find ways to make a risky work safe.

It is scary when the unexpected happens and flies past ones head!
Mind you, this can happen not just in work.
I have not worked since the last burnout as it really hit me hard, and thankfully this time I understood what it was as in the past I was suffering big time and not even knowing why I could not do things.
I am concerned though as still my motor control is somewhat effected. I would like to be back to how I was several years ago. I don't mind working as long as I am able to work without anxiety and the effects of burning out. Unfortunately, it has been a downward spiral sincejust before I left the railway where I hit the first burnout. Did not have a clue what was happening. I just quit the job as I knew I could not carry on... Quit a few jobs since like that and the last three jobs were tempory part time jobs so I was just about able to finish them though it cost me quite a bit to reach that point.
But anyway. When I last worked as a bicycle mechanic (I have done that job on and off over 25 years which is my secondary special interest, railways and trains etc being my main special interest), for me the worst thing that scared me was a tyre blow out. It did not happen often but I was triply checking every tyre I would inflate despite all the years of working... Somehow it was such a loud bang which really set my nurves on edge for months! The worst part was where I would see the tyre give way under my hands as I tried to hold the thing while tryingto reach for the valve! You get the picture! Haha!
I am very "Nurvy" when pumping up tyres, though stress while working seemed to hit me anyway?
It is wierd because outwardly no one else noticed, yet inwardly I was going through quite a time. Somwhow outwardly I did not display this? Other then when I had a full shutdown which sometimes I could hide, or say something while I recovered from the floor like "I needed a rest", or if I was face down on the floor when I was recovering from a full shutdown I would say "I was looking for a little washer or a nut etc". (As for all my life my family and others assumed I was faking it I learnt ways to try to hide them so I did not get blamed, as there is nothing worse then being told off when one is powerless to respond and if one is starting to recover so one can try to speak, one risks another shutdown if one does speak!). But the last time I worked I was experiencing whole strings of partial shutdowns one after the next after the next and I was constantly fighting off full shutdowns. It was absolutely exhausting!

Uhmm. I am not helping... Oops. Getting carried away.

How to make work enviroment safe? That is a hard one for unexpected and unforseen events. Is easier if one can prodict and visualize. Example is of a car jack under a car. Have an axle stand as a back up etc. Not sure what to say in regards to your line of work as I can't visualize the items you are working with. Would it be possible to weld extra support brackets onto the seam which came off?

Dang, this is the reason why I would never want to work in this type of job (factory, welding, industrial labor, etc.) Here are some questions that you might want to ask yourself:
1. If you quit this job is there a viable job that offers a comparable amount of salary? I can't speak for Wales but where I live due to the economic situation if I quit my job my choices are: a) work as an Uber driver/delivery b) work at the Amazon warehouse c)work at Costco or another big retail store d) go on unemployment
Luckily my job in the education field is enjoyable and relatively safe (although if the budget situation continues that might change).
2) If you quit this job and cannot find work, what safety nets are available:
Here in the U.S. we had a $600 per week stimulus for unemployed people by the federal government in addition to state unemployment but that is over and depending on the state you live in you might get $300 per week or you might be out of luck. (As a side-note someone I know filed for unemployment in March and is only now receiving the unemployment funds but has only received a tiny amount of what he filed for). Luckily where you live the safety net should be more generous and efficient.
3)If you have to stay at the job because it is the only financially viable path, how long will it be before you save enough money to have 3-6 months of expenses paid while you look for something else.

*Okay so you might be wondering why I didn't put stay at your job for the long haul as a thing to consider. You had two near-miss incidents in a short period of time. Those incidents bothered you enough for you to post here on the forum. Whether it is being unlucky, the work place being unsafe, whatever the reason if your job is causing this much anxiety it is likely time to start weighing your options.*