Construction Worker Shoots Self In Eye - Pulls Nail Out Of His Face

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A construction worker accidentally shot himself in the eye with a nail gun and then pulled the 2 1/2-inch nail out of his face, according to a police report and a co-worker.

Joseluis Franco, 19, was using an air-powered, Hitachi nail gun to help build a home Wednesday when a nail bounced back and lodged in his eye, crew leader Rogelio Ocampo said. Franco was nailing a two-by-four to concrete when the nail ricocheted.

Franco was conscious when police arrived at the scene and was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where he was treated and released. Police said Friday they don't know the condition of Franco's eye.

Originally from a town near Acapulco, Mexico, Franco has been in the construction business for about three weeks, Ocampo said.

"I don't know what's going to happen to him," Ocampo said. "I don't know if the insurance is going to cover his bills or anything."

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/03/04/construction_worker_shoots_himself_in_eye/

Two words: protective glasses.
Can you nail wood to concrete?
I hope his employer pays the bills. Does workers comp cover you if you're here without a greencard? (I don't know if the guy is illegal or not.)

usually concrete nails use a powder charge. there might be air guns that will do it, and i know that they're used on "green concrete" that's new and soft, but i doubt the manufacturers would advise it.

chances are he'll have to pay the bills himself, and will probably just skip out on it. in my experience.

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Nailers have a safety mechanism on them--you have to push the nose of the nailer into the work to get it to fire. Hitachi's safety is a very reliable one...unless someone wired the nose back. People do this because it takes quite a hefty push to depress the nose.

The only other way this could have happened is if the operator had the nailer aimed off the side of the board, which occasionally happens but since his training was probably "put this thing in the middle of the board, push down on the nailer and pull the trigger," and three weeks aren't enough to teach you bad habits, I'm going for "Franco had a wired gun, was carrying it with his finger on the trigger, and it went off."

I'm glad he lived.

Yeah, I bet you don't, because if you had worker's comp insurance on this guy, you would know that his bills *are* going to be covered.

This just burns me up.

I bet there is no worker's comp insurance, and that this poor guy is going to get stuck with the bills. I'm sure there was also very little safety training.

I hope OSHA comes down on these guys bigtime.