It is no secret that Britain is a nation of DIY lovers. Most of us love to get stuck in with a spot of do-it-yourself work around the home, and in the process learn valuable new skills, such as how to plaster a wall, how to hang a door, how to wire in an electrical socket, or even how to build a garden shed!
Safety around the home
Sadly there is a downside to DIY, and that is the safety aspect. You see, whilst we are all generally covered by health and safety guidelines and regulations in the workplace, which ensure that we perform certain tasks in a particular manner so as to limit the risk of danger or something affecting our health, there is no-one to supervise what we do at home (apart from family members).
According to RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), DIY accidents account for around 220,000 visits to the hospital each year, some with minor injuries and some with potentially life-threatening injuries. To put it another way, that is the equivalent of nearly a quarter of the population of Birmingham in the West Midlands!
The most common causes of DIY-related injuries
Out of those 220,000 DIY-related injuries, RoSPA estimate that 87,000 injuries occur from tools and machinery while 41,000 are related to falls from ladders and stepladders. 60,000 people that are admitted to A&E departments in the UK complain of injuries caused by splinters, dust, dirt, grit, and other particles.
This is quite a widespread problem, something which I especially thought about the other day when I was renewing my home insurance and discovered that it covers me for “DIY disasters!”.
Ways to stay safe and productive doing DIY around the home
If you like doing DIY around the home, then here are some simple steps and tips which you can follow to lessen or completely eradicate the risk of sustaining any injuries to yourself or those around you:
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Make sure you have the right tools for the job - before you commence any DIY jobs around the home, you should ensure that you have all of the correct tools to carry out the work. Improvising when you don’t have the right kit is never a good idea when you are doing DIY;
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Do a risk assessment before you work - you might think this only applies to the workplace, but you should also do this when you are about to embark on any DIY jobs at home. For example, if you are going to install loft insulation, you should make sure that you wear a dust mask, safety glasses, gloves and a boiler suit;
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Don’t work alone - if you are going to walk up a ladder to clean your guttering, or you intend to install some electrical sockets indoors, make sure there is someone else there with you in case of any accidents, as it may be a long time before someone finds you and raises the alarm;
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Don’t perform any major DIY alterations alone - even if you are a skilled tradesman, trying to tackle a big task alone such as doing beam calculations for a steel beam support you intend to install isn’t a good idea, so make sure you have a helper there with you.
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