8 proven ways to work safely on your home projects

Working safely isn't just an important practice — it should be a habit. Follow these tips and you'll be on your way to making working safely second nature.

• Simple glasses aren't likely going to be enough to guard your eyes.
• You should wear either special protective safety glasses with side shields, or safety goggles, which can be worn over your normal glasses.
• If you think that you'll need full-face protection for a job, then wear a face shield.

• To keep your safety goggles from fogging over, use your finger to spread a thin layer of dishwashing liquid on the inside of the goggles' lenses.

• Protecting yourself from noise while working around the house is just as important as protecting your eyes.
• Wearing either earmuffs or earplugs can help prevent noise-related damage, just make sure that their noise-reduction rating is the same.
• Earmuffs have the advantage of being much harder to misplace than earplugs.

• If you're working with chemicals or materials that have been treated with chemicals, then wear a respirator.
• Among the best sorts of respirator to use are those that have changeable dual cartridges that are colour-coded for different sorts of toxic dust and fumes.
• Whenever you're working in a place that's simply dusty, you should wear a disposable dust mask.
• But be sure to only buy dust masks that have a rating guide on them.

• Never cut anything that could contain asbestos.
• Materials that might contain asbestos include things like old fibro wall (best known as "asbestos cement sheet") and roof sheeting.
• Just looking at something isn't enough to see if it contains asbestos
• The only way to know if something contains asbestos is to have a lab test it
• Cutting asbestos can spread dangerous fibres over a huge area.
• If in doubt about whether or not something contains asbestos, don't cut it!

• Over time sawdust builds up inside power tools' motors, around the motor housing and in the motor vents.
• To help keep dust from building up in your tools, you can vacuum sawdust from their housing and vents every month or so.
• Or, you can blow the sawdust out with compressed air.
• Air compressors and canned air will work well for blowing sawdust out of power tools.
• Be sure to wear eye protection when cleaning tools with compressed air.
• If you fail to keep their vents open and their housing free of sawdust, your tools are more likely to overheat.

• About 10 minutes before you begin drilling, sanding or cutting timber, position a fan so that it's blowing out of an open window.
• Then, turn the fan on and open a door or window on the opposite side.
• Doing this will create a gentle breeze before you generate sawdust.
• The breeze will help to keep the airborne sawdust from settling.

• Whenever you're not using a power tool unplug it.
• Power tools should also be unplugged while you adjust or clean them.
• To keep kids from plugging in a power tool, slip a key ring through the hole in one of the plug's flat prongs when the tool isn't in use.
• If there isn't a hole in a prong already, drill one yourself.

Following these tips and making them habits can help you to work on your home projects like the pros. After all, working safely is the first step toward working efficiently and effectively.