Are you excited about starting your latest DIY home improvement project? Before you start working on it, make sure that you follow these seven safety tips first.
After all, you don’t want to be part of the 6% of consumers who have suffered some type of bodily injury while doing a DIY project.
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Read the manual of the power tools you’re using for the first time.
It’s easy to skip reading the manual for your new power tool. After all, these manuals aren’t that exciting to read.
However, they’re still important, especially if you’re going to use a specific tool for the first time.
If you don’t read the manual, you might end up missing the part where it says to lock a certain part of that tool in place.
When you do not secure a tool properly, that tool can malfunction, leading to a broken tool or an injured you.
Use the right safety equipment.
No matter how big or small your project is, you may need to use specific equipment to do the job safely.
Eye protection is a great example. Even if you’re just cutting wood for a small wooden shelf using a circular saw, you’ll need to have safety goggles on to protect your eyes.
Or if you’re welding two pieces of metal together, you’ll need to wear a welding mask that will protect your eyes from the bright light of the welding rod.
For bigger builds, scaffolding stairs–like the one from Catwalk Scaffold Stairs–may be needed. These stairs are designed to be a replacement for rickety, slip-prone scaffolding that’s still being used at other construction projects.
Choose or create the appropriate work environment for the task at hand.
It’s not just safely using the tools that you have that are important, as where you do your DIY home improvement project also matters.
For example, the painting or the application of solvents should not be done in a poorly-ventilated area, as some of these materials release strong vapors that can make you dizzy.
To prevent this, it might be better to move to a better-ventilated area–or to increase the air circulation in that space by turning on a fan or two.
Knowing first aid (and having a first aid kit nearby) helps.
Sometimes, no matter how careful we can be, accidents do happen. Maybe you accidentally hammered your fingernail instead of the nail into the wall, or you’ve gotten a small cut.
That’s why knowing how to do first aid matters, so that you won’t need to call 911 just to ask what to do with a simple injury.
In worse cases, your knowledge of first aid will help prevent an injury from getting worse while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Don’t take shortcuts.
This reminder is connected to the first point–if the label of the material you’re using tells you to wait a certain amount of time for it to cure, then you should be patient and wait.
For example, if the epoxy you’ve used tells you to wait for 24 hours for it to cure, then leave it alone for that length of time.
That’s because if you rush the curing process, you may end up needing to redo it when it ends up leaking.
Worse, someone could get injured when whatever the epoxy is holding together falls apart because it hasn’t cured properly.
Store tools, equipment, and extra materials properly.
Once you’re done with your project for the day, make sure that you have a space to store all your home improvement equipment or materials.
This is especially if you have children at home. Let’s say you have a hammer that you’re using to repair a fence in the backyard.
If it’s not stored out of children’s reach, a child may try picking that hammer up and dropping it on themselves, resulting in injuries.
Know the right tool for the job–and know when you should fix or replace them.
At this point, it’s safe to assume that you won’t use a wrench to hammer in a nail.
That said, if any of your tools are showing signs of wear and tear, it’s important to have them fixed right away.
One example is any loose or frayed wiring for power tools, which can be an electrical hazard.
That frayed wiring can lead to a small fire, which can become bigger when spreading to your paint supplies.
While some issues with your tools can be fixed, sometimes you may need to have them replaced completely.
Granted, replacing a tool may be very expensive, but in the long run it’s still cheaper than a hospital bill, should you get injured from a faulty tool.
These seven ways for safely doing home improvement projects will help you off to a great start with your DIY project.
After all, while doing things safely may be slower, that’s still less painful than accidentally destroying your project or getting injured while working on it.
