One of the few upsides of lockdown was the number of people who took up new hobbies, or whiled away the hours on improvements to home and garden. But with such pursuits come tools, chemicals and skills often new to the user. Lockdown data shows a marked increase in DIY-related injuries – a staggering threefold surge compared with pre-pandemic times (Stedman et al, 2021). 

One such victim of injury, who was spray-cleaning his patio in April 2020, suffered a chemical burn to his eye that developed into painful swelling and bleeding over the following 36 hours.