Bolt and Brace Your Shop Equipment

October 31, 2002

What Happened?

Someone was using the vice pictured below to hold an item in the process of a normal workday. In the process of performing a task, the vice toppled off the surface onto the person's foot causing a serious injury. The person was not wearing steel-toed boots.

Lessons Learned

Always wear your steel-toed boots when working around heavy machinery and shop equipment. All shop equipment that is designed to be braced to a work surface or floor must be braced. Do not use equipment that could fall or otherwise cause injury if it is not braced according to manufacturers' instructions.

An unsecured vice
a vice toppled over onto the floor
a vice toppled over onto the floor