Self Interest is the part where we forget about looking after the building for a while and concentrate on looking after you. We don’t even want to use the phrase ‘Health & Safety’ because it turns people off. It isn’t about a nanny-state, it’s all about you (yes, for once it really is all about you). And how much value you place on yourself. There is no building project worth dying for; there is no carpentry job worth losing a finger for and no demolition job worth losing an eye for. Nobody would argue with that.

So here is a question for you. Exactly how far would you walk to save one of your eyes? Ten miles? of course. A hundred miles? sure. A thousand miles? no hesitation. In fact you would walk ten thousand miles to save one of your eyes and possibly more. You wouldn’t want to put a figure on how much an eye is worth to you. But time after time we (me included) chip away at a bit of concrete or use an angle grinder without eye protection because we can’t be bothered to walk 10 metres to the van or the shed. That’s why most accidents happen, because we’re stupid and lazy. The second after an accident happens you’ll know exactly what you did wrong. We aren’t firing rockets at Mars we are building. Most of the information you need to work safely is already in your head. The most important bit of safety equipment you will ever own is your brain. If you read it, the information on these Self Interest pages will feed it. The rest is up to you.