How do I work with cement safely, and what do I do about a cement burn?

Why cement burns creep up on you, the kit that prevents them, and what to do in the first minutes when cement gets on skin or in an eye.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 8 min
Read: 4 min
Safety: warning

Short answer

Wet cement is strongly alkaline — around pH 12 to 13 — and it destroys skin slowly and without much pain until the damage is done. Waterproof gloves, long sleeves, boots and eye protection, and never kneel in it. If it gets on skin, wash it off immediately with plenty of clean water. In an eye, irrigate for at least twenty minutes and go straight to A&E.

Cement burns are the injury people are most surprised by, because there is no heat, no sting and often no pain at all while it is happening. The alkali works through skin over hours, and it works faster where cement is held against the skin by a wet knee, a boot cuff or a glove that has filled up. The other half of the problem is dust, which does its damage over years rather than hours.

Safety

Wet cement causes severe alkali burns that develop slowly and often painlessly, so people carry on working and discover full-thickness damage hours later. Kneeling in wet concrete has put people in hospital for skin grafts. Dry cement dust contains crystalline silica, which causes irreversible lung disease with repeated exposure. Neither hazard is dramatic at the moment it happens, which is exactly why both are routinely ignored.

Step by step

Understand what makes it dangerous.Cement mixed with water is strongly alkaline. Alkali burns are painless at first and go deep, unlike acid burns which hurt immediately and tend to stay superficial. There is also a sensitising chromium content, which is why some people develop cement dermatitis after years of no reaction.
Wear waterproof gloves, not fabric ones.Fabric or leather gloves soak the mix up and hold it against the skin, which is worse than no glove. Use nitrile or PVC gauntlets long enough to cover the wrist, and change them when they fill.
Cover your arms and legs.Long sleeves tucked into gloves, long trousers over boots rather than tucked in. The classic injuries are at the wrist, where a glove ends, and at the ankle, where concrete goes down a boot.
Never kneel in wet concrete or mortar.This is the injury that lands people in hospital. Use a board, a bucket or waterproof knee pads, and if your knees do get wet, stop and wash immediately rather than finishing the job.
Wear eye protection for mixing and for dry powder.Goggles rather than glasses when opening or tipping bags, because powder gets round the side. A splash of wet mix or a puff of dry cement in an eye is a serious injury.
Wear a properly fitted mask for dry cement and cutting.Dry cement dust and, far worse, the dust from cutting brick, block, concrete or paving contains respirable crystalline silica. Use at least an FFP3 disposable and get it sealed to your face, and combine it with water suppression or on-tool extraction rather than relying on the mask alone.
Wash immediately, with plenty of water.The moment cement gets on skin, rinse it off with clean running water. Do not wait for a break. Do not just wipe it. Keep a container of clean water and a towel by the mixer for exactly this.
Treat any eye contact as an emergency.Irrigate the eye with clean water or eyewash for at least twenty minutes, holding the lid open, then go to A&E even if it feels fine. Alkali eye injuries continue to damage the eye after the exposure has ended, and delay is what costs people their sight.
Get medical advice for any skin that changes.Redness, blistering, a hard whitened area, or skin that feels numb after cement contact needs to be seen. Tell whoever sees it that it is a cement burn — treatment for a chemical burn is different from a thermal one.
Change out of contaminated clothing.Cement soaked into trousers or boots keeps working after you have finished. Change, and wash the clothes separately.

Tips

The rule that prevents nearly all of these injuries is simple: if it is wet and it is on you, it comes off now.
Barrier cream is not a substitute for gloves. It helps with dryness and dermatitis, not with burns.
Wet-cutting or on-tool extraction cuts silica exposure dramatically. Dry-cutting blocks or paving with an angle grinder in still air is one of the highest-exposure things a householder ever does.
Long-term cement dermatitis is a real occupational disease and it can end someone's ability to do this work at all. It builds from repeated small exposures, not from one big one.

If it doesn't work

Skin is red and sore hours after working with concrete

Cause: Alkali burn developing after the exposure — Fix: Wash thoroughly with clean water, do not apply creams or ointments, and get it looked at. Tell them it is a cement burn.

A hard, pale, numb patch of skin

Cause: A deeper burn where cement was held against skin — Fix: Medical attention now. Numbness means the damage has gone past the nerve endings and this is not something to watch at home.

Persistent itchy, cracked hands after regular cement work

Cause: Cement dermatitis, often a chromium sensitisation — Fix: See a GP. Once sensitised it tends to persist, so the control is avoiding contact — proper gloves every time, and cements labelled as chromate-reduced.

Questions people ask

Why do cement burns not hurt at the time?

Alkalis do not trigger the immediate pain response that acids do. They break down skin proteins progressively, so the damage is often several hours ahead of the sensation.

Are rubber gloves enough?

Waterproof gloves that cover the wrist are the right answer. The failure is usually not the glove but what runs into the top of it, so long cuffs and sleeves over them matter as much as the glove itself.

Is the dust from cutting bricks really that serious?

Yes. Respirable crystalline silica causes silicosis and increases lung cancer risk, and cutting masonry dry is one of the highest-exposure activities in construction. Use water suppression or extraction, and a properly fitted FFP3.