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Eglin Emergency Room Visits by Do-it-Yourselfers (DIY) Indicate Trends

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  • By Air Armament Center Safety Office
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  With mega home-improvement stores, many folks are becoming "DIY" painters, plumbers, tile layers, landscapers and electricians. Workers and DIY television programs challenge us to take on tough projects, armed with more power tools and a desire to save money while improving our values. So Eglin Safety wishes to give you a few simple reminders. 

We in Safety learn time and again ladders lead our list of most dangerous items, beating out more manly power tools such as drills and chainsaws. And not all DIY injuries are obvious to users. Problems like hearing loss and lung damage may not show up for years. The bottom line: Think big when it comes to your DIY dreams, but pay attention to the safety details, too.

1. Wear goggles: Buy a pair of safety glasses and hang them over your workbench. Buy another pair and hang them from your lawn mower or weed eater. A pebble shot out by a whirling blade can easily do major damage to your vision, as can a shard kicked up by a chisel, or a sliver of wood from a splitting ax. And, no, your normal eyeglasses aren't good enough.

2. Use earmuffs or earplugs: Popular Mechanics has measured the noise coming from lawn mowers at up to 99 decibels. The threshold where factory workers are required to wear ear protection is far lower but if you mow the lawn or use a chainsaw for any exposure without ear protection, you'll notice temporary hearing loss. This should be your wake-up call -- use ear protectors/defenders.

3. Save your lungs: Dust masks can guard your lungs from irritating dust when you sweep the driveway, garage or workshop. This is good, but they'll do nothing to protect you from organic vapors given off by paints and coatings. Always use paint in a well-ventilated area, and, if you're applying spray paint or brushing on oil-based paint, use a respirator with organic vapor cartridges. The respirator's package will tell you what fumes the product is rated to handle. Seem excessive? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires such measures for workers doing the same kind of work.

4. Protect your hands: Most of us would normally wear a pair of work gloves to perform demolition or handle broken glass, but we've seen sheet metal, broken cast iron, broken glass and nails tear right through work gloves. Your best all-around protection is work gloves with a reinforced palm, also known as double leather gloves. Yeah, they may be more expensive, but then a trip to the emergency room to sew up your hand isn't cheap either.

5. Treat electricity with care: The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates there are 4,000 injuries a year associated with extension cords. Fifty percent of the accidents are due to tripping, while 13 percent involve children under five. The cords are responsible for about 5,500 residential fires a year, resulting in 50 deaths and 270 injuries. So, always use an extension cord with an amp rating suited to the power tool you're using. Discard a severely damaged cord, and make minor repairs using a pro-quality indoor/outdoor electrical tape. If the cord has multiple damaged areas, you may be able to cut it shorter and install a replacement end on the cord.

6. Have a first-aid kit close by: Everybody knows to keep a first-aid kit in an accessible location in the home, but we believe it is equally important to keep one close by in the shop. 

Follow these four simple steps -- based on advice from the famous Mayo Clinic -- to deal with simple workshop cuts:
Step 1: Minor cuts and scrapes stop bleeding on their own, in most cases. If they don't, apply gentle pressure to the wound with a clean cloth for 20 to 30 minutes. Don't lift the cloth while you wait. It's liable to reopen the wound. 

Step 2: Use plain water to rinse dirt and foreign matter from cuts. Don't apply soap to the wound because it can irritate it. Gently clean around the wound with soap, water and a clean washcloth. There's no need to use iodine-based cleaners or hydrogen peroxide. 

Step 3: Once you've cleaned the wound, apply an antibiotic to keep the surface moist and to discourage infection. 

Step 4: Cover the wound with a bandage. After your cut has healed enough such that infection is unlikely, uncover it. Exposure to the air will speed the healing process.

We hope your DIY projects turn out wonderfully and safely.