Workshop injuries concentrate on a small set of body parts — eyes, ears, lungs, and hands — and a small set of causes: unguarded blades, unsecured workpieces, loose clothing near rotating parts, and cluttered floors. Protective equipment addresses the first group: safety glasses for any operation that produces chips or dust, hearing protection for sustained loud tools, and respiratory protection matched to the material being worked.
Work habits address the second group. Power should be disconnected before any blade or bit change; guards and safety switches should remain functional; workpieces should be clamped rather than hand-held near cutters; and the workspace should be reset to order after each session. These practices are not optional refinements — they are the baseline conditions under which tools perform as their designers intended.