When it comes to your safety, breathing and hearing are two of the major concerns. In the "old" days about the only thing available were lightweight comfort masks, which offered only the basic protection from particles in the air.

Breathing Safety Tips:

• The most important thing to know is that you should match your breathing protection to the type of job you're doing. Today you can get a particle mask that protects much more than the old comfort masks. It's thicker and has two straps. It's rated to remove 95 percent of the particles you may normally breathe in if you weren't wearing a mask.

• For the ultimate in breathing safety, you should consider a full-mask respirator, which are rated to remove 100 percent of particles and vapors. These particular masks come with different filters. It's important to choose the proper filter for the work you're doing, and do know that the filters need to be replaced periodically.

Hearing Safety Tips:

• Some people may believe that if you're using power tools that you don't need hearing protection, but this isn't true. If you're exposed to high-decibel sounds for over long periods of time, permanent hearing loss is more than probable.

• If you wear hearing protection devices you can lower the decibel level anywhere from 20 to 30 decibels, which can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your auditory health. For example, a regular power saw can spit out as many as 114 decibels or even more, so any hearing protection will help.

Note: Eighty decibels is the threshold for safe hearing.