Eye protection
Now I don’t want to go down the road of some of the Health and Safety Gestapo otherwise, quite frankly, none of us would ever pick up a paint brush again, but I do want to impart a little bit of advice about staying safe with DIY and specifically eye protection. Whether you are doing all out demolition jobs, building a new house, or, just simply doing some average DIY around the home, you really do need to look after your eyes.
Keeping safety glasses on
Of all the site injuries I’ve seen, without question, the most common is something to do with eyes. Thankfully, I’ve never seen permanent damage, but it has been close on occasion, myself included here. Not that long ago I ended up in casualty as a result of an incident with a jigsaw. No, not whipping off a finger or stabbing my hand, just simply a tiny bit of wood flicking up and lodging somewhere in my eye. Now I’d been using the jigsaw all day, wearing goggles, but it was just that last cut I popped back to do, forgot my goggles and bang, the next minute you find yourself winking at a rate of 100 beats a minute and your eye streaming like the Niagara falls. After a few hours in casualty, a severe reprimand from a doctor, and what felt like a pressure washer being used to clean my eye, I returned home and thought about the best way to stop it happening again. My conclusion was simple – put your safety glasses on at the start of the day, and don’t take them off until the end!
Therefore, the best policy is not to be thinking about “do I need to or don’t I need to wear glasses for this job”- its just much better to think that if you’re doing DIY, “I’ll keep them on all day”. A few years ago safety goggles and glasses were uncomfortable things that misted up, therefore encouraging you to take them off as soon as you can, nowadays its a completely different story. No longer are they uncomfortable and, I’m no Gok Wan, but I’d even venture to say they’re now almost a fashion statement.
Enormous selection
Ten years ago, an Amazon search for safety glasses would probably have produced about 5 options – ranging from the “really bulky and uncomfortable” to the “really misty”. Plug safety glasses into an Amazon search today, and you’ll get 100s of results, and although the misty, lumpy designs still exist, there are now plenty of clearer, lighter, and more comfortable options.
So have a good look, but make sure that your choice offers good protection i.e. they’re not just designed for making cyclists look cool. My personal favourites are the DeWalts shown here, and as well as being available on Amazon, you’ll also find them in outlets such as Screwfix, and Tooled-Up.
Most importantly though, if you don’t choose these, just make sure you choose something – look after your eyes!
