Garden: How To Avoid Hand Accidents?
In summer, the French take advantage of the longer days to garden or do renovation work. But these gardening or DIY jobs are not without risks, especially for the hands. To spend the summer in complete serenity, we explain how to avoid hand accidents.
More than 100,000 accidents per year
A season for DIY and yard work, summer is also the time of year when the most domestic accidents occur. According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior, of the 300,000 accidents that occur each year while working, 130,000 involve hand injuries.
The hands are therefore the part of the body most exposed to DIY and gardening accidents, hence the importance of knowing the right reflexes to avoid hand accidents.
Read our tips below and you'll avoid spending a beautiful summer day at your local 'emergency hands' department.
Gloves, essential protection for the gardener
Gardeners don't always do this, and yet wearing gloves is an essential reflex to protect this highly exposed body part and thus avoid hand accidents.
For your safety, get into the habit of wearing gloves even for the most ordinary jobs, such as repotting plants. This is because the soil can sometimes contain pottery shards or pieces of glass that could hurt you.
Gloves are essential protective accessories, especially since they are nowadays specially designed to limit the various risks related to gardening or DIY work.
At Rostaing, the French leader in hand protection since 1789, you can thus find models that resist cuts, abrasion and chemicals: enough to ensure perfect peace of mind during your work!
This French brand develops high-performance technical protective gloves, including for industry, the army and firefighters (see link below).
5 tips to avoid hand accidents
As mentioned above, the first of the 5 reflexes to avoid hand accidents is to wear gloves when working in the house or garden.
But, to limit the risk of injury, you still need to choose your model well. Our second tip is therefore to choose gloves in the right size.
To protect you properly, the glove should fit the contours of your hand. It should be neither too small nor too large and should not get in your way. Choosing the right size is essential for your safety, as a glove that's too big could get caught in tools when you're gardening.
The third tip is to wear task-specific gloves. Indeed, to limit risks, it is best to choose your glove according to the job at hand. For example, it is easy to understand that it is very important to wear waterproof gloves when handling chemicals...
The fourth tip for avoiding gardening accidents is to choose protective equipment bearing the NF safety standard. Whether it's goggles or gloves, accessories that don't meet this standard may not perform their protective function.
Finally, a fifth very important tip to avoid hand accidents is to remove all your jewelry before you begin your gardening work. This is because rings, bracelets, watch and any jewelry that is worn on your hands can get caught on a bit of everything when you are working.
To garden without injuring yourself all year long, you must remember to systematically remove them because jewelry is the cause of serious accidents by tearing.
