Hydraulic Press safety questions

First thing you need is good safety glasses. I've had bearing races shatter and send shards flying. Your eye won't heal from that.

The other thing you can try is to get a piece of 3/4" plywood that is big enough to hide behind. Lean it up against the press. You would be surprised how much shrapnel it will deflect if something goes BOOM. We used to do that at the shop I worked at. Saved some pain on multiple occasions.