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In a former career I was a also a health and safety person. I mostly did chemical safety, but other stuff was there as well. Some incidents that have happened to friends or their families recently prompt me to write this post.
Now that people are needing to be frugal and do a lot of their own home maintenance themselves, there are a few basic safety precautions that really have to be observed. Your DIY job doesn't come with a safety inspector, so it's up to you to keep yourself safe.
Musculoskeletal and back injuries make up most of the non-fatal workplace injuries. Sprains, tears, breaks, fractures, etc. are risks that used to be even more common in the building trades. Most of these come from lifting and "slips, trip and falls".
When doing DIY projects, you are often using "consumer grade" equipment, not rated for heavy use. Don't overload it, and check it over each day before you use it. It's less expensive than the "pro" stuff for a reason. Also, if you left that wooden ladder out in the weather all year, even if it's "pro", don't use it until you've checked every rung.
Don't go free climbing stuff like you did when you were a kid. You aren't any more, and your center of balance has probably shifted. Make sure your ladder is well seated/footed, and have a spotter (and someone to hand you the tools that you forgot to carry up with you.) Do not climb on the top steps of that ladder - borrow a longer ladder! Do not lean to the side of the ladder to reach stuff - as you shift your balance to reach farther, your feet push the ladder the other way, out from under you. Move the damned ladder.
When carrying stuff, don't hurt yourself with lazy man's pains - if it is too heavy/bulky to carry all in one load, break it into two loads or more, or get a helper. You probably have an unemployed friend who could use a meal and something to do. Same thing goes for lifting, only more so: lift properly, with your knees, not your back, and if it's too heavy, stop. Wrecking your back for a DIY project is dumb. Get a helper.
Power tools can cause serious injuries - I personally know people who have lost fingers or nearly been scalped. Pay attention to the safety warnings and use the proper guards. Use safety glasses, unless you like shit flying into your eyes. It's also a good idea to let people know if you're going to be working on heavy stuff, just in case. BTW, even things like nail guns are power tools.
Paints and chemicals have their own hazards. Even the paints advertised as "water based" and "water clean up" can be bad to breathe, and definitely are not fun to get in your eyes. Wear the safety glasses when painting, priming or varnishing - the sight you save may be your own. Also, make sure that you have adequate ventilation where you are working. While snorting fumes may be fun for some, it is not healthy, and can cause very permanent damage. To find out what precautions you need for what you are using, read the container that it came in, and also look up the manufacturer's safety advice on the web. Don't transfer more than a "working" quantity to another container without the labeling. No one likes to find "mystery" containers two years later and not be able to remember what was in them.
Commercial cleaning solvents are similar to paints in their ability to get in your eyes and in your lungs. Also, they can react with each other quite nastily, so don't go mixing them! Leave the chemistry to people who have the training.
Electricity is also something that people start messing with without thinking first. Yeah, I know people who've survived some impressive jolts. Don't try to top them. For simple repairs, be sure to disconnect the device you are working on first, and mark it so no one will come along and reconnect it. Make sure that grounding connectors are still there when you're done. For complicated stuff involving changing household wiring, please call an electrician. The fire you prevent may be your own.
Plumbing can be easy, but can cause a lot of damage really quickly. Not just to your house from water damage - I don't know how many people get banged up trying to wrench on stubborn plumbing and have it suddenly give. Brute force can be over done, and can mess things up in the long term, so do try alternate methods. If you have to brute force it, think about what your body will do when it does finally yield. However, don't mess with gas plumbing unless you actually are trained on flammable gas piping. "BOOM" is not a sound of success.
This list is by no means comprehensive, and is an overview intended to help you to think about safety.
I seriously don't want to read how you bunged yourself up on a DIY project when a bit of safety precaution could have prevented it. I don't want to read about your exciting ER visits for tool/chemical inflicted damage from DIY projects. I like you to much. So be safe. If you wonder about how to do something safely, ask me, and if I don't know I'll try to find out for you.
Permission to link/crosspost granted as long as source is cited.
Now that people are needing to be frugal and do a lot of their own home maintenance themselves, there are a few basic safety precautions that really have to be observed. Your DIY job doesn't come with a safety inspector, so it's up to you to keep yourself safe.
Musculoskeletal and back injuries make up most of the non-fatal workplace injuries. Sprains, tears, breaks, fractures, etc. are risks that used to be even more common in the building trades. Most of these come from lifting and "slips, trip and falls".
When doing DIY projects, you are often using "consumer grade" equipment, not rated for heavy use. Don't overload it, and check it over each day before you use it. It's less expensive than the "pro" stuff for a reason. Also, if you left that wooden ladder out in the weather all year, even if it's "pro", don't use it until you've checked every rung.
Don't go free climbing stuff like you did when you were a kid. You aren't any more, and your center of balance has probably shifted. Make sure your ladder is well seated/footed, and have a spotter (and someone to hand you the tools that you forgot to carry up with you.) Do not climb on the top steps of that ladder - borrow a longer ladder! Do not lean to the side of the ladder to reach stuff - as you shift your balance to reach farther, your feet push the ladder the other way, out from under you. Move the damned ladder.
When carrying stuff, don't hurt yourself with lazy man's pains - if it is too heavy/bulky to carry all in one load, break it into two loads or more, or get a helper. You probably have an unemployed friend who could use a meal and something to do. Same thing goes for lifting, only more so: lift properly, with your knees, not your back, and if it's too heavy, stop. Wrecking your back for a DIY project is dumb. Get a helper.
Power tools can cause serious injuries - I personally know people who have lost fingers or nearly been scalped. Pay attention to the safety warnings and use the proper guards. Use safety glasses, unless you like shit flying into your eyes. It's also a good idea to let people know if you're going to be working on heavy stuff, just in case. BTW, even things like nail guns are power tools.
Paints and chemicals have their own hazards. Even the paints advertised as "water based" and "water clean up" can be bad to breathe, and definitely are not fun to get in your eyes. Wear the safety glasses when painting, priming or varnishing - the sight you save may be your own. Also, make sure that you have adequate ventilation where you are working. While snorting fumes may be fun for some, it is not healthy, and can cause very permanent damage. To find out what precautions you need for what you are using, read the container that it came in, and also look up the manufacturer's safety advice on the web. Don't transfer more than a "working" quantity to another container without the labeling. No one likes to find "mystery" containers two years later and not be able to remember what was in them.
Commercial cleaning solvents are similar to paints in their ability to get in your eyes and in your lungs. Also, they can react with each other quite nastily, so don't go mixing them! Leave the chemistry to people who have the training.
Electricity is also something that people start messing with without thinking first. Yeah, I know people who've survived some impressive jolts. Don't try to top them. For simple repairs, be sure to disconnect the device you are working on first, and mark it so no one will come along and reconnect it. Make sure that grounding connectors are still there when you're done. For complicated stuff involving changing household wiring, please call an electrician. The fire you prevent may be your own.
Plumbing can be easy, but can cause a lot of damage really quickly. Not just to your house from water damage - I don't know how many people get banged up trying to wrench on stubborn plumbing and have it suddenly give. Brute force can be over done, and can mess things up in the long term, so do try alternate methods. If you have to brute force it, think about what your body will do when it does finally yield. However, don't mess with gas plumbing unless you actually are trained on flammable gas piping. "BOOM" is not a sound of success.
This list is by no means comprehensive, and is an overview intended to help you to think about safety.
I seriously don't want to read how you bunged yourself up on a DIY project when a bit of safety precaution could have prevented it. I don't want to read about your exciting ER visits for tool/chemical inflicted damage from DIY projects. I like you to much. So be safe. If you wonder about how to do something safely, ask me, and if I don't know I'll try to find out for you.
Permission to link/crosspost granted as long as source is cited.
From:
no subject
Also, I've done various stuff involving household wiring, though these days I hire people. Electricity is actually very simple - if you follow the rules, and understand the basics of how it works. There are decent do it yourself books that explain everything.
Of course I've also cleaned up after people who clearly didn't read those books. Wet plaster is not an appropriate replacement for a junction box, not even after it dries. Driving nails into your walls and through an electric cable is a bad plan. The amazing thing is that house didn't burn down - it lasted long enough for my mom to buy it as a "handyman's special" whereupon I was volunteered to assist in the repairs. (See "get a helper" above.) Later I bought my own house, and used what I'd learned on hers.
Arlie's rules for house wiring.
- put a sign on the breaker(s) you turned off, even if you are sure your housemates know you are working on the wiring.
- test twice if you got the right breaker(s). If in any doubt, turn off the main switch, and put a sign on that too.
- the local electrical code exists to keep you safe. Comply with it.
- "cheater" connections (that make a fake ground) are dangerous and stupid, as well as against code.
- use a GFI circuit or outlet anywhere there might be water. The code requires it. So does common sense.
- connections require wire nuts, and they need to be the right size.
- connections belong in proper junction boxes (switch boxes, outlet boxes) and they need to be large enough for the number and size of connections you are including. (They generate heat. You don't want too much of that near flammable wall materials!)
- if your wiring goes outdoors, use proper conduit, not bare Romex.
- don't add more to an already overloaded circuit, even if you have to get an electrician in to upgrade the breaker box
- take out any wiring you've disconnected; don't leave it to cause confusion later
- handy dandy circuit testers will point out your mistakes - electricians' mistakes too, as I demonstrated the last time I hired one
From:
no subject
On electrical, you are correct, it is that simple if you follow some really sensible rules, but I wasn't out to write a tutorial on basic electrical work. Needless to say, yours are a pretty good set of rules.
The primary things I hope for is for people to remember a) to de-energize the circuit, b) to mark it as being turned off for a reason, and c) not do major work if they don't have the knowledge! I do like your addition of testing that the circuit is really off - I meant to stuff that in there, but didn't know how to say it.
I could do electrical work, I know how to use basic meters, do calculations of load, and read basic code guides. I've seen what jack-leg (unlicensed?) electricians can do - my old place was kinda scary because of it - so I didn't want to encourage it. The previous landlord did a lot of his own work, or just hired the cheapest and didn't care about competence. I was literally afraid to dig too deeply into it for fear of upsetting the delicate balance of ancient wiring and DIY "repairs".