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Home Improvements - Shop Safety
When you are working
around heavy equipment and materials, sharp
edges and blades, and other tools and
paraphernalia in your woodworking, fire pits,
fencing, granite and other home improvement
projects, safety needs to come first. There's no
need to put yourself in danger while you're
improving your home environment.
So heads up and heed the following:
1) Take care of long hair and loose clothing and
accessories that can get in the way of your
work. Tie hair back, roll up sleeves, belt loose
pants, don't wear jewelry.
2) Keep young children out of your work area.
3) Protect your eyes, even if you wear
prescription eyewear. Use safety goggles or
glasses with power tools, chiseling granite and
other materials, sanding, hammering, scraping
and doing other functions where debris could be
airborne.
4) Protect your lungs, too. Use industry-safe
face masks or respirators especially when
working with materials and operations that can
result in making airborne debris that you can
breath in like sawing, sanding, and working with
unsafe substances (toxic or itchy).
5) Protect your ears, too. Use plugs or other
protective devices to level out loud power
tools.
6) Watch for fire hazards, especially when
working with wood (fencing, flooring,
benches...), fabric (awnings) and with fire
pits. You don't want to leave materials close to
hot surfaces where they could catch on fire. And
you don't want combustible items like oily rags
left haphazardly around your work area. Keep
your area organized. And get rid of trash to
help keep your work area safer.
7) Read your owner's and equipment manuals and
follow their instructions and advice. And keep
them in a handy place altogether for quick
retrieval, preferably in a sturdy storage bin or
drawer where they'll stay fairly clean.
8) Unplug equipment when you're through for
breaks and for the day. Don't leave anything
plugged in while you're not there.
9) Be alert when you're around power tools.
Don't be working or around the area if you're
too tired to be alert or drunk. You need to be
alert and aware or your surroundings and those
of others.
10) No smoking around flammables.
11) If you need help, stop what you're doing and
find help. Don't go it alone if there's
potential danger.
12) Secure your materials and environment before
starting to work on them: ladders that could
fall, boards that could fly up in your face,
etc.
Be responsible - for your self and for those
around you. And practice safety first with all
your home improvements.
by Jim Ames
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