Home OSH Answers Safety Hazards Hand Tools Hammers

Ask a Question Feedback Printer-friendly

Hammers and other striking tools are widely used and often abused. Hammers are made for specific purposes in various types and sizes, and with striking surfaces of varying hardness. For example, hammers are used for general carpentry, framing, nail pulling, cabinet making, assembling furniture, upholstering, finishing, riveting, bending or shaping metal, striking masonry drill and steel chisels, and so on. Hammers are designed according to the intended purpose.

• Select a hammer that is comfortable for you and that is the proper size and weight for the job. Misuse can cause the striking face to chip, possibly causing a serious injury.
• Choose a hammer with a striking face diameter approximately 12 mm (0.5 inch) larger than the face of the tool being struck (e.g., chisels, punches, wedges, etc.).
• Ensure that the head of the hammer is firmly attached to the handle.
• Replace loose, cracked or splintered handles.
• Discard any hammer with mushroomed or chipped face or with cracks in the claw or eye sections.
• Wear safety glasses or a faceshield.
• Strike a hammer blow squarely with the striking face parallel to the surface being struck. Always avoid glancing blows and over and under strikes. (Hammers with bevelled faces are less likely to chip or spall.)

Look behind and above you before swinging the hammer.
Watch the object you are hitting.
Hold the hammer with your wrist straight and your hand firmly wrapped around the handle

• Do not use a hammer with a loose or damaged handle.
• Do not use handles that are rough, cracked, broken, splintered, sharp-edged or loosely attached to head.
• Do not use any hammer head with dents, cracks, chips, mushrooming, or excessive wear.
• Do not use a hammer for any purpose for which it was not designed or intended.
• Do not use one hammer to strike another hammer, other hard metal objects, stones or concrete.
• Do not redress, grind, weld or reheat-treat a hammer head.
• Do not strike with the side or cheek of the hammer.

Refer to OSH Answers General Hand Tool Operation for more tips.