Intro Speaker:

Dave and Bacon's Safety Tales. The only industrial safety podcast that brings you common sense advice, on job site safety, standards, regulations, and industry best practices, without putting you to sleep.

Fred:

Hey Folks. It's time for another exciting episode of Dave and Bacon's Safety Tales. We're happy to have you back. Hope you're enjoying all of our stories, and some of our embarrassing moments. Whether it's some sort of bodily fluid coming out, you know, that's kind of what we're being known for somehow. Whenever I talk to anybody, they're like, "Oh, you told that story about shooting sugar rocket through your pants into the couch."

Dave:

Yeah.

Fred:

Yeah. So, good thing to hear about some of that stuff. But-

Dave:

Hopefully, at least one joke at least, makes somebody laugh, and they maybe remember something versus, just waking up and just doing the same stupid shit every day.

Fred:

You got it. So, once again, we're Fred Radunzel and Dave White, with Quad City Safety. You can find us on all the social media. So, we're Quad City Safety on LinkedIn, and Quad City Safety on Facebook. We're on Twitter at Quad City Safety. So, hit us up if we can help out in any way.

Today, we're going to talk about some Arc Flash risk. The facts and fiction, and some of the stuff that you need to know to kind of protect yourself. So, there's not really anything more catastrophic happening in your [crosstalk 00:01:36] safety than in [crosstalk 00:01:36].

Dave:

If you want to spend a couple minutes just having some fun, if you just Google Arc Flash and you look at the video images of it, it's badass shit. I mean, it is literally cataclysmic bingo, bango, bongo, I mean good stuff to watch. You'll watch people busting into electric panels, and all of a sudden it arcs, and then you'll see like, five dudes on fire running for their lives, and it's not funny but literally, that's why we're having the conversation is, you know, when you look at the non-electrical arcs, it's not like there's a ton of them out there.

It's not like every electrical arcs a couple. It probably happens to an electrician, maybe a couple times in the whole time that they may work in an environment, but when they happen, it's quick. What it does is a lot of damage, just because of the amount of heat that comes really fast, dissipates really fast, and what that heat does to the clothing and everything becomes the nasty stuff.

Fred:

Do you want to talk a little bit about the ... I mean, in regards to us, we sell [crosstalk 00:02:57] so, that's kind of where we fit in, is like all the different PP [inaudible 00:03:02]. Want to talk a little difference between Arc Flash and Flash Fire. I know there's two different standards.

Dave:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, when you look at most of the personal protective equipment that we're trying to find in the market, is there's always been this misnomer of just generically, the word FR. People still, I mean, I would say it will be another 15 years, where people will pick up something that they think is FR, and there's different tests for items that are FR.

So, basically, people generically always hear FR, and they think one size fits all. If it says it's FR, that means it's flame resistant retardant. Whatever R word and that's ridiculous. There's another R word. So, with it being ridiculous is when you look at the some test is like there's the first part of the test, where you kind of light things on fire, and you go, "Does it self-extinguish, and does it only burn so far?" So, that's one way to look at it.

But then there's other tests that get into, like you said, Flash Fire, which is NFPA 2112, and then NFPA 70E, which is a different test. Flash Fire is like, imagine an explosion and the fire goes for, I want to say, the test is for like 20-30 seconds, something like that. So, when it blasts, it blasts for a while, and then it goes out.

Well, it's a hot, but a different thing, and basically what you're looking for is the amount of body burn. When you talk about electrical Arc Flash, you're talking about, again, that electrical arc happening, and when that arc happens, the amount of heat and energy blows in to somebody and you're trying to make sure that it doesn't, number one, kind of catch the garment on fire. Number two, blow the garment open, or kind of shields you from that, because if you look at electrical arc that happens. Again, Google it and you're going to look at this picture, and you're going to see this electrical arc and you're just going to see this.

A lot of times, the easiest ones to look at will be in just the lab environment. Like Hugh Hoagland, he's like the God of Arc Flash and tests just about everything. So, he'll be in a lab, and he'll put the dummy with something on there, and then they'll have an arc, and you'll just see this big flame ball really fast again, but a lot of energy hitting and wafting around. But again, that's a completely different test, and how they test the garments and the clothing, and how they test it, is all different.

Fred:

So, if it's something-

Dave:

So, you can have a garment that may say that it's FR, then you may have it in basically, what you'd really need to think is that's like a limited flammability. So, it’s literally like, "I really don't know if I'm going to catch anything on fire, but if I do, I would like it to go out." Usually those items are treated with a chemical, and a lot of the chemicals out there, like Banox is one of them. They take a garment and then they spray shit on it, and that chemical is good for, a lot of times there's washing requirements around it, so as long as you catch it on fire, it will go out. As long as you haven't washed it a bunch of times, but it's not.

It's literally like, let's say I might be welding, and I'm wearing rain wear while I'm welding. Why you would do that, I have no idea. But let's say that's what it was, and somehow a spark hit your rain suit. All of a sudden, you don't want it to catch on fire and shrink wrap all up you. That might be a reason to do that. Then, [inaudible 00:07:17] the next thing, which would be. Let's go just down 2112, is I'm working in a refinery around bottled organic compounds, and we may produce a spark that creates a boom, and we have that Flash Fire, versus I'm an electrician and I'm entering a panel, or somehow an electrical environment, and I have an Arc Flash, and then that's another thing. So, each one of those are really different things.

Fred:

So, if something, I know that one way goes, so if something is an Arc Flash resistant garment. Something that made 70E, it's not. Actually, I know if it's 2112 rated, that it definitely doesn't necessarily meet 70E?

Dave:

They're not-

Fred:

Does it go the other way? If something's 70E, does it in that inherently come out of or have to be 2112?

Dave:

Theoretically, you could say that.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

But you can't, because again, the testing standards are different.

Fred:

There's probably already some of them that they tested though.

Dave:

Some standards are just tested against the material some are tested against sound goods.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

You know, the final material, meaning like 70E, it has to be the garment has to be completely tested. So again, you have to test it both ways, because there's a failure for it, and one of the big deals that buy all these tests is the tests in my opinion, are kind of bullshit anyway, because it's like I believe, if I remember correctly, like when you're talking 2112, and it passes the test, it's going to limit second degree body burns to less than 50% of the body.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

Are you fuckin' kidding me?

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

I mean, at that, I mean, shit, you got a large chance without it, not making it, just with that. By the time they get you in there, and scrub you up. You look like a fuckin' Freddy Krueger. You just really have a shitty life, probably the rest of your life. I'm trying to think. I really don't know many people that have been burned that substantially.

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

But I know people that have had, you know, just like-

Fred:

Skin graphs and things like that.

Dave:

Yeah, and it's kind of, you know, you kind of talk to them, and they kind of feel like the circus girl freak or whatever, because everybody's always staring at this. That's the human condition. I guess we could try to help it, but everybody's always going to look at stuff like that. But number two is just the medical. I mean, can you imagine, a lot of times those guys are getting scrubbed multiple times, because they're just trying to get all the shit out.

Fred:

[crosstalk 00:10:23] six months of trying to heal from something like that.

Dave:

Yes.

Fred:

I talked to a guy that was just basically, the majority was his arm and the worst part was he was, his name badge. He was wearing his right gear and everything, but he had on a plastic name badge, and so, when he experienced that arc, he turned away. He did everything he was supposed to do, except for this name badge burnt into his skin. So, that's like the lasting scar that's on him, from what he took. Some on his arm, but a big scar on his chest from his name badge burning into him.

One thing, and it has not been that long, really, I've been doing this for now, six years, and just the way that the technology has kind of [crosstalk 00:11:10] in the past six years. We had someone in here, it was like five years ago, they were in our retail store, and they brought in an FR vest, a flame resistant vest, which now actually is a limited flammability product, and it was all burnt. It was all burned up, and they wanted to return the item, because this thing is flame resistant, so it shouldn't have burned, like not understanding really what we're trying to do.  It's not fireproof. Shit, we're not like firefighters, going into a fire.

Dave:

You've got to remember that nothing is really fireproof.

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

It's resistant or retardant, and it's usually to a limited amount. It's not like this unlimited, you know, throw a blowtorch. Anything eventually, if you get it hot enough is going to go back to carbon or a basic form.

Fred:

Right. It's not like curl up into a ball, and do like a cannonball into a campfire, and just hang out there. It's clothing. You're not going to be all right.

So, obviously you have to do an Arc Flash study at your facility, to find out whether or not you need [crosstalk 00:12:17].

Dave:

That's probably the biggest problem that you have now, and it was kind of, you do have to have an Arc Flash study, or you should have an Arc Flash study, and the problem is, they're very expensive so everybody kind of overlooks that, and the reason that you kind of need an Arc Flash study is, I'm not an electrician. So, I don't even really know how to talk intelligently about when you sit there-

Fred:

[crosstalk 00:12:45]

Dave:

When you walk up there, a lot of times people will go, "Well, how the hell do you know what PPE to where?" Well, the main reason that I can even steer anybody in the right direction is, you sit there and you go, "Well, you go to NFPA 70E, and then there is an Appendix there, that it kind of goes, Well, if you're around certain amp service, and you're doing this, then you should wear HRC 1 or 2." Or it kind of gives you-

Fred:

[crosstalk 00:13:25] PP category.

Dave:

Yes, [crosstalk 00:13:26].

Fred:

Yup.

Dave:

See, there you go. So, where Fred's going with that is, there's already been revisions to that standard, where it used to be-

Fred:

Hazard Risk Category.

Dave:

HRC. So, now they've changed that to Fred ...

Fred:

PP category.

Dave:

Yeah, so, and there used to be ... I don't think there's a zero anymore. There used to be a zero.

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

And now, it's one through four. It used to be zero, and zero was like, there's a chance that when you're changing a light bulb, that there could be electrical arc, so wear a cotton t-shirt, so you don't blast the shit out of yourself.

Fred:

If you need to do this, is there possibility of arc, I'm sorry, I mean, is there possibility of an explosion?

Dave:

Yeah, yeah, but to go back to where we started with the ... You started on the Arc Flash study.

Fred:

Yes.

Dave:

So, going through a building and figuring out, power comes into the building, but where it goes and how panels and sub panels, meaning you could have this little dingy panel, but it doesn't look like it has much of a service to it.

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

But all of a sudden you track it all the way back up, and it's got big fat wires. Well, if there's a chance of an Arc Flash, that energy can track down to that, and cause a whole hell of a lot bigger boom.

Fred:

And that could be civil as flipping a breaker switch.

Dave:

Yeah, theoretically, yes.

Fred:

And that could be like, so technically, like some companies, they don't have people that are trained on all this stuff.  [crosstalk 00:15:09]

Dave:

A lot of times, we're not talking about home service. Can it happen there? Absolutely. But again, unless you got some weird weed operation in your basement, where you've dug the whole basement out, and you've got a hydroponic grow system under your house.

Fred:

You trying to know me out?

Dave:

Yeah, right. No. Maybe. Anyway. Unless you got something like that, to where you got some serious feed to your house, it's not necessarily what we're talking about. We're talking about a manufacturing facility.

Fred:

[crosstalk 00:15:42] breaking bad operation running your house. The laundry [crosstalk 00:15:44].

Dave:

Yeah, we're awesome, but you also look outside a building and there's like a substation. It's like, "Man, we really should pay attention, because that shit's gotta go somewhere."

Fred:

Yeah.

Dave:

And if it pops somewhere, how will all that stuffs joined by wires changes, and once you have an Arc Flash study, it needs to be updated, because you have some Joe Electrician guy in there, and you say, "Hey, run this from here to there." Well, he's not going to update or change. He's not going to change that study, but once they do the study, then they should label all everything with what that risk is, so that before somebody gets in there and starts messing around.

Maybe it's crazy shit like, you need some HRC 4. So, what was that movie where they had to use the bombs or whatever?

Fred:

No idea. I mean, many movies.

Dave:

The Hard Blocker.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

Like The Hard Blocker. You know, you got to put the big suit on, with the big helmet and kind of waddle out there with the equipment. The HRC4 you got to kind of think about it. That's what you got to do. You've gone, "Dude, we're coming up on something that's an unknown value. We really don't know what the hell it is, but there is a chance that it could blow the shit out of everything."

Fred:

If it goes down. I want to be prepared for it to go down.

Dave:

Yeah. So, you know, that study kind of gives you the ability to walk up there and kind of look at it and go, "Ah, we don't have to worry about it completely, blowing the shit out of everything. It's just a [nine cowell 00:18:55]. So, I just need to make sure I've got my basic stuff on."

Fred:

Yup. So, I gotta figure out. I guess back to my thought. Is there a possibility of an explosion? Will the worker be near radiant heat? Could be part of it. [inaudible 00:17:40] for Flash Fire I'm assuming. Will the worker be near liquid or chemicals? Or will they be near particulates or combustible dust?

Dave:

Yeah, could be combustible dust, because I mean, everybody forgets about combustible dust until some kind of sugar plant or something, they blow the frigging roof off of it, then everybody starts worrying about particulate.

I'm thinking back about when I was a kid. We'd get ahold of ... The best way to understand that, is get you a bottle of creamer.

Fred:

Coffee creamer?

Dave:

Coffee creamer. Real fine creamer, and then get your handy Zippo out, and hold that Zippo out and start sprinkling that over that flame, and you'll watch. It will just flame up, and that's just combustible dust, is you've put a heat source to ignite something, and then you've got enough oxygen in there, that it just flames up.

Fred:

Fair enough. So, some bullet points that I had. You got any myths about Arc Flash protection, with the exception, I guess we kind of went over one, that the stuff is not fireproof.

Dave:

Not fireproof.

Fred:

You hear the word fire resistant, and you think I'm resistant to fire, which is kind of the goal, but you're not above [crosstalk 00:19:07]. You're not protected.

Dave:

What the hell. There's a superhero. I don't know. I'm losing my mind.

Fred:

Thinking of Ghost Rider? He's got the flame around the skull head?

Dave:

No. More that he can go through a lot of heat and whatever.

Fred:

Okay, we'll Google that one after.

Dave:

I don't know. We'll figure that out. I'm not real good with cartoon characters and stuff like that.

Fred:

So, we got into a little bit of welding, so it's completely different topic, but what is Arc Eye, and how do welders protect themselves from Arc Eye?

Dave:

Arc Eye. So, Arc Eye is retinal damage, and so, Arc Eye is anytime somebody pops. They're getting ready to weld. You'll hear them pop that arc, and basically it's creating a infrared light. It's like crazy light. It's like staring at the sun, so if you want Arc Eye, and you don't have to have an arc, you can go out on a good June, July Summer day and just stare at the sun, and what that's doing is, you're looking into a light source that then burns the back of your retina. It's actually a recordable. It can be a recordable for people and shops that are doing welding, as somebody fails to have a lens that shades that part of the light spectrum out, and it burns back there. Some people need to get on antibiotics so that your retina will heal. So, it can actually be a recordable.

Fred:

Yeah. I probably should have let this question melt into our Dumbass of the Week, this week, because we have a very special dumbass of the week.

Dave:

Oh, yeah.

Fred:

Dave White's going to be our Dumbass of the Week.

Dave:

Yes, I am The Dumbass Of The Week.

Speaker:

It's The Dumbass Of The Week.

Fred:

Talk about your history with welding, and kind of your methods of protection.

Dave:

Well, you know, being that I have that stupid ass hillbilly background. We're famous for doing dumb shit, and part of it is, you try to do some of the face shielding stuff where, "Man, if maybe if I do kind of the Count Dracula kind of over it. I'm not gonna get all the way in there."

Fred:

It's like looking at the eclipse.

Dave:

Yeah, so, you know. Luckily, when the eclipse happened this year, somebody had procured some of those like $35.00, they looked like you used to go to the 3-D movies or whatever. You remember what the little lenses ... Did you ever see them?

Fred:

Na-uh.

Dave:

Yeah. So, they were that with like a shade 14 lens in it, so when you'd look through it, you couldn't really see anything. So, you'd put those cheesy ass, kind of almost like a paper glass with the lens in it, and stare up there.

But no, me being the dumbass, growing up is every time you hear an arc, you want to see what everybody's doing, so you turn around and stare right at it. Then once you see it, and you're still trying to see what's going on, you just kind of you try to do the Count Dracula over it so you can just look right over the top of your arm at it.

Fred:

Because if you're not exposing yourself to all of it, like you're forearm does take out about 60% of the damage.

Dave:

Yeah. Well, yeah. I don't know how to measure that, but yeah, it's gonna pull out some, but still. I'm pretty sure when I look around to all this little dead places in my eye, the floaters and shit, are all due to me being a dumbass and looking at something. Probably eating too many paint chips. You know, chewing on those while I was staring at the sun when I was kid. Probably was the reason I'm such an idiot.

Fred:

Fair enough. So, that was one you were probably mostly, welding by yourself or with somebody or something like that, when you were doing that sort of thing. So, that's probably where most of welding injuries happen. It's just the regular Joe that's at his house.

Dave:

You usually get it going and then pop it down. So, that you were going with it, but most of the time that you got exposed is you weren't necessarily doing it yourself. You were just around it. I mean, you'll still ... I'm guilty of it today, and I think most people who walk through, is once you hear it, it's commonplace for you to just turn and look. That's why they even have ... There's a lot of people out there, a lot of manufacturers that we represent. For instance, Permex is one, that kind of has like a regular safety glass, but it's kind of got a shade to it, so it's not so dark that you can't walk around, but it's kind of a mix of dumbasses like me, when we're walking through there, and all of a sudden we hear that pop, and we turn around and look. We're not immediately frying and getting retinal burn.

Fred:

Yeah, and I was going to say, in regards to PPE we're all dumbasses at home, when we're doing our own shit, like at our own house, and stuff like that. I'm definitely a safety glass optional person at home. I have two million pairs that I've been given from vendors and stuff like that from around, but when I'm using it-

Dave:

Don't put them on.

Fred:

No, I'm using a circuit. I'll go and show them to everybody and say, "Hey, you gotta protect yourself at work." But I'm using a circular saw at home, cutting a piece of wood. I'm turning my head, while using a circular saw.

Dave:

Yup, yup.

Fred:

So, the dust doesn't fly up into my face, instead of just taking the 10 seconds-

Dave:

Yeah, going and grabbing a $1.00 worth of shit that you have.

Fred:

A dusk mask. Yeah, that I already have at my house. So, well, we're all idiots at home.

Dave:

But that's no different than when we go into the workplace, and it's just really just taking the time to do it. That's 100% it. Just taking the time to do it.

Fred:

Just because you were safe the first 500 times that you did it, and you didn't get a big chunk of wood to fly off in your eye, doesn't mean that today's gonna be the day.

Dave:

Who hasn't hurt themselves doing a home project? They're a lying bastard of they're just a guy that doesn't do anything and hires-

Fred:

He's got the cheddar.

Dave:

Yeah, he's got the cheddar, or the home improvement guy, or the father-in-law that probably goes home and goes, "I can't believe I let this asshole marry my daughter."

Fred:

This pussy ass.

Dave:

He couldn't even.  You ain't even gonna believe this. He didn't even asking for an Alan wrench. You know what he handed me?

Fred:

All he had to do was put in a stud in the wall so he could hang a mirror for his wife, and he can't even get that taken care of.

Dave:

Piece of shit.

Fred:

Yeah, he's got the most beautiful fingernails I've ever seen. Jesus. Alright, let's get on to our Safety Q & A for the week here. So, number one. This is actually an Arc Flash question. Will 100 Cal arc flash suit protect me better?

Dave:

Well, that's kind of a really weird question.

Fred:

Yup.

Dave:

Because number one, is if somebody's in 100 Cal situation, they need to get the fuck out of this.

Fred:

That was my first thought, when I read the question.

Dave:

Because 100 Cals is a shocking amount of energy.

Fred:

Right. You're going to die inside of your clothing if 100 Cal touched that suit, most likely.

Dave:

Well, you're gonna have a fuckin severe concussion.

Fred:

Yeah, you might not be burnt, but you're gonna be shocked to the moon.

Dave:

Yeah, there's gonna be ... Because again, there's a shockwave that happens, allowed shocking concussions. There's good chance that you can't fuckin hear. You're not gonna know where you're at. You've probably been blown back. So, number one, is just that number scares the shit out of me. I would tell them, I'd go, "Dude, either go get some serious insurance, and you got a death wish." Or I wouldn't be able to handle that. I'd probably be looking for another job. I'm too much of a wuss, when it comes to [crosstalk 00:27:43].

Fred:

But theoretically ...

Dave:

But theoretically ...

Fred:

From a burn, I guess, or from an arc flash, it's probably protected.

Dave:

You have to think about it, and I'm not gonna get these numbers right, but when you have that arc flash is that you are taking solid copper and turning it into a vapor.

Fred:

Yeah.

Dave:

So, it's less than nano seconds, I believe. Once it occurs, it melts that copper and it turns it again, into the vapor, but it expands by like 35,000 times, just instantaneously.

Fred:

Right. It is a flash.

Dave:

Yes.

Fred:

[crosstalk 00:28:26] is a major part of that.

Dave:

But in that expansion it creates that clap or the concussion, and it creates a fireball of heat. I believe it's as hot as the sun is.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

So, you're literally standing by the sun for a fraction of a second, as this thing blows by you. I don't know where I was going with that. Oh, but 100 Cal, I mean, here's the thing that people always go is they'll walk up there, and they'll go, "Well, I'm going into HRC2, which requires me to be above an 8 Calories." So, I always sit there, and somebody finally explained it to me where I thought it made a little bit of sense, in whether it's an all the way right, maybe it is, or maybe it's not. Who gives a shit, but this is at least a thought process, is when you think about a calorie. A calorie is you take your cigarette lighter out, turn it and fire it up and go, one one thousand. If it's two calories, you go one one thousand, two one thousand. So, if you're getting the HRC2, imagine ... I mean I want to see the dumbass that can handle putting his hand over the Zippo and count two, you know, eight to get there.

But the problem is, when you get up to that eight, a lot of times you're in a coverall, so when you start going above that, it gets heavier. The material weight of what you're putting on. They are making some lighter, more breathable, nicer stuff out there, but the rule of thumb, is usually it's getting heavier and hotter. The more cals that the garment is weighted for.

Well, they have proven that if you get it saturated with sweat, so obviously everything's ... the electrician's not usually wiring stuff in the freezer section, whether you're hanging out and being chilled and cooled and everything. If I've got a bunch of extra garments on, and it's hot and I'm sweating, and then I've sweated into my garment, well, you don't get the same arc protection, that you do with a regular arc garment, and they've just proven that through testing, that you don't get. The blow back and all that stuff is you don't get the same protection.

Fred:

Do you ever have it ... Are you a gas grill guy or a charcoal grill guy? You seem like a charcoal guy.

Dave:

I'm a charcoal grill guy. Matter of fact, I think propanes are for pussies. I can't-

Fred:

Well, I like to be able to pull a steak out of the fridge, and then be eating that steak like eight minutes later, so it's tough to do that with a charcoal grill.

Dave:

It's impossible with a charcoal grill, unless you're just gonna take it out there and douse it with lighter fluid, and just light it right up.

Fred:

So, you got a couple toddlers at home. Sometimes you need to try to make a steak happen, and you make dinner happen in like 15 minutes. But anyways, I assume it probably happens with a charcoal grill. Too big of a pussy to cook with one, but with a gas grill, sometimes you turn on the gas, and then all of a sudden you go to fire it up, and you click it a couple times and it doesn't quite light, and all of a sudden you're like, "What in the hells going on here?" And you hit it again, and all of a sudden it's whoosh. Blasts right up into your face, and now you've had that feeling where all of a sudden, then you start patting your face, feeling your eyebrows, you're out of breath, and that's what we're talking about, only times a hundred. Yeah, you have that happening [crosstalk 00:32:09] your whole body.

Dave:

It does happen when you're doing a charcoal or wood, or however you're cooking, because you'll go to put your lighter fluid on it. Well, what happens is you put your lighter fluid on it, and it's like 95. You're out by the pool. You're four beers into a six pack.

Fred:

You're feeling good.

Dave:

And you don't think about all the fact that, "Wait a second. Gasoline that's 100 degrees Fahrenheit is a little bit different than a gasoline that's 30 degrees Fahrenheit. So, again-

Fred:

It lights up quicker?

Dave:

Again, the vapor pressure of it.

Fred:

So, that will blast you in the face too? You'll feel it come at you?

Dave:

I've done, not as bad as a grill.

Fred:

As the gas grill?

Dave:

Yeah, or I've, a couple time, caught my kids. Their grandparents have one of those gas grills, and all of a sudden I go, "Did you light that?" And they're like, "Yeah." And before I even let them open it, it usually has that auto start, and I'll hit that auto start and you just hear it, Whoo.

Fred:

Yup.

Dave:

Yup.

Fred:

Yup, it's a big blow, but yeah, I've done that plenty of times, and I got this beautiful head of hair too. So, you just feel it burn right up.

Dave:

[crosstalk 00:33:33] Luckily, I have like three good Irish eyebrows, that point toward due North or whatever so.

Fred:

If you grew that goatee, your little goatee could ... You could get some-

Dave:

I guess nothing smells worse than burnt hair too. But no, that's probably the reason that I don't have a lot of hair on my arms, but I'll burn it off pretty quickly.

Fred:

Al right, so that was Dumbass Of The Week, and wait a minute. We haven't gotten through all of our questions yet, have we? That was question one. That was a blank the answer. Spurned off on a ... So, anyway, question number two. Why do Zorbits come in different colors?

Dave:

Well, there's two main reasons.

Fred:

Okay.

Dave:

Is there's multiple colors out there, but the biggest things to remember is there's white and there's typically your grays, and your grays gonna be a universal but then your white is oil only. Typically, a white with either be treated or it will be a hydrophobic propylene. So, hydrophobic meaning scared of water. Will not suck up water. Will only suck up oil versus a-

Fred:

An oil and?

Dave:

What's that?

Fred:

Another one's an oil and?

Dave:

Yup. It sucks up anything.

Fred:

Like certain costs?

Dave:

A universal service is usually what they're called.

Fred:

So some cost is different if it's oil on me?

Dave:

Cost is a little bit different, but how to say, let's say we have an oil spill in the water. You really want to suck up, you'll see them. They'll put those booms out there, and they don't want to suck up all the water, because they're trying to get again, the petroleum or whatever it is out of.

Fred:

That makes sense. I literally have been doing this for quite a while. I never even realized. I never even thought about that. I was like, "Why wouldn't you gt one that sucks up everything then? Why would you even waste your time?" But that makes sense.

Dave:

Yeah. Where you get how to say, there's a lot of situations where you only want one pick up. Just the one. Not water or whatever, because then you're loading it with something that's a glorified sponge. But here you go. If we would have tried to do a universal absorbent approach to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the whole State of Alaska would be nothing but SPE Sorbents, waiting for them to dry out.

Fred:

Yeah, the quicker picker upper.

Dave:

But you also have, and you'll see in the other ones that are like typically ones that are marked yellow, they'll say they're hazmat. Well, they're universal, but they mark them. So, let's say we're in some cataclysmic shit or whatever, and we're trying to make sure that we get everything cleaned and debated. We may have a tanker here spill out and we've got sorbents down there, sucking that up, but let's say down here, we have some weird chemical that we're trying to pick up also. Well, all of a sudden we may not want to mix those sorbents together, because maybe they just don't play well with each other.

Fred:

Fair enough. Third question. What's the difference between type one and type two, like safety cans?

Dave:

Type one and type two safety cans. Number of holes. Type one, one hole. Type two, two holes.

Fred:

What the reason for the two holed approach, versus the one hole approach?

Dave:

Well, typically the cost is a lot of it. I mean, to me, it's so your type one basically, you fill it up and you dispense out of one hole, and usually, those are the ones that you see that have the shitty little funnel on it, that comes on and off depending on whether you're filling or dispensing.

The type two are a little bit nicer, so typically there is a point where you fill it, so that's the first hole. The second hole, you kind of have that handle that kind of pulls back, and usually it will have a spout so you can kind of aim it. So, that's the main difference there, is that they're tread. They're not, I want to say, similar safety features in how they're trying to keep everything from blowing up or whatever, or having it ... How to say it. It don't store vapors. Like you'll always hear like some dumbass that gets like the plastic gas can, and it's hotter than shit outside, just like the barbecue grill that we were talking about earlier?

Fred:

Yeah.

Dave:

He walks up to whatever he's working on, and goes to take the top off. Have you ever had that happen, where you get a hot gas can and you go to open the front and it's pressure. It's got vapor pressure, and it can shoot some shit out, and you just happen to maybe shoot it out on the manifold, and then you have this little miner explosion and you burn the shit out of your dumbass. Your neighbor [crosstalk 00:38:47] or something.

Fred:

Or you're sitting there holding it up, and you're smoking a cigarette and it comes across and blasts out.

Dave:

Yup, yup.

Fred:

You do like a real carnival trick.

Dave:

That would be something else. I will sit there and watch you do that.

Fred:

Alright. I'll take the heat for that one. Alright. We've got an advertisement this week. I don't know if you've ever heard of Bacon's Jewelry? It's a new jewelry company that just came out. So, Dave what do you get the girl in your life to show her how much you love her, while being NFPA 70 compliant? Any idea?

Dave:

Na uh.

Fred:

How about a pair of 40 calorie ruby red sapphire earrings? They say a diamond is forever, but if the band attached to it ... Wait a minute. I'm butchering it. They say a diamond is forever, but not if the band attached to it burns a hole in your hand.

Dave:

Yeah, that would be bad.

Fred:

You'd melt her heart figuratively, not literally, with our flash fired tiara that universally mounts directly into most brand face shields. Does she wear class zero rubber gloves all day? How do the guys on the job know she's off the market, with the hand you fell in love with covered up?

Well, you can let them know with high voltage safe engagement rings, slide right over the top of her rubber glove. All her co-workers will be jealous, muttering, "He went to Bacon's." Come on down, and we'll save your arms and legs, without costing you an arm and a leg. This ad not endorsed by David Bacon Safety Tales, nor do we endorse or recommend any of the talked about products.

So, anyways-

Dave:

Were you up, like in the middle of the night?

Fred:

With that idea?

Dave:

Yeah.

Fred:

No, I just started writing it. It's pretty ... I mean, I induced a hip late at night, and start to think of some of these ideas, but-

Dave:

[crosstalk 00:40:28]

Fred:

Anyways, I think that's about all the time we have for this week. I know it's sometimes feels like we're kind of poking fun, when we talk about it's funny to go on YouTube and watch these videos, but we're really talking about some super dangerous shit, and so, safety's important. Nobody wants to talk about it.

Dave:

We're never gonna live life in a bubble.

Fred:

Right.

Dave:

So, we're just trying to make sure when you get outside of a bubble, there's a couple things to pay attention to, especially in the occupational health.

Fred:

Well, if we can't make fun of ourselves, or some asshole running through the streets on fire waving his arms, what are we trying to do here?

Dave:

Yeah.

Fred:

We're just trying to have fun over the course of somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. So, we're trying to make safety an everyday conversation, and you guys can help us. So, drop us a line. Comment on our social media. Review us on iTunes. Keep the conversation going. We even have a few freebies to toss your way, if you can give us a review on iTunes, and let us know. So, appreciate you guys listening. The only way we can keep spreading our message about safety is with you guys helping us out, so keep it up. Don't forget, you can visit us anytime at Quadcitysafety.com. Remember, safety has no quitting time. We'll be back next week. Thanks.

Outro Speaker:

Thanks for listening in, to Dave and Bacon's Safety Tales, brought to you by Quad City Safety. Send us your questions on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter at @quadcitysafety #safetytales, or email them to fred@quadcitysafety.com. He's the guy keeping this mess of a show in line, and if you like the show, please rate and review us on iTunes. It's a kickass way to show that you care about safety.