Knowing what safety gear to wear when working with power tools and completing home projects is important to preventing accidents and protecting your most essential parts.
Hello fellow DIYers!
Do you love working with power tools? If you are a DIYer like myself my guess is that you love the sound of zinging, zooming, hammering, slicing and the smell of wood cutting. Nothing gets me more excited and then I want to stand on a mountain and grunt like Tim the Tool Man!
To put things on a more serious note though often in the midst of the excitement or the rush to get something done its easy to forget to put on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Nothing could kill this buzz faster than an injury due to carelessness and failure to use PPE.
When working with power tools, safety gear is very important to prevent injury. Here is a list of basic safety gear with descriptions to follow. PPE is essential for a job not only well done but safely done.
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Here are the basic PPE for what you need to complete most home projects.
- Eyes glasses or goggles
- Ear plugs – I use 3M Band Style Hearing Protection
- N95 – Mask
- P100 – Mask
- Work gloves
Safety Glasses/Goggles
No matter what power tool I am using, a drill, driver, nail gun, sander, or saw the most basic essential PPE is safety glasses. It doesn’t take much for a piece of metal or wood to fly up and get ya right in the eye. Safety glasses are super cheap and protect your most precious assets. I keep several pairs lying around and it only takes a couple seconds to apply them.
Ear Plugs
I don’t need to use these for every power tool but I have found that the repetitiveness of a nail gun firing right next to my ear gets a little irritating. It is especially important to wear ear plugs with louder tools like saws. I prefer the kind that has the neck strap which makes it easy to rest it around my neck when they are not in use.
If you can just use those two pieces of PPE you will prevent many injuries and long term ill health effects.
Masks
N95
To take it a step further I often times wear a mask if I will be around particulates for a longer period of time. An N95 mask is perfect for most household projects and the most commonly used mask. The N indicates NON-oil proof, while the 95 means it filters 95% of particulates from NON oil based products such as dust, insulation, allergens and mold. An N95 mask is best with sanding, grinding, water based paint, welding, sawing and fiberglass insulation. These masks do not protect from gases or fumes.
P100 
For 100% protection from non oil based and oil based products use a P100 mask. The P100 indicates oil proof, it filters 100% and is considered high efficiency (HE). I use a P100 for staining, spray painting, oil based paints, spray adhesive, and demoing. Masks are not the most comfortable thing, can be somewhat of a nuisance and lets face it they really aren’t that sexy, and you look like an alien to any passerby but I think you would agree that lungs are pretty important.
Work Gloves
As an added bonus I added work gloves. Although work gloves are not recommended while operating most power tools, especially saws they are still important for home projects. A good leather work glove is perfect for working with sharp objects, picking up and moving wood and demoing.
Remember to also keep your hair pulled back, wear closed toe shoes, and keep loose clothes tucked away.
As a final tip I suggest implementing your own personal safety process. For example before surgery the surgical team does a time out. During the time out they verify the correct patient, correct procedure and correct body part. PPE is worn, under a sterile environment to protect the patient and the surgical team.
I have implemented a similar practice when working with my most dangerous power tools, a saw. Before starting the saw I take a time out. I ask myself is this the correct piece of wood, correct cut, correct measurement, correct safety equipment. Not only does this save time, money and frustrations with avoiding cutting mistakes but this pause causes me to slow down, focus, and make sure I am paying attention to the task at hand. 
Do you have a routine or practice you have implemented into your safety routine? I would love to hear it in the comments below.
Ok so enough seriousness for one post. Now go out there and ROCK your DIY.
Hey Tiffany,
This is an awesome post. I’m a huge advocate for work safety, especially hearing protection. A lot of power tools easily generate a decibel rating high enough to warrant hearing protection.
I’m glad you put this article together, thanks!
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Thanks so much I appreciate the kind words and support for the post.
Thanks Tiffany for sharing this. I’m planning to do some DIYs for my new house and one in my list I should have some safety gears when doing such things. I do have experience when doing one before but now, since I have my own home, I really want to do some projects everytime I’m available on the weekends. Anyways, awesome post!
Hi Esther,
Thanks so much for your comment. Good luck with your house projects.
Wow! This is great. I have actually found it better than I thought. I have been straining when cleaning my store from the dust that occasionally invade it especially during the dry season when dust occupy the atmosphere.
During this time I could hold my breath as I clean in fear of inhaling the dust and abruptly burst outside when to take in fresh air when I couldn’t hold any longer.
Now I can comfortably clean my store after having my dust mask on and the work gloves on my hands. Thanks for your concern about people’s lives and the advice to protect their lives from dander.
Wade,
Thanks so much for your comment! Glad to hear that you won’t be breathing in that dust anymore.
As someone who has just become a “DIY” fan within the past two years, I am constantly trying to find ways to ensure my safety while I work. I sometimes wonders if I go “overboard”, and that I don’t really need all of these extra precautions. But, see that you recommend them in this blog, I know that this is the right call!
Hi Bethany,
Thanks for you comment! When I have my mask on working in my garage the neighbors probably think I look like an alien, ha ha. But I figure that you can never be too safe. Happy to hear that you are a DIY fan. Have fun!
It is refreshing to read an article simply about Personal Protective Equipment. Sometimes we are all in such a hurry to get to work on our projects that we forget to take the necessary precaution to ensure that we are safe while doing so. Your idea of wearing a mask while painting and staining is also a great one because those are fumes that we don’t need to be breathing in.
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Hi Ciara,
I so agree with you. When I fail to use a mask with spray painting or staining I definitely feel it in my lungs after a bit. Thanks for your comment.
I always make sure to tuck away my pets and kids
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Hi Laurel,
Yes good tip for sure!
WOw, This is a great one. Power tools are really important and useful. It is helps to easily working. You can easily complete your work using power tools.
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Hi Micheal,
Thanks for your comment! Yes I love power tools!
Hello Tiffany,
I love the line you’ve mentioned in your blog post “If you are a DIYer like myself my guess is that you love the sound of zinging, zooming, hammering, slicing and the smell of wood cutting”. It seems to me that you heard my heart’s voice because you know it’s the same tone of voice of mine too. I love your post on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) because you know safely first then everything else. Will share this post to my close one.
Cheers,
Alvin V.Stone
Hi Alvin,
Thanks so much! Glad to hear our hearts are aligned…it’s in our blood!
Nice blog you have shared . i m also a welder and always look for this kind of stuff.
Hi Maria,
I would love to learn how to weld. That is on my list of DIY’s to learn someday.
Hey Tiffany,,
Thank you so much for sharing your Awesome Article with us.
I am so glad to read your Article. You Described wonderfully safety tips.. i am wood worker.
this article is very helpful for woodworking.
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