On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 20:25:01 -0500, Joseph Gwinn
wrote:



Sure. Any damn fool can buy machine tools. All it takes is money, and
nobody makes them prove that they have taken a bunch of safety courses
and passed some license tests and gotten a pretty bit of parchment.
Unlike Stationary Engineers (steam plants) and Professional and/or Civil
Engineers (construction). Etc.

So I should have to take a course and get a license to buy a
chainsaw? Thanks a lot!

If someone buys more machine than they can handle and manages to hurt
themself, they are likely to sue alleging that the tool is unreasonably
dangerous, and/or that in all those the pages of warnings in the manual,
there was nothing that *exactly* fit the specifics.

Jurys tend to feel sorry for the poor slob, and often find for the
plaintiff because the defendent is seen as a big rich company that can
clearly spare the money, even if the plaintiff is clearly an idiot.

If this happened only rarely, it wouldn't have much of a general effect.
But what's happening is that companies across the board are stopping
making things deemed too dangerous for the average citizen, or selling
only to industry, because a sympathetic jury doesn't really care about
the facts or the law.

That's been going on for years. A person smart enough to use stuff
safely is also smart enough to figure out a (legal) way to buy it at
a fair to good price. One method I use is to appear in person to
make the purchase. They seem to quickly become comfortable that I
know what I'm doing well enough to use the product responsibly.
They ask friendly helpful questions. I do my homework if any is
indicated. If I don't know an answer, I'm honest about that: "tell
me more about that, please!" That in itself indicates a responsible
attitude. If I really didn't have a clue, I wouldn't blame them for
throwing me out; I'd do the same if I were they.

I've been buying stuff for years from "industry only" distributors.
I bought a device just last week that three dealers told me were only
available to licensed ... uh...users. Fooey. I don't need a
license to apply it for my own use, and there's no way I'd install one
for somone else without having applicable liability insurance -- which
is part of why a "licensed user" would mark it up significantly.

I can assure you that the cost of that litigious crap is already
built into the prices. I've read that half the cost of a ladder is
for legal contingency. I know -- but won't quote sources -- that
the cost-to-distributors of a propane valve nearly identical to a
similar n.g. valve is significantly higher. Guess why?

Welding suppliers now charge haz mat fees on nearly everything,
including oxygen. (I wonder if hospitals get charged hazmat on oxy?)

At my company, we have precisely such a training and exam system,
because too many factory people were getting themselves chopped up, and
these are mostly full time employees with experience. Suits weren't the
issue, because Workman's Compensation applies, but still the injury rate
was too high, so everybody in the company was sent in for mandatory
safety training.

Responsible management and a good idea. Better management would have
done that before people were getting hurt.