Comment by scarecrowbob

In my maker space, guards are required. I have taken several trainings with people who use angle grinders professionally and apparently removing a guard is the normal professional practice for a lot of well-founded reasons.

This is one reason why I do not want to work in a trade like welding or fabrication professionally. At the same time it indicates that with care it's possible to follow the norms of a profession for long periods of time even if they often seem dangerous.

One thing I noticed when I was climbing a lot- the safer and more knowledgeable climbers I went out with used far less redundant equipment (fewer locking or doubled carbiners for instance). At the same time they were far picker about how the equipment was used- one partner would yell at folks to keep hands off the grigri (a belay device that is very common for folks to hold while using).

I get why different equipment calls for various "guard rails". At the same time, safety is in the usage and not the devices- forgetting that fact is dangerous in itself.