Thread: DIY injuries on rise amid home renovation TV boom, Brisbane doctors say

Originally Posted by BobL

What would you give someone that is texting while driving and totals your vehicle leaving you without a vehicle for 6 weeks?
I was OK - he also totalled his car and broke his collarbone, he was not insured and (tried to) take out insurance the day after the accident.

You wouldn't want to know...

Glad to hear you are ok, i hope the insurance company goes after him for fraud.

I don't have time for people that are careless and put others at risk, you only have one body.

Originally Posted by bryn23

You wouldn't want to know...
Glad to hear you are ok, i hope the insurance company goes after him for fraud.
I don't have time for people that are careless and put others at risk, you only have one body.

The thing that really me off was the prang happened on the day I had just had a major service ($450) and a front wheel alignment , and two days later I was due 2 weeks holiday and was going away with the vehicle. Instead I took a couple of days of to sort out the prang and remove the accessories from the vehicle before it was scrapped and went back to work.

BTW The other driver also had a couple of kids in the back seat of his vehicle.

Just saw the Channel 10 Project story on the topic of this thread.
In the usual 30s they give to such stories they focused on "instructions" and PPE was not even mentioned.

BobL, Dr Eley's comments would be true for the QLD QISU research which is also very dated now. Even in the USA the wood lathe injuries aren't captured all that well. In Oz I suspect a lot of workshop injuries are placed into "other" categories or classified as slips. trips, falls etc.

A work colleagues wife was a statistician with QLD Health but budget cuts decimated their work group. However a mate who is an theatre technician in ortho says they see a number of severe hand injuries per week from DIY stuff, mainly grinders, power saws & routers.

I always think about the guy trudging over to the "Days Worked Since Last Accident" board, wiping it off, and writing up a bit fat "0".....

Originally Posted by Mr Brush

I always think about the guy trudging over to the "Days Worked Since Last Accident" board, wiping it off, and writing up a bit fat "0".....

Perhaps we need one for the forum?

Front page, at top. A safety advice sticky and "how to's" provided by members on each machine safest use (with pictures on NON safe use!)

Self reported, but constant, showing that accidents are both avoidable, common and happen... even to wizened grouches who should know better

Perhaps I can write to the hospital and see if they might contribute

Christ - with the number of members we have on the forum, the (virtual) chalk dust wouldn't have time to reach the ground.....

Love the idea though

I dunno, something doesn't sit well with me learning how to do things safely by reading instructions/forums/blogs or watching videos. For starters it will be an argument as to which is the safest way. A simple example

"when ripping material on a table saw, you should raise the blade as high as it can go".

Originally Posted by woodPixel

Perhaps we need one for the forum?

Front page, at top. A safety advice sticky and "how to's" provided by members on each machine safest use (with pictures on NON safe use!)

Self reported, but constant, showing that accidents are both avoidable, common and happen... even to wizened grouches who should know better

Perhaps I can write to the hospital and see if they might contribute

This makes sobering reading
WWA Accident Survey

Like all Statistics they have to be considered very carefully.
For example table saw come up tops in terms of numbers of accident but this does not take into account the numbers of users and how long they use them for.
For example table saws are up near the top in terms of numbers of accidents
BUT
per user, per hour of use, they are one of the machines with the lowest accident rate.
RAS and BS have a significantly higher accident rate.

Cheers Bob. Just read old few of those for the machines I currently own and definitely some eye opening moments. I've always had a very healthy fear of machinery but there were a number of accidents there that would have caught me out as well.

There are really a number of issues at work here.

"Reality" TV programs which give the impression that anyone can renovate or build and even complete work to a high, safe standard without expertise or supervision using tools which most have never seen or been instructed how to use and be able to complete any task in impossible timeframes, weather and all this while the "contestants" are overly tired and stressed.

The "quality" of the tools and accessories promoted as being DIY specific as opposed to trade quality. I fully understand that some of the so called prestige brands command premium prices difficult to justify but surely blind Freddy must realise that there will be a difference between paying $50 for 1 router bit or $100 for a box of drills and going to a box store and paying $15 for a set of 12 router bits or $25 for a box of drills. You can't expect precision, longevity and a quality product using tools or accessories which are designed to a minimum price.

Instruction manuals today absolutely astound me. In many cases they are poorly written, what is often referred to as Chinglish, they try to cover 5+ different languages, are full of basic backside covering statements, avoid telling how to use or maintain the machinery and are of little to no use.

This brings about, perhaps the most dangerous aspect which is the attitude of the user. The attitude of "she'll be right, near enough is good enough, when in doubt read the instructions, I've seen it on uTube so therefore I can do it" all contribute to the shedding of blood. There is a failure to examine or predict what could happen if you do XY or Z, we all need to think before we do.

Just some thoughts.

Another serious issue is PPE.

Only 10% of all DIY'ers attending Vic EDs in the 1990's study OF DIY injuries were wear ANY PPE, let alone the specific PPE for the job e.g. might be wearing steel caps, but no eye protection, while using a grinder.

Many DIY injuries also occur during incidents where PPE is not normally used, e.g. ladders, scissors, box cutters, knives, screwdrivers, etc.

Steel capped boots would prevent many DIY foot related injuries but can we really expect a DIY to have these on hand?
For example I wonder how many wood turners would wear them?

RE Instructions
I agree while they are getting better some instructions are very poorly written.
I would like to see more hard nose instructions like these on the cover page of the manual for the bigger Stihl chain saws.

Warning!
This saw is capabale of severe kickbackwhich may cause serious or fatal injury.
This saw is ONLY for users with extraordinary cutting needs, experience, and training dealing with kickback.
Smaller chainsaws with significantly reduced kickbackpotential are available.

Originally Posted by BobL

Another serious issue is PPE.

Many DIY injuries also occur during incidents where PPE is not normally used, e.g. ladders, scissors, box cutters, knives, screwdrivers, etc.

Very true, but you notice that the DIY projects shown on TV are often accompanied by poor technique on behalf of the presenter. I saw a a segment on BHG recently where the presenter who is supposedly a qualified chippie was using a chisel in a manner that left me dumbstruck, and wondering what happened to apprenticeship training. I have no doubt that an inexperienced person could injure themselves copying the technique displayed on TV.

This lack of good technique being displayed extends to how difficult it can be to get proper training. I spent Christmas Day next door to a retired surgeon who has a workshop like you wouldn't believe. Being a smart man he wanted to learn machining properly so went to tech one night every week and took his two sons with him to train as a fitter/turner. That's something you can't really do now because trade courses at TAFE are restricted to apprentices and even if they'd let you in no DIYer would spend the 30 grand the full fees for the courses are set at now.

And even lesser affordable courses such as cert 1 or 2 which would give basic skills and safe handling of tools aren't being run because budget cuts restrict teacher availability. Men's sheds could step up here, but many don't have enough skilled people to provide the instruction or are quite insular like a number in my area, comfortable with what they are doing and not seeking to do anything different. Those that are willing are still restricted - my 80yo father teaches woodworking to primary students at his men's shed in qld, but as the kids aren't allowed to use anything sharp they aren't learning safe handling of tools like chisels let alone a table saw.

Originally Posted by richmond68

That's something you can't really do now because trade courses at TAFE are restricted to apprentices and even if they'd let you in no DIYer would spend the 30 grand the full fees for the courses are set at now. And even lesser affordable courses such as cert 1 or 2 which would give basic skills and safe handling of tools aren't being run because budget cuts restrict teacher availability.

I agree about this. I did quite a few short and night school courses in the 1970s that were not expensive and extremely useful. Its a shame these are not around now.

Men's sheds could step up here, but many don't have enough skilled people to provide the instruction or are quite insular like a number in my area, comfortable with what they are doing and not seeking to do anything different. Those that are willing are still restricted - my 80yo father teaches woodworking to primary students at his men's shed in qld, but as the kids aren't allowed to use anything sharp they aren't learning safe handling of tools like chisels let alone a table saw.

Can't speak for other mens shed but we have plenty of qualified and skilled people at our shed, not just in woodwork but also in metal work.
This year we had a couple of younger blokes join the shed specifically to to learn welding (at cost), and some primary school kids next door to the shed came over for 4 sessions this year and we are looking to increase that next year.
I'm not involved with any of this (see below why) but I did observe kids using hand planes and saws (but no chisels) using all the right PPE.
Although its better than nothing, unfortunately I don't always see being qualified/skilled/experienced as being anywhere near as OHS aware as I would like especially for todays litigious environment.
Even if Shed OHS was up to scratch I don't see OHS training to the wider public as high priority role for mens sheds, the primary role of which is the mental health of their members.
It sounds like I'm being selfish, but after starting out with good intentions, I found my mental health suffering when dealing with just dealing with shed OHS issues and is why I have disconnected myself from shed management.