Eyes: on before the tool is plugged in

Impact-rated eyewear to ANSI Z87.1+ or EN 166 F is the baseline. Ordinary prescription glasses are not safety glasses, though many safety frames can be fitted with prescription lenses.

Wraparound styles with side coverage protect against the chips that fly sideways, which is most of them. Replace any eyewear that has taken a direct hit even if it looks intact.

Ears: cumulative and permanent

A router at 95 dB and a thickness planer above that will cause permanent damage with repeated exposure. There is no treatment. Earmuffs give about 25 dB of attenuation and foam plugs about 30 dB when correctly fitted.

If you have to raise your voice to be heard over the machine, protection is required. For routing and planing, muffs over plugs is not excessive.

Lungs: capture dust at the source

Fine sanding dust and MDF fibres stay airborne for hours. A mask alone is the last defence; extraction at the tool is the first.

Connect a shop vacuum to the sander, router and saw. Wear at least a P2/N95 mask for sanding, and use P3 for known irritant species such as iroko.

Hands, blades and unplugging

Keep hands behind the cutting edge of any chisel or plane. Use push sticks with at least 300 mm between hand and blade, and retire any push stick that has been cut into.

Unplug before every blade, bit or cutter change, and before any depth adjustment near the cutting edge. A tool that is off but still plugged in is a live hazard the moment someone else walks into the shop.

Dust and fire

Sawdust is combustible. Fine dust in the air can ignite from a single spark. Keep the shop swept, keep an extinguisher rated for wood and electrical fires near the door, and never let piles of dust accumulate around a machine.

Store oily rags in a sealed metal container away from anything combustible. Spontaneous combustion is real and it happens in home shops.

The habits that actually prevent injury

Do not work tired. Do not work rushed. Do not remove a guard for a quick cut. Route your work so you never reach across a running blade. Keep the floor clear so you are not stepping over offcuts while feeding stock.

None of these are dramatic. Together they are why an experienced woodworker can work for decades without a serious injury.