Shop Safety Basic Guidelines
- Everyone must wear safety glasses in a shop environment. Even when you're not working on a machine, you must wear safety glasses. A chip from a machine someone else is working on could fly into your eye.
- Check your clothes and hair before you walk into the shop. In particular, if you have long hair or a long beard, tie it up. If your hair is caught in spinning machinery, it will be pulled out if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, you will be pulled into the machine.
- No loose clothing. Ties, scarves, loose sleeves, etc. are prohibited.
- Wear appriopriate shoes. No open-toed sandals. Wear shoes that give a sure footing. If you are working with heavy objects, steel toes are recommended.
- Be aware of what's going on around you. For example, be careful not to bump into someone while they're cutting with any type of saw.
- Concentrate on what you're doing. If you get tired, leave.
- Don't hurry. If you catch yourself rushing, slow down. Don't rush speeds and feeds. You'll end up damaging your part, the tools, possibly the machine itself, and maybe yourself.
- Listen to the machine. If something doesn't sound right, turn the machine off.
- Don't let someone else talk you into doing something dangerous or disabling a safety device to do a job faster. It's not worth the risk.
- Don't attempt to measure a part that's moving.
- If you don't know how to do something, ASK!
- Before you start the machine, study it. Know which parts move, which are stationary, and which are sharp.
- Double check that your workpiece is securely held.
- Remove chuck keys and wrenches.
- Do NOT leave machines running unattended.
- Clean up machines after you use them. A dirty machine is unsafe and uncomfortable to work on.
- Do not use compressed air to blow machines clean. This endangers people's eyes and can force dirt into machine bearings.
University of Guelph shop safety program - extremely detailed, based on ANSI standards
Detailed shop safety analysis and inspection form by Transportation Safety Association of Ontario
University of Florida Shop Safety Manual - quick and simple general guidelines
Cornell's list of OSHA regulations relating to shop safety
Woodshop cautionary safety tales collected from a list - good for reminding you of just how easy it is to make a mistake