Recent research has shown DIY bodges cost people £850m a year in paying builders to sort them out.
Not only that, but some 70 people die each year from DIY disasters with a further 200,000 injured.
And despite that, a recent Federation of Master Builders survey reckons that 40% of people will still attempt all their building work themselves.
If you're one of the 40% - you've been warned.
Mind how you go now.
Showing posts with label East Sussex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East Sussex. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Monday, 14 April 2008
Stick to the hammer and nails.
The perils of using a simple tool like a nail gun have been displayed recently as two victims will no doubt tell you when and if they recover. One DIY fan called Nigel from Leicester decided to nail the floorboards down in his bathroom with a DIY staple gun. Seems fair enough, you might say.
The problem arose when the clumsy clot lost his balance and fell over. As he explains 'I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain in my chest, so I went to take off my jumper, but I couldn't because it was nailed to my chest.' Ouch!
It was later revealed at hospital that the nail was an inch inside his heart, and a single millimeter away from the main artery. In the most shocking, and most stupid, aspect of the story, the man actually considered removing the nail with pliers before dialing 999. Certain death would have followed.
Best left to the professionals you might say or maybe not as a 17 year old working on a building site in Australia recently shot himself in the head with a nail gun.
Mind how you go now.
The problem arose when the clumsy clot lost his balance and fell over. As he explains 'I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain in my chest, so I went to take off my jumper, but I couldn't because it was nailed to my chest.' Ouch!
It was later revealed at hospital that the nail was an inch inside his heart, and a single millimeter away from the main artery. In the most shocking, and most stupid, aspect of the story, the man actually considered removing the nail with pliers before dialing 999. Certain death would have followed.
Best left to the professionals you might say or maybe not as a 17 year old working on a building site in Australia recently shot himself in the head with a nail gun.
Mind how you go now.
Friday, 28 March 2008
Safer living in the South?
Homeowners in the south-east of the UK are the worst culprits for DIY disasters, according to new research.
Some 29 per cent of the recorded incidents of damage caused to neighbours' properties as a result of property renovation occurred in the south-east, a new Halifax study indicates.
A cumulative £173 million worth of damage is caused by neighbours undertaking home improvement projects, with one-third of those affected having to cover the cost themselves, while others split the cost.
David Rochester, head of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance, said: "A number of errant DIYers are not just damaging their properties, but their neighbours' homes too."
Mind how you go now.
Some 29 per cent of the recorded incidents of damage caused to neighbours' properties as a result of property renovation occurred in the south-east, a new Halifax study indicates.
A cumulative £173 million worth of damage is caused by neighbours undertaking home improvement projects, with one-third of those affected having to cover the cost themselves, while others split the cost.
David Rochester, head of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance, said: "A number of errant DIYers are not just damaging their properties, but their neighbours' homes too."
Mind how you go now.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
DIY fans expected to cause up to £25 million damage this Easter
DIY enthusiasts could cause up to £25million worth of damage in British homes this Easter weekend - one of the most popular periods for taking on home improvements.
Research suggests that a clumsy 16 per cent of people have damaged their homes or their property carrying out a DIY improvement and the industry expects to pay out anything up to £25 million for DIY-related damage this Easter.
A survey of 2,000 householders by an insurance company also found that nearly 30 per cent of people admit they have injured themselves or someone else while carrying out a DIY job. This figure is supported by the fact that an estimated 200,000 DIY enthusiasts turn up at hospital each year.
Worryingly, 55 per cent admitted to starting a DIY job without the correct tools and almost 50 per cent said that they had started a DIY job without really knowing how to do it - including electrical and plumbing jobs.
So if you're looking to start those long-awaited home improvements this weekend - you just mind how you go!
Research suggests that a clumsy 16 per cent of people have damaged their homes or their property carrying out a DIY improvement and the industry expects to pay out anything up to £25 million for DIY-related damage this Easter.
A survey of 2,000 householders by an insurance company also found that nearly 30 per cent of people admit they have injured themselves or someone else while carrying out a DIY job. This figure is supported by the fact that an estimated 200,000 DIY enthusiasts turn up at hospital each year.
Worryingly, 55 per cent admitted to starting a DIY job without the correct tools and almost 50 per cent said that they had started a DIY job without really knowing how to do it - including electrical and plumbing jobs.
So if you're looking to start those long-awaited home improvements this weekend - you just mind how you go!
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Blowtorches can be ...., dangerous
There's ordinary foolishness, and then there's extraordinary foolishness. Stealing fireworks from a storage depot is foolishness. But using a welder's torch to cut through the wall of the building housing the fireworks - that is extraordinary foolishness.
Several burglars pushed their luck to the brink of failure when they tried to pull break into a building containing a large volume of fireworks. They used a gas cutting torch to slice through the main door. The door was eight feet tall, concrete, and reinforced with a solid inch of steel. Just as the torch penetrated the door, and success was at hand... a spark landed in a crate of fireworks inside.
Fireworks are explosive, and this particular crate contained the equivalent of a hundred pounds of gunpowder. The entire factory exploded. The door was popped from its hinges and slammed flat into the ground. The roof lifted off and landed in one piece. Interestingly, despite the violence of the explosion, the debris was confined within the factory perimeter.
Astoundingly, the perpetrators were not killed, and have never been found. Their cutting equipment remained behind, along with the car, which had been flattened by the concrete roof. Flabbergasted pyrotechnics professionals have dubbed them the "Hole in the Ground Gang."
Mind how you go now.
Several burglars pushed their luck to the brink of failure when they tried to pull break into a building containing a large volume of fireworks. They used a gas cutting torch to slice through the main door. The door was eight feet tall, concrete, and reinforced with a solid inch of steel. Just as the torch penetrated the door, and success was at hand... a spark landed in a crate of fireworks inside.
Fireworks are explosive, and this particular crate contained the equivalent of a hundred pounds of gunpowder. The entire factory exploded. The door was popped from its hinges and slammed flat into the ground. The roof lifted off and landed in one piece. Interestingly, despite the violence of the explosion, the debris was confined within the factory perimeter.
Astoundingly, the perpetrators were not killed, and have never been found. Their cutting equipment remained behind, along with the car, which had been flattened by the concrete roof. Flabbergasted pyrotechnics professionals have dubbed them the "Hole in the Ground Gang."
Mind how you go now.
Friday, 30 November 2007
You never know who is watching!
Let this be a warning to those of you who like to play little workplace pranks - you never know who might be watching and you might just hurt yourself!
Friday, 23 November 2007
You mind how you go now - the German way
Of course, Harry the Hammer would also want you to mind how you go. I'm also up for proper training to reduce the number of accidents in the workplace and whilst using DIY tools and equipment.
But I couldn't possibly illustrate the dangers of using workplace tools and equipment as good as the Germans.
Here's a German training video and .... well they do it so well don't they?
You mind how you go now.
Harry
But I couldn't possibly illustrate the dangers of using workplace tools and equipment as good as the Germans.
Here's a German training video and .... well they do it so well don't they?
You mind how you go now.
Harry
Monday, 19 November 2007
Top 5 Stupid DIY Accidents - Number 1
And here is our favourite - our number 1 DIY disaster.
It's about a chap called Nigel from Leicester who decided to nail the floorboards down in his bathroom with a DIY staple gun.
Which is fair enough.
However, our Nigel only went and lost his balance and fell over. And as he told TV interviewer Carol Smillie: "I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain in my chest, so I went to take off my jumper, but I couldn't because it was nailed to my chest."
It was later revealed at hospital that the nail was an inch inside his heart, and a single millimetre away from the main artery. However, the most shocking, and most stupid, aspect of the story, is that he actually considered removing the nail with pliers before dialling 999.
And certain death would have followed.
You mind how you go now.
Harry.
It's about a chap called Nigel from Leicester who decided to nail the floorboards down in his bathroom with a DIY staple gun.
Which is fair enough.
However, our Nigel only went and lost his balance and fell over. And as he told TV interviewer Carol Smillie: "I heard the gun go off. I felt a pain in my chest, so I went to take off my jumper, but I couldn't because it was nailed to my chest."
It was later revealed at hospital that the nail was an inch inside his heart, and a single millimetre away from the main artery. However, the most shocking, and most stupid, aspect of the story, is that he actually considered removing the nail with pliers before dialling 999.
And certain death would have followed.
You mind how you go now.
Harry.
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Aaah - the old ones are the best!
This is a bricklayer's accident report, which was printed in an Australian insurance newsletter. It's almost certainly apocryphal - but it makes Harry smile!
Mind how you go.
Harry
Dear Sir,
I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident report form. I put 'poor planning' as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later, were found to be slightly in excess of 500 lbs. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level I went up onto the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.
You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 lbs. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel, which was now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you again to my weight. As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs and lower body.
Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain and unable to move, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Kind Regards,
Mike Pashby
Mind how you go.
Harry
Dear Sir,
I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block 3 of the accident report form. I put 'poor planning' as the cause of my accident. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later, were found to be slightly in excess of 500 lbs. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which was attached to the side of the building on the sixth floor. Securing the rope at ground level I went up onto the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the bricks.
You will note in Block 11 of the accident report form that I weigh 135 lbs. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel, which was now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed. This explained the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collar bone, as listed in section 3 of the accident report form. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley.
Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of beginning to experience pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, that barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs. I refer you again to my weight. As you can imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and several lacerations of my legs and lower body.
Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain and unable to move, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope and I lay there watching the empty barrel begin its journey back down onto me. This explains the two broken legs.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Kind Regards,
Mike Pashby
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Top 10 DIY Tools
Now, I suppose you think that old Harry is just messing about with this DIY disaster thing - but oh no!
I'm nothing if not careful with my research. And I've been doing some sniffing around with those in the know. And RoSPA - the Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents - have a list with the top 10 dangerous DIY implements:
1. Knives and scalpels (21,300 accidents in the UK each year);
2. Saws (15,100);
3. Grinders (6,400);
4. Hammers (5,800);
5. Chisels (3,900);
6. Screwdrivers (3,400);
7. Power Drills (3,000);
8. Axes (2,200);
9. Planes (2,100);
10. Welding Equipment (2,000).
What's more, injuries from tools and machinery are estimated to account for 87,000 of the 220,000 DIY injuries.
You mind how you go now.
Harry
I'm nothing if not careful with my research. And I've been doing some sniffing around with those in the know. And RoSPA - the Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents - have a list with the top 10 dangerous DIY implements:
1. Knives and scalpels (21,300 accidents in the UK each year);
2. Saws (15,100);
3. Grinders (6,400);
4. Hammers (5,800);
5. Chisels (3,900);
6. Screwdrivers (3,400);
7. Power Drills (3,000);
8. Axes (2,200);
9. Planes (2,100);
10. Welding Equipment (2,000).
What's more, injuries from tools and machinery are estimated to account for 87,000 of the 220,000 DIY injuries.
You mind how you go now.
Harry
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
So what kind of disasters make me smile?
It was reckoned that British DIY endeavours are costing a total of £2.6 million annually as a result of unforeseen mishaps - or so it is according to research from Insurance company Churchill.
Accidental damage caused while attempting to improve a property costs an average of £540 and a full 20 per cent of British households are likely to make the effort do it themselves .
What's most worrying is that more than half of householders confess to not being particularly adept at carrying out DIY ideas. So why on earth do they do it?
But it does make for a good giggle though. To be honest, I'm not really fussy how things go wrong - so long as they do and that they don't involve me!
I like quite simple and straightforward incompetence such as the chap we know who was sawing some wood. For some reason he then decided to see if he could fit his finger through a hole in the work bench. He could, but it was stuck.
Unfortunately he was the only person at home at the time, and the only way he could free himself was to saw a chunk out of the workbench, using his left hand.
Priceless!
I also liked the story about the chap who was using a motorised saw while cutting a piece of skirting board. For some reason, he decided to lift the safety guard so that he could see the pencil markings, and then brought the machine down, cutting off his hand. He needed a nine hour operation to reattach his hand, and this was then followed by four other operations.
Fantastic!
I'll be scouring the web - and keeping an ear and an ey out for more great DIY disasters!
You mind how you go now.
Harry
Accidental damage caused while attempting to improve a property costs an average of £540 and a full 20 per cent of British households are likely to make the effort do it themselves .
What's most worrying is that more than half of householders confess to not being particularly adept at carrying out DIY ideas. So why on earth do they do it?
But it does make for a good giggle though. To be honest, I'm not really fussy how things go wrong - so long as they do and that they don't involve me!
I like quite simple and straightforward incompetence such as the chap we know who was sawing some wood. For some reason he then decided to see if he could fit his finger through a hole in the work bench. He could, but it was stuck.
Unfortunately he was the only person at home at the time, and the only way he could free himself was to saw a chunk out of the workbench, using his left hand.
Priceless!
I also liked the story about the chap who was using a motorised saw while cutting a piece of skirting board. For some reason, he decided to lift the safety guard so that he could see the pencil markings, and then brought the machine down, cutting off his hand. He needed a nine hour operation to reattach his hand, and this was then followed by four other operations.
Fantastic!
I'll be scouring the web - and keeping an ear and an ey out for more great DIY disasters!
You mind how you go now.
Harry
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