Stored Energy Surprises

Let's talk about something we all deal with every day but probably don't think about enough: stored energy. We all know electricity can bite you hard, but what about all that hidden power in the stuff we work with? It's the kind of thing that can turn a simple job into a trip to the emergency room if you're not careful.

The Hidden Kick in Stored Energy

Think about the last time you saw a branch bent over, just waiting to snap back. Or a spring coiled up tight. That's stored energy. It's not a light switch you can just flip off. It's a force that's just waiting to be set free, and it doesn't care who's in the way when it goes. Let's look at a few examples where a little thinking could have saved a lot of pain.

The Tree's Revenge

While out on an after hours call, we had to deal with a tree that had crashed into a house after a windstorm. Only a few branches poked through the roof, so our crew leader decided to hop up there and trim them so we could get a tarp over the holes so we could go home. He worked his way into the mess of branches and started cutting. The first few cuts went fine, but then he hit a branch that was under a ton of tension.

When his saw cut through it, the branch didn't just fall—it snapped back like a whip, hitting him in the thigh. But that wasn't the worst part. With that one branch gone, the whole tree shifted. It slowly started to roll toward him. He was lucky and managed to get out of the way, but it was a very close call. He walked away with a serious bruise, but if he'd been deeper into that tree, he could have been crushed. That tree had a whole lot of stored energy, and cutting that one branch was like pulling the pin on a grenade.

The Recliner's Surprise Attack

Another time, two employees were carrying a recliner, one holding the back and the other holding the footrest. They probably figured it was an easy job. What they didn't count on was the chair's spring mechanism. Without warning, the footrest slammed open with full force, knocking both of them to the ground. Luckily only one of them was hurt in the incident.

That recliner was holding a lot of spring tension, just waiting for the right movement to release. If they had just taken a minute to tie down the footrest or secure the mechanism, that whole thing would have been a non-issue. It's a simple thing, but it's easy to forget about.

The Falling Water Heater

Two guys who were helping a plumber lower a heavy water heater down from an attic. The plumber was using a rope tied to the water heater, and the crew was below, guiding it along a 6' ladder positioned beneath it. They were doing their best to be safe, but they didn't account for the pressure release valve snapping. As result, the connection where the rope was tied on broke right off, and that heavy water heater came crashing down.

It slammed to the ground, missing the guys by just a few feet. The fiberglass ladder they were using to guide it & an adjacent wall was completely destroyed. The lesson here? Just because something looks solid, doesn't mean it is. The stored energy of that heavy water heater and gravity was enough to turn it into a falling missile when the connection failed.

The Garage Door's Projectile

An employee was taking down a garage door to remove drywall. A pretty straightforward task, right? He got to the part where he had to loosen some hardware that held a support cable. He didn't realize that cable was under extreme tension. When he loosened the bolt, the cable didn't just go limp—it snapped free and became a projectile, slamming against the wall.

That cable, held tight by the tension in the springs, was like a loaded gun. All that stored energy turned a seemingly simple task into a dangerous situation in a split second.

The Takeaway

Every time you look at a job, whether it's cutting a tree, moving furniture, or taking something apart, you have to stop and think about where the hidden energy is. Ask yourself:

• What's capable of happening when I start doing this work?

• What's under tension or pressure?

• If something breaks or lets go, what's going to happen?

Taking a few extra seconds to secure a load, release a spring, or simply think through the risks can be the difference between a job well done and a painful lesson learned. Don't let stored energy catch you by surprise.