Doing DIY repairs and modifications on your car can save you vast amounts of money. Let’s be real, owning a car can be expensive so it’s smart to save money where you can. However, it’s important to ensure you are being safe while doing so. Accidents can happen and safety is first and foremost. Here, we’ll dive into some tips you can implement to help improve your safety while working on your vehicle.
Safety restrictions
There are some set rules when it comes to car repairs. These are rules you should follow as without implementing these, there is a high chance of injury or accident.
It’s a rule of thumb to ensure you have a trolley jack as well as support stands before even thinking about going under your car. The jack lifts the car and the stands ensure the car stays up right so you can safely work underneath the car without worrying about it slipping and landing on you.
Bear in mind, there are weight restrictions of jacks. These are elements you should triple check beforehand – it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Surfaces can impact whether the support slips. The surfaces should be non-slippery, hard and level. And of course, no one should be inside the car when you organise your set up.
Posture
Focusing on posture and caring for your body comes under the same realm as health and safety. Just like the health professionals recommend certain positioning and certain chairs and desk heights for optimal posture, the same goes for mechanics.
There are three areas to check off.
- Seated posture – are you in a healthy position while sitting? Avoid crouching over. Instead, sit with a straight back and ensure your legs are hip distance apart. Don’t remain in the same position for too long. Have regular breaks by getting up and walking.
- Vantage point – this refers to the angle you are leaning when stood up. Crouched over an engine will result in pain.You should get an appropriate stepping stool for this area.
- Lifting – learn the proper technique and stick to it.
If you undertake a significant amount of labour work and can’t seem to avoid getting aches and pains, there are products you can invest in to ease this pain. These include pain medication, heat rub and advanced natural medicine you can either consume or apply topically.
Avoid disruptions
There are certain elements you may not have instantly thought of, but can disrupt the safety procedures you have set up. For instance, having a pet in the garage you are working in could result in a dangerous scenario with items being knocked.
Don’t have music on too loud so you can’t hear urgent noises such as smoke alarms. Don’t have your young kids playing around you while you work.
While you can get your kids involved safely when monitoring them, as soon as you get underneath a car, you lose all ability to monitor your surroundings. These situations can turn deadly for not just you, but others around you. Therefore, you should prevent disruptions before they can occur. With this checklist, you can be on your way to saving money all while being safe.