Painting Safety: Not Just for the Painters

Recently the Australian Government undertook a Home Insulation Program, whereby the homeowner could get their house insulated for free (or with a large rebate from the Government).  This resulted in lots of dodgy unlicensed companies starting up and offering their services. 

Foil insulation was installed in roof cavities and stapled down through electrical conduit, which in some cases electrocuted the installer and in other cases left the house “live” and dangerous. Other types of insulation (fibre glass batts) were placed over the top of light fittings which heated up and caused house fires.  The program was recently discounted as a result.  Now the government is sending assessors to check all houses that have been insulated. 

We haven't seen such widespread tragedy among painters. Our licensing and accreditation practices are part of the reason for that. But the overall point applies just as much to painters and decorators as to other workmen: failing to follow safety precautions can result in dangers not just to the careless workmen, but to the householder as well.

If you do your own work, or have it done by nonprofessionals, are you quite sure that you can tell whether the job is safe when it's finished?