First Aid, Emergencies and Safe Habits
First-aid kit and actions, burns, bleeding and eye injuries, an emergency plan, incident logs, fatigue and safe habits.
An emergency plan
When something goes wrong there is no time to decide what to do. A plan made in advance, even a short one, saves minutes. It answers four questions: how do I stop the hazard, how do I get out, how do I call for help and who can help the injured person.
- Know where the stops are: every machine’s stop button, the main electrical switch, the gas shut-off valve and the water supply. Everyone who uses the shop should be able to find them in the dark.
- Two ways out where possible, kept clear, with the door opening outward.
- A written address and directions next to the phone (and in the shop’s doorway), so that a visitor can tell the emergency services where you are.
- Fire extinguisher, first-aid kit and eye wash in marked places near the exit; the AED (defibrillator) if you have one.
- Practice a fire exit and the shut-off once a year.
- Tell the people you live or work with what is in the shop and where the hazards are.
Calling for help
Worked example: why the first minutes matter
- An ambulance may take 8 minutes in a town and 25 or more in a remote area. For a person whose heart has stopped, the chance of survival falls by roughly 10 percentage points for every minute without CPR and defibrillation (a rule of thumb from published studies): about 60 % at 3 minutes, 40 % at 5, 10 % at 8 and 0 % at 10 minutes.
- With CPR started at once the decline is about half as steep: 50 % at 8 minutes and 40 % at 10. What you do before help arrives decides the outcome.
- The call: say where you are (address, and how to get in), what happened, how many are hurt and their state, and what you are doing. Do not hang up until told.
- Send someone to meet the ambulance at the road and to open gates; switch on lights.
The first-aid kit
| Item | Used for |
|---|---|
| Sterile dressings (assorted) and gauze | Bleeding, wound cover |
| Adhesive plasters (assorted, including fabric) | Small cuts |
| Conforming bandages and a triangular bandage | Securing dressings, sling |
| Tape and scissors | Applying dressings |
| Eye wash bottles (saline) and eye pads | Splashes, until proper flushing |
| Disposable nitrile gloves | Infection control |
| Burn gel or dressings (not butter or ice) | After cooling |
| Tweezers, foil blanket, face shield for CPR | Splinters, warmth, rescue breaths |
| Instructions, emergency numbers and an AED nearby | Help |
- Check it twice a year and after use; replace expired items.
- Keep it where the injury will happen, not locked in the house.
- Take a first-aid course (a day), including CPR and the use of a defibrillator: the skills are worth far more than the kit.
Bleeding and cuts
The body holds about 5 liters of blood. Losing a fifth (1 liter) causes shock; losing two fifths (2 liters) is life-threatening.
Worked example: how long does a bleed take to be serious?
- A cut artery can lose about 150 mL a minute (a typical figure): 1.0 liter (20 %) in 7 minutes and 2.0 liters (40 %) in 13 minutes. A cut vein or a deep wound at 20 mL/min takes 50 minutes to lose a liter.
- Direct pressure is the answer: press firmly on the wound with a clean pad, hard, without lifting to look, and hold for at least 10 minutes; add more pads on top rather than removing the first.
- Raise the limb if no bone is broken, lay the person down, and keep them warm.
- For a limb with a life-threatening bleed that pressure does not control, apply a tourniquet high on the limb, tight enough to stop the bleed, note the time, and call for an ambulance. Do not remove it.
- Do not remove embedded objects (a splinter of metal, a blade): pad around them and get help.
- Severed parts: wrap in clean moist gauze in a plastic bag and keep it cool (not directly on ice); go to hospital at once.
Burns
Worked example: size and cooling
- Cool at once with running water for 20 minutes (cool, not ice cold): at about 4 L/min that is 80 liters. Cooling within three minutes reduces the damage.
- The size of a burn can be judged by the casualty’s palm, including the fingers, which is about 1 % of the body surface: a burn of 5 palms is about 5 %. Burns bigger than a few palms, on the face, hands, feet, genitals or over a joint, deep (white or charred) burns and chemical or electrical burns need hospital.
- After cooling: cover loosely with clean plastic film or a non-fluffy dressing. Do not use ice, butter, creams or burst blisters.
- Remove rings, watches and clothing near the burn before it swells, but not anything stuck to the skin.
- Chemical burns: flush with water for at least 15 to 20 minutes (see Chemicals, Gases and Welding). Electrical burns can be deep even if the skin looks small: always get medical help (see Electrical Safety).
Eye and chemical injuries
- Chemical in the eye: flush with clean water for 15 minutes (an eyewash delivers 1.5 L/min: 22.5 liters), eyelids held open, then go to hospital with the SDS.
- Particle in the eye: do not rub; flush; if it does not come out, or if it is metal or struck at speed, cover both eyes loosely and go to hospital.
- Impaled object: do not pull it out; protect it with a cup or a ring pad; cover the other eye too (so that the eyes do not move together).
- Arc eye (welding flash) and laser exposure: see a doctor (see Chemicals, Gases and Welding and Lasers, 3D Printers, CNC and Soldering).
Unconscious and not breathing: CPR
If someone is unresponsive and not breathing normally, call the emergency number, send someone for the defibrillator, and start chest compressions. The aim is to keep blood moving to the brain until a defibrillator or paramedics arrive.
- Check the scene first: is it safe? Switch off the electricity before touching someone who has been shocked.
- Compressions: heel of the hand on the center of the chest, other hand on top, arms straight, push down 5.5 cm at 100 to 120 a minute (about two a second, to the beat of a well-known song), and allow the chest to come back up.
- Thirty compressions take about 16 seconds at 110 per minute; then two rescue breaths if trained (or continue with compressions alone).
- Use the defibrillator (AED) as soon as it arrives: it talks you through. Pads on bare, dry skin; stand clear when it analyses and shocks.
- Do not stop until help takes over, the person moves or you are too tired.
- Train: a first-aid course gives you the practice.
Other emergencies
| Situation | Do | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| Electric shock | Switch off at the source; call for help; CPR if needed | Touch the person while the supply is live |
| Amputation or crush | Control bleeding; call emergency; keep the part cool and safe | Put the part directly on ice |
| Head injury or fall | Keep still; watch breathing; call for help | Move them if the neck or spine may be hurt |
| Fire | Raise the alarm, escape, close doors; use an extinguisher only if small (see Fire, Fuels and Explosion) | Go back for belongings |
| Gas smell or leak | Shut the valve if safe, ventilate, no switches or flames, leave | Turn on lights or use a phone in the room |
| Collapse in an enclosed space | Call for help; get them out only with breathing apparatus | Go in after them without protection |
| Inhaled fumes | Fresh air; call a poison center or the emergency number | Give them anything to drink or make them vomit |
People: fatigue, alcohol and working alone
Most of the controls on these pages depend on a person paying attention. Fatigue, alcohol, drugs, stress and rushing all lower attention, and a person is often the weakest part of a safety system.
Worked example: tired is like drunk
- Studies of performance find that 17 hours awake impairs reaction and coordination about as much as a blood alcohol of 0.05 %, 20 hours as 0.08 %, and 24 hours as 0.10 % (typical figures). A late-night session on a table saw is as dangerous as an hour at the pub.
- Alcohol leaves the blood at about 0.015 % per hour whatever you do: from 0.08 % it takes 5.3 hours to clear. Do not use machines the morning after a heavy night. Some medicines and drugs impair you for hours: read the leaflet.
- Rushing is the cause behind most “I took the guard off just this once” stories. Plan the time; if you are rushed, stop.
Worked example: working alone
If someone is injured and cannot call, how long before they are found? With a check-in every 60 minutes the average delay is about 30 minutes and the worst is 60. For risky work, tell someone when you start and when you expect to finish, keep a phone in a pocket (not on the bench), or use a lone-worker app that raises an alarm if you do not respond. A person who is bleeding heavily has minutes, not hours (see above).
Incident log and near misses
For every serious injury there are many minor ones, and for every minor one many near misses: the numbers vary from industry to industry (a classic illustrative ratio is 1 serious : 29 minor : 300 near misses). Near misses are free lessons.
Worked example: what a log gives you
In a shop with 330 events a decade in that ratio, a log that records the 300 near misses shows which tool, which task and which habit repeats, long before the one serious injury. Fix the pattern (a guard, a jig, a rule) and the serious injury does not happen. A page in a notebook is enough: date, what happened, what nearly happened, the cause, the fix, who is responsible.
- Report without blame, in your own shop and at work: the aim is to find the cause, not the culprit.
- Review the log with the risk assessment each year (see Risk Assessment and Hazard Control).
- Legal duties: serious injuries at work must be reported to the authorities; know the rules where you work.
Safe habits checklist
| Before you start | While you work | When you finish |
|---|---|---|
| Plan the job and the cuts | Wear the right PPE | Switch off and wait for it to stop |
| Check the guard, the stop and the lighting | Hold the work with a clamp or vise | Clean up dust and chips safely (not with compressed air) |
| Clear the bench and the floor | Keep your attention on the machine | Put tools away, sharp edges covered |
| Make sure the extinguisher and exit are clear | Never reach over a moving part | Unplug and lock off if you leave it |
| Tell someone if working alone with risk | Stop if something feels wrong | Record any near miss |
| Check you are rested and sober | Take breaks | Wash hands |
- Do the boring checks, every time: they are what keeps the shop safe on the day you are tired.
- Teach others the same habits, especially children and visitors, and keep them out of the shop when machines run.
- Lock the shop when you are not there, so that children and visitors cannot start a machine.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | Try |
|---|---|---|
| First-aid kit is empty or old | Never checked | Check twice a year; keep a list; restock after use |
| Nobody knows how to do CPR | No training | Book a course; keep an AED at or near the shop |
| Phone is in the house | No plan | Keep a phone or cordless handset in the shop; write the address by it |
| Near misses are not recorded | No habit | Keep a notebook by the door; review monthly |
| You are working when tired | Time pressure | Stop; do the safe tasks only (measuring, planning); finish tomorrow |
| A visitor wanders in | No barrier or rule | Lock or mark the shop; machines are off when visitors are in |
Related
- Workshop Safety: the overview of this guide.
- Risk Assessment and Hazard Control: preventing the incident in the first place.
- Electrical Safety, Fire, Fuels and Explosion and Chemicals, Gases and Welding: the emergencies in detail.
- Organizing, Buying and Budgeting: a shop that is tidy is safer.
FAQ
What should be in a workshop first-aid kit?
Sterile dressings and bandages, plasters, tape and scissors, eye wash, nitrile gloves, burn dressings, a foil blanket and a face shield, plus the instructions and phone numbers; add an AED if you can.
How long should I cool a burn?
Twenty minutes under cool running water, started as soon as possible; then cover it loosely with plastic film and get medical help for large, deep or sensitive-site burns.
What do I do if someone is unconscious and not breathing?
Call the emergency number, send for a defibrillator and start chest compressions at 100 to 120 a minute, 5 to 6 cm deep, until help takes over.
Is it safe to work in the shop alone?
For low-risk jobs yes; for risky ones tell someone, keep a phone with you and set check-in times, or work when someone is nearby.
References
- American Heart Association and European Resuscitation Council guidelines (CPR, defibrillation); Red Cross first-aid manuals.
- ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety management); OSHA 29 CFR 1910.151 (medical services and first aid) and 1910.38 (emergency action plans).
- Williamson, A. M. and Feyer, A.-M., Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication, Occupational and Environmental Medicine 57 (2000).
Last reviewed: October 2026. First-aid advice differs by country and changes with new evidence: take a course and follow your local guidelines and your emergency number’s instructions.