DIYers ending up in hospital

Be careful out there!

The Herald Sun has an article up saying more than 1900 Victorians ended up in hospital in the past three years due to DIY renovation injuries. Falls, cuts or piercings, and machinery were the three most common causes for injuries.

Have you ever got hurt doing it yourself? What should you have done differently?

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Andy_Mann

@AHoy, I'm not a fan of reality reno shows, in my opinion contestants are chosen for their acting ability, then their cuddliness, or the singled out couple that's willing to have their activities heavily edited, to encourage the suckered viewing public to bring on the hating. There has to be a villain, right.

Sure there are safety issues that are glossed over, like safety footwear, & hearing protection, but to blame the show for people falling off of ladders is a massive stretch.

What does the article want to achieve, is it to have the public engage licensed professionals to get that jar from the top shelf in their pantry? 😲

Everybody needs to be careful, not just DIYers, but sadly we've become a who can we blame society, rather than just brush ourselves off & take it on the chin.

Brad

Done a few at work.
Sprained a thumb that the clinic then fractured.
Squashed a finger tip knocking a pin out of a hydraulic cylinder, made the first aid guy faint so trip to the hospital for both of us.
Hot mig glass flicked into my eye, was on a Saturday so had the rush of lawnmower injuries too.
Removing uni joints from a tailshaft had the hammer rebound into a thumb, fractured, should of pressed them out.
Fractured toe on weekend, wear shoes ok, sneakers ok and by Monday steelcaps agony walking for a couple of weeks.
Mig wire always finds ways of sticking into hands and feet.
Getting hit by a taxi going to work not fun at all.

Other peoples...
On my RDO someone dropped an angle grinder into his groin, I called him stumpy after that.
Guy had debts so he cut his index finger off at the first joint under a bandsaw to get 15k compo...
Using a kick press with a finger in the way is not a good idea, neither is asking the maintenance guys to fix it for you.

Home
Missed a step on a ladder, fractured elbow. ED nurses had a bet on which bone I broke, wasn't the expected one.
Tore shoulder picking up a sheet of steel after dark. Lesson learned about moving things early as possible before my body reaches breaking point.

Juliapinkiepie

My accident wasn't so much as DIYing as it was preparing to DIY.
I walked head first into 30 planks of wood.
Teach me for getting distracted while at Bunnings lol

bergs

Hi, I pierced my forearm with a chisel years ago building a cubby for the kids.
Took a short cut and tried to chisel a piece of the frame without proper support.
Nicked the tendons to my ring and little finger and finished up in surgery.
Sprained my ankle once kicking the footy with some kids, couldn't put any weight on it.
Xrayed at hospital, told only sprained so kept trying to walk on it.
During the week a doctor from the hospital came to see me to tell me that they had reviewed the X-rays from the weekend and my ankle actually had a broken bone.
If I'm up a ladder and I'm wearing my glasses I inevitably step to the ground from the second step. Glasses seem to give you the impression that you're closer to the ground. Doing this is not good for body or weary bones.
It happens to most of us sometimes but we manage to survive.
Cheers bergs

Mammasalt

My mum works in Emergency Department and yeah personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is heaps cheaper then some of the stories I have heard!

Wayne

It is all about concentration on what you are doing and being able to ignore distractions and forward thoughts in your head.

I ran my thumb through the table saw whilst cutting thin strips on a 45 degree angle. I was on the last piece (of 16) and was thinking about the next part of the project. Luckily I only caught the very outside edge of the thumb.
I also use push sticks now!!!!!!!!!

Andy_Mann

YIKES @Wayne, that was a close one. 😲 *races for bucket 😳

I've had some close calls too from thinking of the next step, instead of what I was doing, so no table saws for me. In fact one of the scares was when using a table saw in a TAFE class, it still sends a shiver down my spine when I think about it.

AHoy

Heard another DIY injuries story on the radio this morning. Online outlets are also reporting on new figures suggesting over 3000 Aussies are hospitalised each year from DIY incidents - http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/health/home-improvement-is-costing-some-aussies-an-arm-and-a-leg-with-3300-hospitalised-each-year/news-story/00a57c02ee392b0d344f2d22cd52c11e

The most common cause of DIY injuries was falling off a ladder (1,262) followed by power tools (899), falls from buildings (417), lawnmowers (271) and non powered hand tools (230).

But dog bites still cause more people to be hospitalised than DIY...

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