KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's DIY culture costs $50 million a year in medical treatment of do-it-yourself disasters - many involving post-Christmas test drives of power tools.
The Accident Compensation Corporation last year received about 10,000 claims for DIY woundings, of which about 2000 were moderate to serious injuries.
Ladders loom large in the statistics - almost 30,000 people are injured by them each year, suffering everything from fractured bones to death.
And the Christmas season is when accidents happen "like a rash", ACC spokesman Laurie Edwards said yesterday.
"In the couple of weeks after Christmas, there's thousands of them.
"They'll be trying out a new saw or a new power-staple gun and next thing you know they're in the A&E with a nail through their arm. Or worse, one of the kids is there."
People taking advantage of daylight saving's longer evenings to landscape the garden are another source of post-Christmas traumas.
"Our advice is simple: If you haven't done a shred of physical work all year, you might want to think twice about trying to move tonnes of earth from the back yard," Mr Edwards said.
Careless do-it-yourselfers have also been known to superglue their hands to their eyes while working with adhesives.
It was crucial people read the instruction manuals, particularly when handling new power tools, Mr Edwards said. "Blokes are notoriously bad at reading manuals."
Otago University senior lecturer in occupational health David McBride said a shortage of tradesmen prompted many unskilled people to attempt renovations themselves.
"They also like to save a bit of money."
The injury toll could be reduced with better training in using equipment and by DIY stores supplying written instructions with equipment.
"People go out and buy a set of ladders and think they can use them without any instructions.
"They just stick them up and away they go. Better education and training would make a difference."
Dr McBride said New Zealanders were more likely than those in other countries to use tools such as chainsaws, as they had a lifestyle where they could go out and cut firewood.
"If people went on chainsaw courses, it would be a damn good thing. They are pretty lethal, and people should attend courses on using them. The same goes for ladders."
Mr Edwards said DIY injury costs were only a fraction of the $4 billion ACC paid out every year, but it was an avoidable amount.
HOW WE DO IT
Some claims to ACC in 2006
Equipment: Power tool
Number: 81
Cost: $391,000
Equipment: Other tools
Number: 239
Cost: $1,228,000
Equipment: Spanner
Number: 12
Cost: $144,000
Equipment: Knife
Number: 270
Cost: $950,000
Equipment: Hand-held saw
Number: 44
Cost: $95,000
Equipment: Hammer
Number: 67
Cost: $220,000
Equipment: Chainsaw
Number: 61
Cost: $207,000
Equipment: Axe
Number: 108
Cost: $330,000
Equipment: Food processor
Number: 7
Cost: $235,000
Equipment: Mower
Number: 284
Cost: $1,385,000
Equipment: Ladder
Number: 522
Cost: $4,645,000
Source: www.acc.co.nz
