We are now in the DIY season working through all the jobs that have built up over the winter months... if only it would stop raining! But seemingly innocent DIY jobs can often, it seems, turn into DIY disasters!

According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), every year in the UK almost 4,000 people die in accidents in the home and 2.7 million turn up at accident and emergency departments seeking treatment. Many of these are DIY disasters but, because the accidents happen behind closed doors in isolated incidents, they rarely attract public and media attention.

Scarily research by Saga Insurance shows that 4 out of 10 people think they are DIY experts, but 1 in 6 DIY jobs end up in DIY disasters!

DIY disasters - stories

Perhaps one of the most memorable DIY disasters - do you remember the story about the man with the nail gun? I mean seriously how do you get a nail through your heart?!

Nigel Kirk, 53, a DIY enthusiast slipped over while repairing floorboards with a nail gun and fired a 2 inch nail directly into his heart. He was working in his bathroom when he lost his footing on a towel, stumbled backwards and turned the pneumatic gun on himself as he fell.

The nail embedded itself in the wall of his heart, with the tip poking into the heart muscle, but missed the vital arteries. Thank goodness he survived to tell the tale but that must have hurt! Now that must be one of the worst DIY disasters!

An anonymous family member of mine almost killed his mother when putting up some shelves. The shelves were fixed above her bed and one night, a week or so after they were put up, the shelves and all the books on them came crashing down on her head when she was in bed. The result was minor bruising but it could have been a real DIY disaster.

I am personally really clumsy - the blonde gene - so have to be careful when I am working on our house. So far I have just got loads of cuts and bruises, but that's probably because my better half, Phil, keeps hold of the power tools so any real DIY disasters are avoided.

DIY disasters - due to loss of traditional skills?

Is it any surprise that we have all these stories about DIY disasters? Perhaps not - the British economy is moving from a manufacturing base to white-collar services so traditional manual skills e.g. carpentry, plumbing and electrical fitting are fast disappearing. Home improvement programmes are on the TV nearly every day but apparently more than half of us cannot wire a plug!

We are now expected to spend all our lives on the computer and a quarter or more in academia. The education system simply doesn't encourage us to get our hands dirty - Health & Safety in schools is now so stringent that practical work is removed and it's all theory.

So it's no wonder that we keep hearing about all these DIY disasters. A word of warning - trying to tackle DIY tasks that you are not qualified for, such as electrics, could invalidate your home insurance - so make sure you get fully informed!

Not just DIYers having DIY disasters

2.2 million people work in Britain's construction industry, making it the country's biggest employment sector. It is a 'can-do' industry with massive achievements to its credit but it is also one of the most dangerous. In the last 25 years, over 2,800 people have died from injuries they received as a result of construction work. Many more have been injured or made ill through DIY disasters.

There were 59 fatal injuries to workers in construction in 2005/06, a decrease on the previous year's total of 69 fatalities. Of these 59 fatalities, 42 were employees and 17 were self-employed, compared to 55 and 14 in 2004/05. 24 deaths (41%) were due to falls from a height and 8 (14%) were due to being hit by a moving vehicle.

The construction industry works hard to make these things history - find out more at ROSPA

So make sure you key safe everyone and avoid those DIY disasters.