Shed members were provided with a valuable training session in First Aid by Art Cook of the British Red Cross. After a general introduction about the work of his organisation, Art provided useful advice on how to deal with some of the types of health or accident scenario that anyone might encounter. He then went on to describe how to deal with people who are unresponsive, including doing chest compressions and ideally using an AED (defibrillator) if the casualty isn’t breathing or if their heart has stopped, and gave Shed members the opportunity to practice on training dummies. He also emphasised the importance of calling 999 whenever emergency medical help is needed.

We don’t want anyone to get hurt, so please take care with tools in general, and power tools especially. The table saw will be the most dangerous tool that the Shed has and while there are obvious dangers associated with it, kickback if you don’t know about it is a hidden danger which can happen extremely quickly and result in serious injuries. The YouTube video below does a good job of explaining the risks and how to avoid them.

Shed safety is of paramount importance and the Scottish Men’s Shed Association has co-created the following film lasting about 7 minutes,  in collaboration with Stonehaven & District Men’s Shed, premium spirits producer Edrington, and film producers and the largest specialist social media agency in Scotland, We are Hydrogen. It is intended to help members know the basics of good governance and health and safety protocols in the Shed.