Basic Garage Safety Tips

Home mechanics often prioritize speed over garage safety, which can be a risky approach. Even one accident can result in severe and long-lasting injuries. Therefore, it's crucial to keep some basic garage safety tips in mind while working on your vehicle. This article will outline a few general garage safety tips to keep you safe next time you wrench on your car.

Eye Protection

Eye protection is essential if you're doing any cutting or grinding. It's common for little flakes of metal to come off during the process. These flakes can easily get into your eyes and cause extreme discomfort.

Eye protection is also a must when you get under a car to do anything. It's common for little pieces of debris to fall off the bottom of the car, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

Safety glasses or goggles are the number one choice for eye protection. You can pick them up at any auto parts or home improvement store for relatively cheap and they can save you a lot of potential pain and suffering. Remember, sunglasses do not count as eye protection! Sunglasses are designed to reduce glare, not protect your eyes from debris.

Mask/Ventilation

Lung protection is just as important to consider for certain jobs in the garage. If you're ever painting, grinding, stripping paint, or undercoating, make sure to wear a mask and have proper ventilation to protect your lungs. There’s a good chance you’ve saved up a few masks throughout the COVID pandemic, so use them!

N95 Style masks are great for small jobs, but bigger jobs require more protection. Upgrade to a respirator if you're taking on serious panting or grinding projects. Respirators not only protect against harmful particles but also against harmful vapors and gasses present in more harsh chemicals.

Ear Protection

Many garage projects get seriously loud. Hearing protection is an important consideration if you're going to be doing any loud projects such as grinding, cutting, sanding, using impact tools, or engine tuning.

Repeated use of these tools and techniques can cause permanent hearing damage, so investing in a good set of over-the-ear earmuffs is essential. You can get by with disposable ear plugs in a pinch, but ear protection is worth splurging on. Just like sunglasses, earbuds or headphones are not designed for the shop and won't properly protect your hearing.

Gloves

A nice set of gloves is an important part of any toolbox. Gloves are a must if you’re doing any grinding, cutting, welding, cleaning, or using chemical strippers.

Rubber gloves are great for those common dirty jobs around the garage, but leather gloves are better for jobs involving heat, like welding. If you want to avoid cuts or scrapes, a pair of abrasion-resistant gloves with a rubber or nitrile coating works great.

Proper Work Clothes

While you don't need to be in a full set of coveralls to install a shift boot, you also don't want to weld in a t-shirt and shorts. Always make sure you're wearing the proper attire for the job at hand. If you're going to be doing any cutting, grinding, or especially welding, make sure you have a heavy-duty jacket designed for that kind of work. Long sleeves are essential to protect from welding debris and burns.

Shoes are another important aspect of work clothes to consider. You don't want to be doing any type of work in open-toed shoes like sandals or flip-flops. At the minimum, make sure you invest in a good set of sneakers that you don't mind getting dirty. If you're moving heavier objects, such as wheels or an engine block, a good set of boots with a reinforced toe is a great option.

First-Aid Kit

No matter how careful you are in your garage, you’re eventually going to have some sort of accident. That's why it's important to have a first-aid kit in your garage. OSHA certified kits are great for home or business use if you can obtain one. They come with band-aids, antiseptic creams, burn ointments, and other important basics you might need. These kits are great because they include everything you need to treat the common cuts, bruises, and burns you get while working on cars.

Fire Extinguisher

Speaking of accidents, a fire extinguisher is a must-have for any garage. Like a roll bar in a race car, it's something you want to have if you need it, but hopefully, you never have to use it. While they are unlikely to catch fire, many mechanics keep flammable materials in their garages. A Class B fire extinguisher is great to stop the spread of a fire involving common flammable materials.

Proper Use of Tools

An important part of garage safety is proper set up and use of tools. Correctly and safely jacking up your car is incredibly important. If you're interested in learning how to properly jack up your Mustang, check out our how-to article.

Always use your tools for their intended purpose. While everyone is guilty of using a screwdriver as a prybar occasionally, using tools properly is an important part of garage safety. Using tools to perform jobs they weren't designed for is an easy way to increase your chances of getting hurt.

If you're going to be hammering anything near gasoline, make sure you have a brass punch to stop sparks from flying. This isn't just for hammering though. Any type of cutting or grinding near a fuel tank or fuel line can cause a catastrophic accident. Consider emptying your gas tank and other fluids if you’re going to do extensive repairs or modifications.

Ratchets are another commonly misused tool that can cause injury. You've all seen videos, or maybe even done it yourself, of people stepping or jumping on a ratchet. This can cause the ratchet to snap and you can easily hurt yourself or damage your car. The proper use of tools is an easy way to ensure you don't hurt yourself or damage your car.

Don't Take Shop Safety for Granted

Shop safety is a tedious but important part of working on cars. It's really easy to just tell yourself, "Hey, I'll be fine. It's just a quick fix, I don't need my glasses or gloves." It only takes a minute to take the necessary precautions. In the end, it's always worth it.