Safety

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DIY has an unfortunate relationship with Safety: in hospital A&E departments across the country Easter Sunday - traditionally the most popular time of the year for DIY activities - is known as Bloody Sunday!

These injuries are not inherent in the job, but are normally due to failure of the DIYer to see the risks and take measures to eliminate or minimise them.

Here are some resources for staying out of A&E and into DIY:

Electrical Safety

Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Safety Guidelines

Read at least once before taking the cover off any electrical equipment!

Gas Safety

Ed Sirett's Gas Fitting FAQ

By Law you must be competent to carry out any gas work! - read this before even thinking of doing your own.

Assessment

This is all very basic, but too often overlooked. This results in DIY related injuries every day. Knowing something is not enough, you also have to do it.

Before doing work it is wise to assess your awareness of the risks. If your knowledge level is insufficient to know the risks, a bit of reading first should help keep you out of A&E. News:uk.d-i-y and Wiki Contents are useful for this.

Also check you have adequate precautions in place to avoid or minimise the risks.

Most DIY jobs are worth the minimal risks involved, but there are exceptions. Some jobs are dangerous enough that it would not be a good choice for most people to attempt them, and sometimes people dont have enough skill to stay safe. Paying a tradesman can be a good choice in these cases.

Lastly there is a minority of individuals that simply should not get involved in DIY at all. The TV series 'Some mothers do ave em' illustrates that one. News:uk.d-i-y can sometimes help by offering another perspective on your planned work, but assessing someone's abilities on the strength of a few posts is not a reliable process.

Chemicals

Cleaning Chemicals

Bleach

Never let bleach and acid meet, or chlorine gas will form. Chlorine gas was one of the main chemical warfare gases used in WW1. It only takes a few breaths to kill, so if you smell chlorine, evacuate immediately, don't hang about to work out what went wrong.

Acids

Acids used in DIY cover the spectrum from mild food acids such as citric acid to acids like HCl capable of dissolving all body parts.

Vinegar

Vinegar is entirely innocent until used, but once it gets onto copper (or any copper alloy) it becomes saturated with copper salts. Copper is actully an essential nutrient in miniscule quantities, but the amounts found in copper cleaning runoff are enough to cause serious problems. Even vinegar can land you in trouble.

Alkalis

Alkalis are worse than acids in some ways. Acid in the eye will receive immediate treatment due to pain, but an alkali in the eye may cause no immediate suffering, and begin eating into the eyeball. Once this process occurs it is difficult to impossible to stop, if you wait before seeking treatment you may lose part of your sight in the affected eye.

Caustic Soda

Sodium hydroxide

Probably the strongest alkali used in DIY, caustic should be kept off skin and eyes, and any eye contact should prompt immediate washing and medical assistance. Skin contact is less of an issue in that it causes pain before any serious harm is done, and is easily washed off.

Caustic soda, washing soda and baking soda are all different chemicals.

Lime

Lime irritates some skins, and is the component in cement that causes skin irritation. Note that some mortar mixes also contain other alkaline components such as fly ash.

When the job is over, applying vinegar to hands after washing seems to make skin comfortable again much more quickly.

Heights

One of the problems with working at height is that things can go a lot more wrong than may be realised in advance. See Gerard Hofnung's famous story about the barrel of bricks.]

Lifting

Load Limits

Observe the Safe Working Load limits stamped on the ratings plate on your butt, don't exceed your rated values. This is sometimes difficult to read due to its location, in which case your load rating can be assessed by a doctor or physical therapist. Ratings may vary widely between different models of DIYer, so it is not always wise to make assumptions.

Exceeding the printed ratings may cause some of the zeros to fall off, leaving the DIYer unable to work. Although this damage can often be repaired by a body shop, the repair process is often long and costly, and in some cases the damage is permanent.

Sewage

Sewage works & pipes are a septic system. The smell is caused by very high levels of bacteria, some of which can be very dangerous to humans if ingested.

• Observing good hygiene is especially important around sewage
• When clearing a drain using a pressure washer, wear protection to prevent splashing to eyes, nose or mouth.

Falling Debris

Hard hats should be worn when there is a risk of falling debris.

Screws

Screwing causes injuries too. See Screws