Woodworking safety is a serious issue. Regardless whether you’re a novice woodworker or a seasoned professional, being safe while turning out projects is a primary concern.
Safety is also a vital issue for others working around you. By working together and watching out for each other, everyone in a woodworking shop can be safe and enjoy their job.
There are always dangers present in a woodworking environment, including sharp blades and bits, as well as aggressive power tools. Being in a shop also exposes you to environmental hazards like glues, paints and sawdust particles.
You’re always at risk for electrical shock or getting cut by hand tools. And then there’s the danger of having loose clothing or hanging jewelry caught in moving machines.
Despite the safety risks in a woodworking shop, there are also the rewards. Woodworking is a great hobby or occupation when you’re aware of your surroundings and know your hazards.
Working safely also includes being familiar with your materials and equipment. Following basic safety rules results in hours of enjoyment, and that makes working safely so rewarding.
Your workshop is no place for carelessness or ignoring the safety rules, though. The key to being safe in a woodworking shop is awareness and compliance.
Safety requires more than due diligence. It takes a commitment to be safe every time you enter your shop and start handling your tools. Part of your commitment is continual learning about safety procedures. For that, we’ve brought you these woodworking safety tips.
1. Examine And Understand The Equipment You Will Use
Underestimating the capability and power of the equipment you’re using is one of the most common errors that result in accidents. Not understanding the cutting tools or using the wrong tool for your project makes it very difficult to carry out safety procedures.
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2. Always Have An Emergency Contact And Plan
It’s always smart to plan for the worst. Many woodworkers don’t formulate an emergency plan, but our testers and veteran woodworkers always do. It’s difficult to plan for unforeseen dangers, so the best you can do is have an emergency contact person and a plan.
Don’t work on something if you’re alone at the workshop or work site. Always keep your mobile phone close to you just in case you need to call for help.
3. Always Wear Safety Glasses and Gear
It’d be nearly impossible to do woodworking projects without your eyesight. It’d also be hard to work without your fingers and toes.
Every part of your body has some sort of risk in a woodworking shop. Your first line of defense is wearing personal protective equipment, or PPE, like safety glasses and gear.
Your standard woodworking PPE must include safety eyewear. That can be safety glasses with side shields or even a full face mask in the right conditions. Make sure your eyewear meets OSHA standards, though. Inferior eye protection is a bad investment.
Your PPE kit should include hearing and respiratory protection. Ear protection ranges from earplugs to earmuffs. You should use respirators appropriate to your task. That might be a disposable dust mask when cutting lumber or a HEPA-filtered unit when working with toxic fumes.
4. Wear Appropriate Clothing
Appropriate clothing is also part of your personal protection kit. Your woodworking dress code should make it mandatory that what you’re wearing in the shop doesn’t present a danger on its own.
Loose and baggy clothes are the worst offenders when it comes to getting snagged and tangled in moving equipment. You’ll always want a balance of something comfortable and non-restrictive while not being overly hot and irritating.
Long-sleeved shirts and full-length pants are safer than shorts and T-shirts. Safety clothing also extends to wearing gloves in the right conditions and always having appropriate footwear.
5. Avoid Wearing Jewelry
Woodworking shops aren’t the place for hanging chains or dangling pendants. They’re so vulnerable to catching in revolving blades or spinning belts. Having a neck chain or lanyard caught in a mandrel can be a life-threatening disaster.
If you do have a special piece of jewelry, make sure to keep it protected from tools. Tuck chains and lanyards out of sight. You’ll also want to assess if that watch you’re wearing or ring on your finger is hazardous in your shop. If you have the slightest doubt, take it off and pocket it.
6. Disconnect Power When Changing Blades or Bits
Servicing on any power tool or equipment piece that’s still energized is downright dangerous. You should always consider a plugged-in tool as a running tool. Every tool that’s energized is just waiting to expend its power, and you’re especially vulnerable when changing blades or bits.
Make sure you don’t just shut your tool off by the switch when switching bits or blades. Either unplug your tool’s primary cord or shut off the breaker at the power source.
You can also lock out the power to be extra careful. But no matter how you do it, ensure you have completely de-energized your tool before servicing it.
7. Don’t Use Drugs or Alcohol
This tip should go without saying. However, it’s amazing how impaired people lose their judgment and decide to pick up a woodworking project. That’s a dangerous decision, and it could result in serious injuries.
Drinking alcohol before or while woodworking is foolish. So is consuming recreational drugs like marijuana, since they alter your state of mind.
Then, there are legitimate prescription pills, like painkillers and anti-depressants, to avoid. No matter what impairment substance, do not mix it with woodworking.
8. Use Sharp Blades and Bits
It might sound counterintuitive, but sharp blades are safe blades. It’s the dull, damaged and worn-out blades that are dangerous.
Sharp blades cut your wood fast and leave clean edges with few splinters to impale you. They also have less kickback, which is a hazardous part of woodworking.
The same goes for sharp drill bits. They don’t jam and bind like dull bits do. Buying high-quality saw blades and bits has a high return on investment. So does sending your blades and bits to a professional sharpening. Don’t let your cutting tools go dull at any time.
9. Check Wood for Nails
Reclaimed wood is a highly sought-after commodity. There’s something about the look and feel of aged wood people love. But, for the woodworker, there can be something highly dangerous lurking inside old wood: nails from the original woodworkers.
Make sure you always check wood for nails or other fasteners before you start using it. Visual inspections are fine, and you can probably catch embedded nails from telltale holes.
However, your best bet if you handle a lot of reclaimed wood is getting a metal detector. Regardless of your system, make sure you catch old nails before they ruin your saw blades or cause you an injury.
10. Work Against the Cutter
Almost every experienced woodworker knows to work against the cutter. That means to bring your work to the cutting tool whenever possible.
It’s safer to feed work against a stationary blade, rather than forcing it onto the work surface. Working against the cutter reduces the chance of dangerous kickback.
However, many novice woodworkers and occasional hobbyists don’t know this important safety tip. That’s because they’ve never learned to work against the cutter.
It’s not something that seems natural and obvious. So the next time you’re in your shop, make sure to work against your cutting tools.
11. Use a Single Extension Cord
How often have you seen someone using power tools strung together with multiple extension cords?
You’ve likely noticed they’re suffering a current drop, not mentioning presenting a safety hazard with a tangle of intertwined cords. They also tend to interrupt work when one or more connections pop loose.
Make it a standard practice to always use a single extension cord when using power tools at a distance longer than their attached cord allows. Also, make sure you’re using a heavy enough cord to supply ample current at a distance.
Your tools will thank you for it by not struggling for power. You’ll do safer and more accurate work as well without the risk of having multiple saws or power tools having power.
12. Ensure Sufficient Lighting In Your Shop
Your wood shop should have plenty of natural lighting and enough artificial lights in place when the sun goes down. Good lighting is the key to visibility to avoid accidents.
When you’re commencing with tasks such as blade changes or removing waste, you don’t want to accidentally trip over a cable because you couldn’t see clearly.
Where you place the light is also key. Switching on the overhead lights might not prove to be as helpful as an LED light directly on your tool. Wherever you place the light, make sure no shadows are cast over your line of sight.
13. Ensure Proper Dust Control And Room Ventilation
Keeping your wood shop ventilated is imperative. Our woodworkers have really found a difference between just one open window and a workshop that has adequate airflow.
The machines will produce a lot of dust when the blade makes contact with the wood. It’s not enough to protect your body, don’t forget about your lungs. A heavy-duty dust collection system and ample ventilation will make sure your lungs are not compromised.
Aside from damaging your lungs, it is also a fire hazard because sawdust can be used to start a fire. All it takes is one spark from the blade to set the whole shop on fire.
If you spend any time in kitchen cooking, then you will know the logic behind what our experts are going to say next. The sharper the blades and bits are, the safer it is, similar to knives.
A sharp blade will leave a clean cut with no cut offs or splinters that can penetrate your skin. A sharp blade is also more exact and surgical with its performance.
A drill bit or router bit needs to be sharp and maintained because dull bits can jam and become a safety hazard. Our woodworking veterans say carbide blades are among the best for longevity.
It’s our expert advice to invest in higher quality pieces made from more durable materials so you won’t need to sharpen the components as often. Aside from the reduced sharpening, these blades and bits will also last longer.
15. Turn Off Power During Blade Change
This one may seem like common sense, but our professional woodworkers are often surprised by how many people forget to disconnect power or switch off the power source before changing blades.
Our team stresses that the only way to do blade changes safely is to do it when the woodworking tool is off.
Sometimes your blade might stall before the blade change, and our team advises never to try to remove the stalled blade before you switch off the machine.
16. Don’t Leave Machines Unsupervised
Our woodworking veterans say many people, beginners or professionals alike, will forget to power down their tools or leave a running blade unsupervised.
You never know who may not realize the power tools are still running and accidentally get nicked. Accidental contact with a blade is easier than you think, so always remember to wait until the blade has stopped moving before you leave.
17. Do Take Breaks
When you are tired, you tend to lose focus and concentration, which can result in many dangers and injuries in the workplace. Working for long hours is taxing, and everyone deserves a break.
Take some time away from the wood piece and the tool, it can better protect you and those around you if you are 100% engaged.
