Safety First in Your Garage Workshop Area

Your home garage work area, or workshop is probably the most accident-prone area of our home. Just think of all the safety hazards, sharp blades, heavy objects, toxic chemicals, flammable materials and more. Respect for your tools and a clean work area will help keep accidents low, you should still prepare for a potential accident. Here are some of my ideas for a basic emergency center. Keep it stocked with a phone, first aid kit and fire extinguisher and you will be well on your way to keeping safety first and hospital trips to a minimum.

First and foremost, you will need a well stocked first aid kit kept in plain sight and at easy reach. I suggest hanging pegboard on the wall and using hooks to hang the kit if possible, along with emergency numbers, a phone and a fire extinguisher all within the same area of reach. Your minimum first aid supplies should include plenty of gauze and bandages, antiseptic first aid ointment, non-latex gloves, a disposable cold compress, rubbing alcohol and swabs, iodine or other disinfectant and a first aid guidebook.

Next to the phone and first aid kit, you should hang a fire extinguisher. The extinguishers are rated by their ability to combat fires of different causes. One rated "A" is best used against fires of wood, trash and paper. "B" will extinguish flammable liquid and grease fires, while "C" can be used in electrical fires. For your garage or home workshop you should try to find a dry chemical fire extinguisher with a rating of "ABC", such as KIDDE brand.