Handyman Safety Stats and Facts

FACTS

1. Falls: Handymen often work alone. So there is rarely anyone else present to secure the ladder or to supervise the work that is being done. Falls cause some of the most devastating injuries for handymen.
2. Electrical shocks: Accidents involving even minor electrical work has the potential to result in painful and life-threatening electrical shock injuries. It is essential for all handymen to wear protective gear and to learn about the dangers of working around live wires.
3. Power tool accidents: Safety guards should be turned on when using power tools. Workers should wear gloves, hard hats and eye protection to guard against injuries.
4. Eye injuries: Many handyman jobs involve flying debris, falling objects and other potential eye hazards. Wearing safety goggles is an important part of eye injury prevention.
5. Slips and falls: Handymen are often required to work in cluttered areas that can result in tripping accidents and wet conditions that can result in slip-and-fall accidents.
6. Roof accidents: Handymen are often asked to perform dangerous tasks they are not licensed to perform. It is not advisable for handymen to work on roofs without proper training and safety precautions.

STATS

• Nail guns: These tools may be extremely useful and make quick work of a number of odd jobs, but power nailers or nail guns also send 37,000 people a year to emergency rooms according to study done by (CDC).
• Chain saws: These power tools account for 36,000 emergency room cases a year. Kickback may occur when the moving chain at the nose or tip of the guide bar touches an object or when the wood closes in and pinches the saw chain in the cut.
• Table saws: These tools are commonly used in a number of home improvement projects. According to a recent study published in the Journal of Trauma, roughly 31,400 people are treated in emergency rooms every year for table saw injuries. About 93 % of those injuries were to the users’ finger, thumb or another part of the hand. About 66 percent of those injured had lacerations while 10 percent had amputations.
• Snowblowers: About 5,700 people go to the ER each year in the United States as a result of snowblower injuries. The most common types of injuries are broken bones and finger amputations.
• Backhoes: Handymen typically rent out this piece of hydraulic equipment when required. Backhoes kill an average of 38 construction workers a year.
• Ladders: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates 724,000 people received medical treatment for an injury suffered while using a ladder or step stool of some kind. That adds up to nearly 2,000 people injured each day.