There are many reasons why we do a bit of DIY, such as to save a few quid or just for the fact that we love to do a job ourselves. Some us of us find it is irresistible and it can be very rewarding. This is fine, but we must be able to know our limitations; so aside from doing a job badly, we need to recognise what work we can do safely!
The last thing we need is to cause harm to ourselves or anyone else; we have a legal duty of care to protect people who visit our property from accidents and injury. Nobody wants an ambulance around; so, please read on and I will give you some basic tips on how to plan safe work at home.
Let me start by asking you to be honest with yourself. Who remembers Reg Prescott? He was a character of the television show host and broadcaster Kenny Everett. Basically, Reg liked DIY work, but he was portrayed by Kenny as being clumsy with poor eyesight. He would usually end up causing himself gory injuries. Power tools were his worst enemy and there was a lot of fake blood.
I know Kenny’s show was only comedy, but sometimes accidents really do happen owing to a lack in someone’s capabilities; so, before you start a task ask yourself, am I physically and mentally up to this job? Do I have the right aptitude to do the work safely? If you don’t and you carry on, you increase the chance of hurting yourself or someone else. Consider the impact that a serious injury or death would have on your family and others close to you.
When you decide you are good to go, you will need to plan your job. A good place to start is to carry out a risk assessment; but don’t panic, this does not need to be a major or any kind of paperwork exercise. Risk control is about getting the right balance: On one side there is an outcome from an accident or ill-health; on the other there is your investment in terms of cost, time, trouble and effort to prevent or reduce the risk of it happening; i.e. if there was a high risk of death then you need to do more to stop or reduce that likelihood.
Here’s what you can do, which should be as simple or complex as the task deserves:
- Identify all the significant health physical and environmental hazards involved with the task;
- Look at who, what and how harm could occur to somebody or something;
- Assess the risk and consider proportionate ways in which you can prevent or reduce the risk of these events happening;
- Take action to implement those measures, i.e. your safe system of work;
- Finally, review as you go, as you might need to adjust your methods.
Maintain this system and you and those around should always safely conduct DIY work. Remember, planning for health and safety is important, so I hope you found this article helpful.
For more health and safety advice click here, Health and Safety Consultancy.
This is a collaborative post.
