Working with a manual or electric tile cutter or saw can be extremely dangerous if you don’t use it properly and follow safety precautions. Not only are the blades made to be razor sharp to grind through the thickest materials, but dust and powder particles can spray up into the air and affect your breathing. Knowing this important tile cutting safety tips will ensure that you do your tiling job properly and reduce the risk of injury or accidents as much as possible. It also helps to have the right tile cutting safety accessories. Keep reading to learn more.

Ensure You Have First Aid Handy

 Whenever you’re working with sharp objects or heavy tools, it’s important to keep a first aid kit nearby. This kit should have all the main safety products necessary to remove splinters or foreign objects from an injured site, stop any quick bleeds, and sanitize wounds. Your average first aid kit should have: 

• Assorted plasters
• Sterile gauze dressings
• Various sized and shaped bandages
• Safety pins
• Disposable sterile gloves
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• Alcohol-free cleansing wipes
• Digital thermometer
• Skin rash cream
• Antiseptic
• Painkillers
• Antihistamines
• Eye wash and eye bath and eye gauze
• Distilled water for cleaning wounds

Practice and Test on Safer Materials First

Another important step to ensure safety and to protect the materials you’ll need for your project is to practice on inexpensive but similar options first. Practice using the tile cutter on spare materials or on thinner tiles before cutting the tiles you need for your project.

Avoid Loose Clothing or Dangling Jewellery

Wearing loose clothing or dangling jewellery can be very dangerous, as they can get caught in the machines you work with. Always wear tight fitting clothing and remove all jewellery to prevent an injury.

Use Important Tile Cutting Safety Accessories

Gloves for Hand Safety

Tiles have very sharp edges, as well as the saw blades, so you should wear durable, heavy gloves to prevent your hand from getting cut. Also, heavy gloves will prevent any bacteria from the working surfaces and materials from bathrooms and other wet areas from transferring onto your hands.

Goggles for Eyes

Keeping your eyes protected when doing any kind of construction work is a no-brainer. Safety glasses or goggles will keep dust and debris from getting into your eyes, as a lot can be produced depending on the project. The more durable the goggles, the better, as you’ll also want eye protection from potential stray tile chips.

Ear Protection

Eye and hand protection may seem obvious, but an area you cannot forget to protect are your ears. Working with a tile saw can get very loud, especially when the tiles are fed through the saw. Use good quality ear plugs, noise-cancelling headphones, or safety headphones to protect your ears.

Dust Protection

You’ll quickly feel ill if you keep breathing in the tiny dust and debris particles from the tiling project, so wear a dust mask. In fact, silica dust (produced from small pieces of glass) can be extremely dangerous when inhaled. When working with ceramic tiles, ensure that your dust mask has a rubber faceplate or a charcoal-filter to protect against dust, debris, fumes, and vapours which can be emitted.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter

Using power tools with water is a normal part of tiling; however, water and electricity don’t mix and can lead to serious injuries or even death without proper caution. If you plan to use a wet tile saw, pack a portable ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) as well. This device offers extra protection by cutting off the power to your tools to prevent electric shock if you are in the circuit.

Visit Centura Tools for Professional Tiling and Safety Equipment

If you are looking for all the safety equipment necessary for your tiling project, visit Centura Tools. Our shelves are lined with products for beginners to professional tilers, and feature some of the best tools to safety must-haves. Contact us at (416) 785-3311 or visit our store to see our amazing products. Our professionals will be available to help you make educated, safe, and appropriate decisions about your tiling project.