Safety Tips for Your Wood Workshop

Safety within a wood workshop is paramount, particularly when working with saws and machinery which can cause serious injuries. By following some of our safety top tips you can continue to enjoy woodworking whilst keeping you and others in your workshop safe.

Keep your workshop clean

Yes, we know, cleaning isn’t exactly top of the list of things you would want to be doing. However, keeping your workshop clear of obstacles, mess and spillages is the perfect place to start when addressing health and safety. By maintaining a clean workshop you’ll reduce the chances of injury from tripping over an obstacle or slipping on a spillage. Keeping your wood shavings disposed of will also reduce the fire risk which comes with woodworking.

Hearing protection

To avoid damage to your ears and hearing while operating loud machinery, we always recommend wearing hearing protection. Particularly if you work in an industrial wood workshop where machine use is constant and noise levels are high. As hearing loss is gradual and not an instant process, hearing protection should be worn every time you operate loud machinery. To maintain safe machine use whilst wearing hearing protection, it is important to remember the hearing protection should only reduce the noise levels, not mute them. When wearing ear defenders or ear plugs, ensure you can still hear those around you and fire alarms, in case of an emergency.

Always turn off your machines when not in use

When you are not using your machines or when you are servicing them, ensure they are switched off before putting your hands in contact with blades. This may seem obvious, but many people are quick to forget simple safety tips when in a rush or trying to get a job done quickly. Despite your levels of experience in the workshop, these small safety tips should always be followed.  

The sharper the better

When blades are used consistently its vital for both the quality of your products and the safety of machine users that these are kept sharp. The sharper the better, and chances of the machine malfunctioning or becoming stuck are reduced.

Install proper storage solutions

By storing all your machinery, accessories, and blades in a safe place, you’re less likely to injure yourself stumbling upon a loose blade left lying around.

Check your machines before use

Before you use any of your woodworking machinery, you should complete a thorough check of the machine first. Walking around the machine to ensure there are no obstacles which will cause the machine to malfunction. This rule can also apply to the wood you will be using. Often woodworkers are blindsided by pieces of metal, like screws, implanted in the wood they are working on. This can cause both issues for the machine and blades as well as accidents and injuries for yourself.