Toddlers and Power Tools

[munruben]

Nothing beats common sense, instinct, thought and eyes.
.

How true that is Ray. .unfortunately, commonsense is not always that common. and so many kids think they are bullet proof.

[Pratty]

When I was a boy my father had a rule that we couldn't cross certain lines when he was working with power tools.

A new dad told me that he turned around the other day to see his toddler playing with a plugged in power drill. No parent is perfect but of course he was gutted with himself for not having anticipated that her developmental stage was getting into exploration and experiment territory.

As he is about to embark on some major renovations (number two on the way) I was wondering if there were any tips people could provide on dealing with children around home renovation projects e.g. are there any electronic gadgets or new systems that make workshops and work sites safer than when I was a boy?

Thanks for any tips

To get back to the original question, if your access to your workshop is by a normal door, quickest and cheapest solution immediately is to get one of those childrens safety gates that are usually installed in homes nears stairs etc, whack it up, by doing this your child can still see what you are doing , being interactive with each other verbally but piece of mind you have created a safe barrier untill such time as you can install the safety breaker switch and if you still intend, infared beam alarms system.
And as every body has said in one way or another, be very vigiliant with tools and electricity, sorry if this sounds like a lecture but from personal experience, it really hurts when you get bitten by a tool, i also have 7year old twins, so you can imagine my dramas when the little buggers come in poking their nose around, dad, whats this do, whats that do dad, but seriously, all the best dude, sometimes kids have to learn the hard way, a fact of life.

[Trav]

My workshop is part of a 2.5 car garage. One car still lives inside (not for much longer if I can help it ). So the kids (5 and 3) walk through it each day to the car.

I have a locked door to the garage, with the deadlock up high so the kids can't reach it (also serves as security for the house if someone gets into the garage). Plus I use an isolation switch for all the circuits in the garage, except the lights. It goes on when I'm working, and off when I leave.

It's not just tools though that are dangerous. Piles of timber, paints/turps and other chems, chisels, planes, hammers, even clamps are all dangerous if they fall etc. I don't like kids in the shed with me when I'm working (in fact, I don't like anyone else there, but kids especially) - noise, dust, projectiles, etc. If I do, it would be for a special project that we are working on together, not just because they drifted in to see what I was doing.

Kids can make anything dangerous - climb on the thinking chair and all of a sudden they can reach all sorts of interesting things. My paints and other chems are locked away in a cupboard, but even still, the trouble they could create in 1.5 seconds is simply not worth the risk.

Trav

[Dengue]

Totally agree with Trav. Well done!