I’ve been a keen DIYer now for many years. Ever since buying our first property, I’ve been learning how to make essential repairs and general home improvements. I’m also a keen furniture maker in my spare time which means I’m never far from my workshop and power tools. When it comes to safety you have to take things seriously which is why I wanted to highlight how a silicone wedding ring can help save you from some serious harm.
Power tools, sharp chisels, knives, hammers, solvents and heavy materials all pose a risk of injury. So there wasn’t just the question of learning a new skill for all my home and garden DIY projects, but also how to protect myself from injury whilst taking on these new tasks.
Health and safety in a workplace is now a common practice but when at home it can be overlooked. This shouldn’t be the case and everyone should be diligent in their approach to safety with home DIY.
Some safety rules are common sense and most people will automatically take them into consideration. For example:
- When using disk cutting power tools you should always wear eye protection.
- Always wear gloves when applying strong adhesives or solvents.
- Protect your ears when using loud power tools for extended periods of time.
- Protect your legs with specially designed trousers when using a chainsaw.
- Wear steel toe capped boots when lifting heavy materials.
Hopefully most people will understand and respect these safety no-brainers but there is one that might not be so obvious. Which leads me to the title of this post. Why should DIY enthusiasts wear silicone wedding rings?
Apparently it’s quite a common injury but until recently I hadn’t heard of it. People are getting their wedding rings caught in power tools or snagging them on materials which can cause devastating injuries to fingers, hands and even arms. I’ve seen some horrific pictures of mangled fingers and hands which I really didn’t want to. It’s enough to put you off DIY for life. I not going to include any graphic pictures in this post as they are a bit to gruesome (and I’m far to squeamish), but if you can handle these then simply Google it! (You have been warned!!)
Luckily though, there are some things you can think about to prevent this kind of accident from happening.
One option is to have your wedding ring modified to break under pressure. A jeweller can make some precise cuts in the back of a ring, almost 90% of the way through and fill it with some weaker metal such as solder. Then, under any kind of pressure the ring will simply snap off the finger, without causing any damage to you. The down side to this is that it can be expensive and not 100% effective.
Another option (and my recommendation) would be to consider men’s silicone rings which do a similar thing in these situations. The ring still looks amazing but because of the material used, the ring will simply break under enough pressure. At least enough pressure to prevent damage to your precious finger. They are also very affordable.
Image courtesy of Groove Life
Some may opt to simply remove their wedding ring when working with power tools. Whilst this can work for some, other might have a well fitted ring that doesn’t come off so easily. There is also the hassle of losing your ring. Maybe you put it down somewhere and it gets knocked off behind some furniture for example, or falls down the drain!
I’ve seen a suggestion that maybe wearing gloves is another way to prevent these kinds of injuries but this isn’t always the best idea. Loose fitted gloves can also easily get caught in power tools so this is certainly one to avoid. Tight fitted gloves could be better but I would generally avoid this also as snagging rings is still a possibility.
My general advice would be to either invest in a silicone wedding ring or remove yours during work. Ultimately it’s up to you but it’s one that’s firm in my mind when I take on a new DIY project. Your hands are extremely valuable and cannot be replaced or repaired easily!
Very true!