Your essential guide to home DIY and gardening safety
What is the VOC ingredient of that paint or stain? Low-odour varieties are not necessarily healthier to breathe. Ventilate the area well during and after application, and wear a mask if the directions suggest it. File pictures
A toppling fall or a smashed hand in the course of your DIY adventures? It doesn’t take more than a misstep off one rung of the ladder or neglecting to wear appropriate gloves to end up sulking in A&E for several sweltering hours. Other highly preventable accidents could prove a lot more serious, wiping the sun out of the sky for the rest of our summer. Let’s put ourselves in a safer space before we even start wrestling with that urgent project.
According to the most recent statistics of trauma’s arriving in Irish hospitals compiled by the National Office of Clinical Audit research headed by Conor Deasy, Cork University Hospital consultant in emergency medicine, the average age of major trauma patients was 62, with 51% aged 65 years and older. The majority of traumas (82%) were caused by low falls of less than two metres from standing height (not DIY or gardening specific, but you get the message. It doesn’t take much). For all age groups, the home was the most common place of injury at 55% of cases gathered over 2021 and 2022.
