Attention handymen of New Zealand:  Put down the nail gun. Drop the power painter.  Move away from the instruction manual on how to rewire your house.

Now go back to the safety of your couch and watch the kangaroo races, like you’re supposed to.

You see, a recent study shows that DIY disasters kill nearly 600 people a year in that country. That’s 11 people who die each week from running themselves over with the lawnmower or lobbing their necks off with the weed whacker or falling to their dirtnaps because a shingle was missing on the roof.

The study doesn’t reveal why so many folks in that country are incapable of surviving the honey-do list. It might have something to do with the fact that power tools and 240 ounces of Fosters Lager don’t mix.

The good news is that men of New Zealand now have a rock solid reason for getting out of all that work. The bad news? With all that time on their hands, they now may be forced to go shopping with their wives. Which, as any guy can attest, is a fate worse than death.