Sawdust on the Floor

Hey, before you run away from here, I am not going to try to sell you anything, or tell you “You absolutely must have this. ………”. I only want to talk about the real simply things I think every shop needsI don’t care where or how big your shop/work space is, you must have a good working fire extinguisher in the shop. If you’re like me, and I’m sure some of you are, I keep cans have stain and finishes in the shop and I also normally will have lots of sawdust, flying around and on the floor. And a sad fact is that the airborne sawdust, that real fine stuff, is really combustible. So having at least one good fire extinguisher is a really smart idea… two would be better. It’s a good idea to place the fire extinguisher near the entry door to the shop, so you have easy access to it when you first walk in.

The other essential item for any shop is a good, fully stocked First Aid kit. I can’t count the number of times I have nicked a finger or gotten a splinter while working in the shop.

It just makes common sense to be able to handle any small emergency on the spot. Your kit should contain the normal stuff, band aid, antiseptic wipes, a good set of tweezers and maybe a good magnifying glass to help locate that very small, but painful splinter. I don’t think you need a full blown industrial kit, just some thing practical. One bit of advice; mount the kit on a wall, so it can be easily found by anyone who needs it, a first aid kit that is covered by layers of sawdust or hidden away in a tool box, isn’t really a lot of help when needed.

If your shop is like my first one, in the family garage, or like so many others in a basement, then I think you might want to consider keeping a flash light handy, or maybe installing an inexpensive emergency light. Let me paint you a scenario that happened to me, I’m working in the garage/shop, the door is closed because it’s snowing outside. You working away and suddenly, the power goes out and you are left in the dark. I can tell you from experience it’s not a fun place to be, so now I keep an emergency flash light handy. After all you don’t want to try finding your way out of the shop in the dark.

And finally, a rather personal observation, I like to take my second cup of coffee with me to the shop. I have learned the hard way; a cup with a good cover is a must, unless you like your coffee sprinkled with sawdust!

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