Safety Equipment for Wood finishing

Today, I want to go over safety equipment and the importance of using it.

What products should we be using?

Lung protection:

Let’s start with sanding, as you will know that when you sand wood it produces a great deal of dust and most of which cannot be seen by the naked eye and therefore it poses a problem, as the fine particles then start to enter our lungs and then begin to damage them.

What can we do to prevent this?  Well, there are a number of good quality masks on the market that will give you good protection ranging from paper disposable to air filter masks.  Check with the manufactures instructions to ensure that the intended mask will be adequate for your requirements.

If you can try and work outdoors as this will help disperse the bulk of the dust.

Sanding machines come with dust collection that fits on usually at the back of the machine, they also come with a sandpaper hole puncher to allow for the dust particles to be sucked up through the machine and into the collection box.

Eye protection:

 Is a must when using paint stripper or sanding down especially when using very coarse sandpaper as the rougher the paper the bigger the particles that fly off I know as I have had plenty of those.

When choosing suitable goggles, I find the ones with air holes work best as there is less chance for them to fog up like this in its self becomes a hazard for if you can’t see whilst working, imagine what could go wrong.

Footwear:

Also very important when working with wood or any heavy items, it is essential that you take your footwear seriously for you never know when you might just need good protection.

When choosing work shoes or boots, I prefer to use steel toe capped boots and I suggest that you try on several pairs before you buy them as you will be wearing them all the working day you would not want to wear a pair that hurt your feet would you?

Clothing:

I like to wear a Carpenters apron as this gives reasonable protection from stains and polish; they are difficult to clean unless you boil them up in a bucket with soda crystals to soften the water.

Loose clothing that could get caught in a machine is extremely dangerous as this could result in you being dragged into the machine and with large machines the loss of fingers etc.  I won’t go there.

Hand protection:

This is a must for any French polisher why?  Because if you do not take great care of your hands they will become sore and infected and in some cases, I have met French polishers that have had dermatitis, when I studied at The London College of Furniture years ago now there was a teacher that had to give up hand French polishing due to having dermatitis he found it was better to teach rather than to come into contact with polishing materials he used to prefer to teach about spray finishing.

There are many barrier creams that can be applied prior to French polishing but check to see if you are allergic to any of the ingredients.

 I find these creams to be very messy and greasy not for me but they are there for a reason.

It is I think better to use disposable gloves for staining or rubber-faced gloves with a fleece backing as these are much stronger and protect your fingers whilst using coarse sandpaper and from nasty splinters.

At the end of the day, you can always use hand cream to keep your hands in peak condition.

Head protection:

Unless you are working on a building site, or in other hazardous situations then the use of head protection should not be needed.

However, there have been times when I have used a safety helmet and it is well worth the investment. 

Ear protection:
It is very important to consider your ears when using machines, particularly when using them for long periods of time, as the noise is given off from them can reach very high decibel levels that over a period of time will, and perhaps without you even noticing damage your hearing.

There are a number of products to choose from ranging from disposable earplugs that expand to fit your ear.
To large padded ear defenders that look like headphones.

I recently purchased some ear defenders that have a switch control that allows me to turn up or down the sound coming into my ears, this gives me very good control over what I choose to hear such as music or being called and when the noise level form the machine becomes too loud then I simply adjust the control and my ears are fully protected.

I have found them to be really useful and would recommend this type of ear defender to everybody.

For years I have sanded and never really considered about my ears until I watched a TV programme about noise and how when working with constant levels of noise it will certainly damage your ears and by then it will be too late to do anything about it. 

They are not that expensive and in my opinion well worth the money. 

As with all working situations, it is for you to assess the dangers and take precautions accordingly.

This is intended to help you, and in no way precedes your company’s own safety procedures or guidelines.

Always read the manufacturer’s instructions prior to the use of any equipment for the suitability and or allergic reactions etc.

I take no responsibility for any injuries whatsoever caused as a result of this information; these are just guidelines, and only with the best intention.

Feedback welcome!