My hands after a day of spreading concrete.

ChaosBeast · 1 day

You got off light. Wear gloves next time, genius.

braveally · 1 day

Wasn't aware concrete could eat through flesh. Or did this happen after removing dried concrete from your hands? Did you not use gloves?

mirthless_smirk · 1 day

It looks like your hands have gone moldy.. but seriously buy gloves and use them. I hate gloves too but I like my fingers more

dickwolfe · 1 day

Gloves motherfucker, do you have them!?

Taggertt · 1 day

Dude be careful, stuff like that can really mess you up

This girl lost her fingers to plaster of paris - link (BBC news link)

BobeHarvard · 1 day

I did masonry for a couple years. After a long week of work my fingers would look like this. It sucks.

fixmenow · 1 day

I knew a guy who had concrete get in his boots when they were pouring it and it just ate his feet up. It was worse than 3rd degree burns or some such. Keep ointment on your hands.

edit: derp.

molonlabe88 · 1 day

Spreading concrete with your bare hands? The lime in concerte will mess you up. They also make tools you can use, trowels, shovels, etc...

chunk337 · 1 day

they're alkali burns. never let concrete/cement sit on your skin. i pour concrete every day for 10 yrs and i dont wear gloves. i never get burns. just keep your damn hands or any skin out of it! if it gets on you, wash it off within a minute or so.

xICatopunIx · 1 day

Jesus Christ... If only they had some protective layer of clothing to cover your hands to help guard against this type of damage.

IanS16 · 1 day

I'm trying to find a video that I saw during a health and safety induction where a bloke was laying concrete without waterproof boots (wading round in it) and he got poisoned and had to have his legs amputated. I know nothing like a few burns on your hand but concrete is nasty stuff. I'll carry on looking for the video, it's pretty shocking.

edit: Heres the story from the HSE (UK): A UK worker lost a leg after he suffered horrific cement burns from laying a floor. Having spent a whole morning kneeling in the cement, his jeans became soaked with a mixture of cement and water. When he finished the job and removed his jeans, he found that his legs had been burned by the chemicals in the cement. In places he could see to the bone. Despite receiving specialist treatment at a burns unit, his right leg had to be amputated.

bashturn · 1 day

Reminds me of the time I discovered internet porn

zuka_zanamee · 1 day

Get yourself some Kevlar gloves my good man! they don't prohibit your hands movement and keep them safe.

4JawChuck · 1 day

Always keep a gallon of vinegar on hand, it will neutralize the lime and prevent the chemical burn.

Chloride · 1 day

Not a clever man are you?

ErusNox · 1 day

As a concrete worker for the last 14 years, I can honestly say that you're one of the unlucky ones. I've never worn gloves for the exact reasons the OP ighlighted, yet have never had this issue. Certain people react more violently to wet concrete than do others. We once had an entire mix spill out. I got soaked from the bellybutton down, and another guy got a bit on his leg. I had zero reaction, and he needed 2 weeks to recover from a chemical burn down his leg.

Room16 · 1 day

Like a boss

whiskeydreamkathleen · 1 day

I heard about a guy who lived out in the middle of nowhere and was kind of a crazy old man so he didn't trust doctors so when he broke his leg, he made himself a concrete cast. When he finally went to the hospital and took it off, his entire leg was burned and eaten at like this. Sick.

Manny_Banany · 1 day

Why is this in WTF? Is it WTF? Because you've never done anything that involves labor so you have softer hands than a baby or because you've never heard of gloves.

dtech911 · 1 day

That's why I got into IT.

nomoreftknox · 1 day

You are a fucking idiot...

TheButcherr · 1 day

As a carpenter/handyman I seen this happen often, but only on people new to the business. Calluses and worn hands provide a natural barrier for those who work labor, combined with the knowledge to use mostly tools and wash your hands whenever directly handling concrete. Good Luck champ, it will be better before long - lotion, lotion, lotion. I'm sure you have plenty by that box of tissues

hobes88 · 1 day

I can tell by looking at your hands that you are not used to manual labour, you have no callouses, and your hands look fairly soft, while having tougher hands wouldn't stop you getting chemical burns, if you had more experience you'd know to wear gloves and that the when cement mixes with water the chemical reaction creates a lot of heat.

Be careful if you're ever working with lime too, I work with two guys who were pouring a concrete floor with a lot of lime in the mix, they both got it in their boots and didn't notice the burns. When they took off their socks the skin from their feet came off with them, they both needed serious skin grafts and were out of work for months.

acr2001 · 1 day

Better late than never: Cement, the principal ingredient in concrete is CAUSTIC TO YOUR SKIN! That combined with the friction of spreading it with your bare hands leads to those very nice (Stage 2, maybe even a stage 3?) ulcers to your hands.

jlamb26 · 1 day

You got city hands. Soft from counting money.

NueDumaz · 2012-10-15T09:09:22+00:00

Dude. Can you say "gloves"?
Let me spell it :
G
L
O
V
E

Glove. You put it on your hand for protection, like a sock only it's for your hands. They are a good thing.

C_M_O_TDibbler · 1 day

one word: Gloves!

elinicholes · 1 day

You didn't do it right...

ApplesBananasRhinoc · 1 day

This is what happens when you don't pay attention in chemistry class.

Betrivent · 1 day

Protip: Concrete is caustic

EscherTheLizard · 1 day

this

l_one · 1 day

Concrete has ~~Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)~~(see edit below) as one of the chemical components.

Lye is very alkalotic and will produce chemical burns - these burns will often be more serious than an acid burn (of equal difference from a pH of 7).

While acid burns produce coagulation which limits the depth of the burn, alkali burns produce liquefaction necrosis which allows the alkali to continue to penetrate deeper into tissue and continue the chemical burning process.

You might want to go to the hospital. Even if you are no longer in pain (not uncommon for alkali burns) the tissues of your hand could still be getting damaged.

-Paramedic.

Edit: Was incorrect about Lye being the alkaline ingredient in concrete (thank you SXEatPSU) - rather it contains Lime (Calcium Oxide). Relevant wiki article sections on Concrete and Cement. Please be advised the alkali chemical burn issue still applies.

MannyUnstoppable · 1 day

Concrete burns.

_man_bear_pig · 1 day

Strangely similar to my hand after a day of fapping

Briareous · 1 day

Put some lotion on that ish brah

deathlooksbad · 1 day

The burn by your thumb reminds me of a fish.

thebigtwig · 1 day

That looks like the time when everyone in my house was gone for the weekend except me.

campingninja · 1 day

You are doing it wrong.

Gogo_McSprinkles · 1 day

I think it's easier to spread BEFORE it dries.

uRabbit · 1 day

Ugh... I think there's this thing called the Department of Labor (maybe the CDC) that requires employers to provide workers with appropriate safety gear...

crushcrushcrush · 1 day

damn boy that your first time workin outside of a cushy office?

shitsfuckedupalot · 1 day

oh god dude wear some fucking gloves

13thmurder · 1 day

at any point during your day spreading concrete were you bitten by a rotting incoherent person, or perhaps petting a raccoon who had leprocy?

VictusNex · 1 day

What the fuck were you doing?! I lay concrete every goddamned week doing my goddamned job and that NEVER happens! Wear safety equipment and don't be proud of spreading concrete like a moron!

Mojo_Nixon · 1 day

Wear gloves next time, you dumb fuck. It only warns you like 4 times on every bag of concrete that this will happen if you don't wear gloves.

admils · 2012-10-15T11:39:54+00:00

You did it wrong

shoeninja · 2012-10-15T14:23:26+00:00

I know this is late and you might not see it but take care of that. Had something similar happen and it turned into a nasty staph infection.

__Red_Foreman · 1 day

The word "gloves" has, at this point, been used over 70 times in this thread. I think he gets it, fellas.

Zilmo · 1 day

Gloves, you moron.

sanjosexysax · 1 day

Ever heard of work gloves? ...newbie

irapedmspacman · 1 day

And thats why your supposed to wear gloves

civilian11214 · 1 day

Wear gloves, ya jackass.

FiL-dUbz · 1 day

I worked concrete for one day. The team was filled with the best central american workers in D.C., these guys condensed 8-10 hour days into 5. They worked hard as all hell and didn't stop once for a break, water, or a anything that would not be involved with throwing concrete. We poured, moved and graded a huge floor 3 feet thick that would later dry out to become a parking garage level.

The worst part was having to balance yourself on the rebar underneath while inside of the fresh concrete. Dude with the huge vibrator to take out any air pockets would come by and throw concrete chunks everywhere when he would bring the tool up out of the concrete. Also, the crane would drop in the concrete, and when it would lift off, chunks of concrete would fall everywhere. We had hard hats on, but still, at 90 ft up an falling chunks of concrete coming down, that shit would hurt.

Hazards are everywhere when it comes to pouring concrete on a mass scale. I lost my glove and almost my arm when I fell in the first out 20 times.

bob_saget_dagnammit · 1 day

Maybe you should smooth the concrete BEFORE it hardens. Just a thought.

Spielberg_is_dead · 1 day

I know it could be gore, but the reaction from everyone who has seen it has been wtf

pepperspickled · 1 day

You have some lava in there.

ResoL101 · 1 day

I always hated those GD foundation forms.

UnperfectMe · 1 day

Noooooooo!

slackerx2288 · 1 day

Wow. I know that feel dude...

dredawg · 1 day

After your first day yea, but give it time, your hands will be as tough as concrete.

tarellel · 1 day

It adds character

ItamiOzanare · 1 day

Use a trowel next time and not your palms.

Lampshade_Seven · 1 day

Should've worn PPE.

i_cant_draw_for_shit · 1 day

Concrete is very alkaline, thats why you wear gloves. you got off easy.

navan12 · 1 day

Yea concrete can burn your skin

pistasje · 1 day

Yes..."spreading concrete"

spartan4333 · 1 day

Day 1: I have become intimate with the concrete, the concrete suspects nothing.

DemoFly · 1 day

Whatever you do, don't cry workers comp for that. It might get you fired because you chose to not wear gloves.

sme00 · 1 day

Spreading concrete for science i'm sure...

Zow · 1 day

just keep a 3 gallon bucket of water around and wash your hands everyone once and awhile so you don't get those concrete burns

Sgt_45Bravo · 1 day

Samuel L. Jackson voice: "Work gloves motherfucker. Have you heard of them?"

WTF

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