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Safety Tips That Every DIYer Should Know

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DIY – Do it yourself it’s a thing you hear people talk a lot. Since people started to move to their own houses and having a low budget, they started doing tasks that normally a profession would do. At first, people only repaired small stuff.

Today, people are not afraid to rip out walls, paint their own house, etc.I’m a fan of doing things myself. Before hiring a professional, if I have enough time, I try to complete tasks by myself.  I always suggest doing things by yourself if you can.

Why pay a thousand dollars for a service that you could do yourself? Clearly, there are things that you can’t do, and you should definitely hire a professional to do it. But for the easy stuff? Do it yourself and you will save a lot of money.

DIYers are smart people who decide to save some money and do the tasks by themselves. They learn how to do it, by doing it!

However, DIYers get injured all the time. Especially while working with power tools such as top rated band saws, table saws, etc. In fact, table saws are responsible for more than 70,000 injuries per year.

You should always try to do things yourself, but before starting to work you should always protect yourself. Don’t go into a project if you know you are gonna injure yourself, the medical bills will be higher than hiring a professional. It’s not worth it.

Experienced DIYers know that you never should underestimate a tool. You can always hurt yourself even with the smallest tool. Unexperienced DIYers tend to work with dangerous tools with bare hands and no safety gears, and that’s the number one reason why they end at the hospital really often.

To help you avoid getting injured we have prepared an article that will show you how to protect yourself, especially while working with saws since they can be very dangerous if you underestimate them.

Protect Your Eyes

First things first, you need to protect your eyes. DIYers tend to injure their eyes a lot. Actually, it’s the most common injury for DIYers. Protecting your eyes is easy. You don’t have to spend a lot of money.

You can protect your eyes by using safety glasses, they block dust or anything else that may hurt your eyes from touching them. And the best part? They are affordable, I don’t see a reason why people should not buy and use them.

If you are working inside, you should buy glasses with clear lenses, and if you are working outside then it’s recommended to buy the tinted ones since they block the UV light.

Don’t underestimate the power tools

A big mistake people do is thinking they won’t get hurt and continuing to work without any safety gears. Trust me, I have seen people get injured a lot and that happened when they least expected.

Power tools can be very dangerous, especially table saws. Make sure to use safety gears and protect yourself all the time.,

Power tools can be very dangerous, especially saws. Saws use a blade that spins really fast, they cut wood and metal easy, imagine how easy you can get injured if you ever get in contact with a moving blade.

There’s always a chance that the blade can kickback and injure you, especially with table saws. It happens so fast that you won’t even get a chance to move your body.

That’s why it is always recommended to use safety gears. Use safety glasses and gears, and always use push tools while working with saws. Keep your legs and hands in a position that even if the blades kickback it won’t touch your hands or legs.

What you are wearing is also very important.  It isn’t recommended to wear loose-fitting clothing while working with saws. They can get caught by a blade and drag you down. Extremely dangerous.

Hand Tools

Hand tools can be dangerous too. If you don’t already know, hand tools are knives, hacksaws and anything else that you can basically hold and work with it.

There's always a chance where hand tools can hurt you. Make sure to use a piece of wood as protection so you won't get cut.

There’s always a high chance of the knife to jump off the mark and cause different injuries, such as cuts or scrapes. If possible, using clamps can be a very smart idea, since they hold the tool you are working with on its place. But if it isn’t possible then try to keep your hands as far as possible for the blade or cutting path.

There are many other methods that will keep you safe, such as using a piece of wood as a cutting guide that will block the blade from touching your skin or your clothes. But the best method to protect yourself is to focus.

While working will these dangerous tools it is recommended to fully focus on doing your job. Don’t think anything else, just focus and focus. Once you complete the job then you can start thinking about something else.

Working with others

While two people are working, there always a chance that one of them will get injured. The most common reason why people get injured in this scenario is that they lose focus.  Usually, you lose focus while talking with your partner. Yes, you can still talk to your partner, but at least keep your eyes at the tools while moving or working with them.

Before using saws, especially hand saws, make sure that your partner at the other end is fully aware that the saw will come at his side or the tool can slip or hit him without him knowing.

While carrying material or anything else together, make sure that one of you lay down the material slowly first and then the other one. Don’t just drop the material/tools at the same time from 5 or more inches high, there’s a good chance that the material/tools can bounce back and hit you.

When it comes to falling, you should never leave any tool such as hammers in top of something. Especially on top of ladders. You can easily move ladders which mean the hammer will fall down. If the hammer hits you then it will probably knock you down and it may cause serious damage in your brain.

This is a simple and obvious tip that everyone should know, but yet there are many reports of people that got injured by just ignoring this simple tip.

Electrical Shock

Electric shock can kill. If you don't know how to fix a problem that includes electric then it's better to hire a professional. Electricity can be very dangerous, it can also kill you if you are not careful enough.

It’s really hard to give you tips about keeping yourself safe when working with electricity since there can be a lot of different scenarios that may lead to electrical shock.

We will list some of the most obvious tips about this subject. Keep in mind that these tips may not be enough to keep you safe so always look for more and only do safe actions while working with electricity.

So, if you don’t feel safe then it’s always a good idea to call a professional and not do the task by yourself.

First things first, while working with electricity you should always use UL approved insulated grips .

  • Water and Electricity don’t mix. If there’s water near electricity then turn the power off and call a professional
  • Turn the power off while working.
  • Never place a ladder or something that may fall into the power line.
  • If you don’t know what you are doing or what you should do, then that’s a sign that you should call a professional to do the task.

Final Words

If you are experienced enough and reading these tips you must think that they are the most obvious tips and that everyone should know these before reading. But, you would be surprised by how many people could avoid serious injuries if they only followed these simple tips.

This list is far from being complete, there are a lot of things you should look before working with tools. Always read the manual to know what the tools and it’s part do exactly.

Before working with them you should check the environment and see if you can use the tools there, look for potential dangers that can harm you or anyone else that is working there, and never lose focus. Stay fully focused on one task until you complete it.

Underestimating and thinking they are experienced enough to work with tools without safety gears, it’s by far the biggest mistake DIYers do.

Never forget that tools especially saws are not toys, you can get permanently injures if you don’t have safety gears while working with them. I may sound too dramatic, but as they say ” Better Safe than Sorry”.

DIYers are all about doing tasks that they can do or learn while doing it. It’s not about just doing it yourself and not hiring a professional. If the job is hard and you think that you can’t do the task then hiring a professional it’s probably the best choice. 

Doing tasks yourself is about having fun and maybe finding a new hobby, but no one injuries themselves for fun. So, try at least three times to complete a task, if you fail after three times then that’s a good sign that you need someone with more experience to complete it.

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We’re a team of engineers, contractors, technicians, and woodworking experts who use power tools daily and share fact-based information, tips, and recommendations. At thetoolgeeks.com, we debunk myths about power tools and share methods to use them effectively.

The Tool Geeks Team

We're a team of engineers, contractors, technicians, and woodworking experts who use power tools daily and share fact-based information, tips, and recommendations. At thetoolgeeks.com, we debunk myths about power tools and share methods to use them effectively.

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