Proper safety equipment is a good investment

On Saturday, I climbed up into the attic to install the first soffit extender to get a feel for what I was going to need. It quickly became very obvious that I did not have enough in the way of safety equipment. A quick trip to the store and then I was ready to really get started on my work. Here is a quick run down of the safety precautions that I took while I was insulating my attic:

1. Work Gloves: Having a good pair of gloves (combined with long sleeves and pants) keep you from directly handling the insulation, and can also keep you from scratching your hands on any nails that might be sticking through the roof or floor joists.
2. Respirator: The respirator was not looking too bad after I installed the soffit extenders, but it was extremely nasty by the time that I finished installing the new layer of insulation. I am just glad that it stopped most of that nastiness before it had a chance to get into my lungs.
3. Safety Glasses/Goggles: Just like the respirator stopped crud from getting into my lungs, the glasses kept it from getting into my eyes. I was able to see it floating in the air from my head lamp. It also meant that I was less likely to get any insulation directly in my eye if I was laying flat on my stomach and had to put my head down for any reason. I did not really look to see what size they were before I bought them, opting instead to just get ones that do not have any tinting (I was working in the attic, after all). As such, I wound up with ones that were huge. They acted as more protection for covering my skin along with the gloves and the sleeves.
4. Hard Hat/Safety Helmet: The hard hat was a great purchase. I did not hit my head very hard while installing the soffit extenders, but I was resting my head against the roof quite a bit. While installing the insulation, I hit my head quite a few times. The hard hat kept me from actually hurting myself. It has a suspension mechanism on the inside that keeps the force of whacking your head on the rafters or the roof from actually hurting. The main reason that I bought the hard hat, though, was not because I was worried about hitting my head. It was because I was worried about impaling myself on the nails coming through the roof. As evidenced by some pretty good pits and scratches, the hard hat was definately a good choice.
5. Head Lamp: I had a light brought up with me inside the attic that made it much easier to see than with just the head lamp, but the head lamp made sure I was able to see everywhere around the attic and in the corners where I was working. It also left my hands free from having to hold a flash light, making it easier to do the installation work and to balance myself when necessary. I really did not want to crash through my ceiling.

You can see a picture of each item by clicking on the image at the top of the article. I looked really funny wearing it all, but there was not anybody to see me up in the attic and I like making myself look like a fool now and again to give my wife a good laugh. Not hurting myself was much more important, and if you do any work in your attic then I highly recommend getting the proper safety equipment.

The main item that I did not get that would have been nice was some knee pads. I used a few pieces of bedding foam to kneel or sit on, but it was a bit of a pain keeping it around me and it did not work very well. Since a lot of time was spent on my back or my stomach it was not a huge issue, but I think next time I will probably try to find my knee pads or else get some new ones. I did duct tape one of my pant knees, but that was mostly because there was a huge gaping hole. It did provide a tiny bit of cushioning, though.