Safety equipment and safe workshop habits
Design & Technology · Key Stage 2 · The School
Protecting different parts of the body
Different jobs need different protection. GOGGLES protect eyes from flying dust or splinters. An APRON protects clothes and skin from mess and heat. GLOVES can protect hands from sharp edges or heat. Some tasks need bare, careful hands instead, for proper control. The right equipment depends on the job. There is no single rule for every task.
Putting tools down safely
A sharp or hot tool is put down pointing away from people. It is never left balanced on an edge. It is never passed to someone else blade-first. These are not fussy extra rules. They stop an accident happening in the ordinary moment of putting something down, or handing it over.
When something goes wrong
A tool might slip. Something might spill. Something might just feel unsafe. The first step is always the same: stop, and tell an adult. Trying to quietly fix a mistake alone is how a small problem becomes a bigger one. Every workshop rule exists because someone, somewhere, learned the hard way why it matters.
BEFORE: check the workspace is clear. Put an apron on. Make sure an adult is present and ready. DURING: hold the gun by its handle only. Keep the hot tip pointing away from yourself and others. Put it back in its stand between uses, rather than laying it down. AFTER: switch it off. Let it cool fully. Tell an adult if anything about it felt wrong while using it. None of this is about knowing how to USE the tool yet. It is about staying safe around it.