On 1/12/2014 10:08 AM, Leon wrote:


So thinking more about shop safety for those that may wander i, during
your absence, what if a shop was wired through a central circuit, one
that was controlled by a proximity switch/key.

I'm thinking the type used on my wife's car. You only have to have the
key fob on your person for the switches on the vehicle to operate. Walk
out of range with the key fob and the engine cannot be started, the
doors cannot be unlocked, the radio cannot be turned on....

Basically the shop equipment cannot be turned on unless you and your key
fob are in the shop too.


Alas, it's a well known fact that the more you try to "idiot-proof"
something, Mother Nature just comes along with a more adept idiotg

While yours is a nice idea, I suspect it might tend to be bit complex
and expensive for the average wood butcher.

Then, too, when you think of all the various styles, sizes, etc. of
"shops" it's probably better not to generalize you solution other than
to say: Insure that the equipment is inoperable when it's unguarded (by
your presence).

Dedicated shop with a door? Secure means of locking the shop when not
in use.

Shop set up with power tools in the garage, an area shared by the whole
family? Locks on power cables, lockout on the branch circuit powering
same, etc.

Proximity switching, while "neat", is IMHO unnecessary in 99% of the
cases. I'm not that lazy that I cannot lock a door or kill the power to
equipment in a shop that I might use once a week. Nor, for that matter,
am I concerned that some time during the day that I AM using the
equipment/shop that when I go into the house to take a whiz that
somebody is going to run into the shop behind my back the moment I leave
and wreak havoc with those evil toolsg

As alluded to earlier, YMMV. If you have small kids running around or a
mentally unstable maid, you need something different than I do or what
suits your neighbor's particular situation.

All you need is simple common sense and an understanding that you cannot
prevent everything bad that can happen - only make it difficult.

Darwin will, in the end, prevail.