I'll add to Josh's story a little more reason I chewed his ass...he was working alone when he told me he didn't have his chaps. I reminded him how little time you have with a lacerated femural artery... Not much, especially when alone
Had my own close call at work in July of '16. We were doing roadside tree and brush removal. One man cutting, the rest of us feeding the chipper. I checked the feller and thought he was cutting small brush saplings before I bent down to grab a couple of limbs to take to the chipper...I was mistaken. While I was bent down I was hit with a force I've never experienced before or since. He was cutting an oak about 10" diameter at the stump. What struck the side of my head and the top of my shoulder was about 5" diameter and about 25' from the stump, it hit me with some speed and momentum. Immediate after and for several minutes my entire left arm was curled up in a weird position and paralyzed. Couldn't move it at all. My hard hat was laying 20' from where I was when I got hit, both earmuffs detatched and laying on the ground (which were over my ears at the time of I'm part). The whole thing was my fault despite my friend/coworker feeling terrible guilty about it. Ultimately I regained control of my left arm after a few minutes, went to ER for a CT scan of my head, and x-rays on my head and shoulder. No serious injuries amazingly, but VERY sore and couldn't move much of those parts for several days. I was hit hard enough that the bruises on my shoulder ended up being scabs at the surface. The whole thing hurt like hell and I'd wager I would have been much more seriously hurt had I not been wearing my hard hat.
PPE saves lives when used and used properly. I'll never be convinced it's not worth the trouble, EVER