I post this for no other reason than a genuine heartfelt concern for you all. This life is too short to shorten it even more, or to effect your way of life in your later years. I have a co-worker who I watched work every day without protection of any kind, he just worked every day and didn't take the 30 seconds to get his protection. He was about 48 when met him and he was in very bad shape, now at 60, he is near bed ridden and largely do not protecting himself. His knees are gone, he can't breath, he is shot.
The sad part is I am watching his son who is 28 doing the same thing!
Guys, buy a few pairs of ear muff style protection, a few pairs of goggles, a box of particle masks a few pieces of foam to kneel on, a few pairs of gloves, and put them around the shop in designated areas. Return them to the same spot every time, then you aren't looking for them, you have one in arms reach at all times no matter where you are in the shop. This is what I have had to do to get into the habit and keep it up. We are all different, that is what I had to do.
Time yourself, I can't express this enough, no kidding, time yourself doing daily tasks. While you are sitting on the couch, put a stop watch going at how long it takes you to stand up and go get a beer or go to the bathroom, how long does it take? It takes seconds folks, just seconds to do most of these tasks every day. We have such a skewed image of time. We all think we need to be a foot from that car in front of us like it will get us to work faster, the guy in front of us is having a hard time with his debit card at the store and we are fuming because it's taking so long, we are talking SECONDS here, these things take seconds! And so does protecting yourself.
Those seconds pay off in years at the end of your life.
Brian