1. My first tip is to always use gloves. I use surgical gloves (normally in a box of 100 quite cheap) for everything I do other than tracing a pattern. My main reason for doing this is that I have a young son and there is nothing worse than having your baby wake up and you have flux all over your hands and need to wash them first, or you have been cutting or grinding and you have chips of glass on your hand. With the gloves I merely take them off and my hands are just dusty from the powder in the gloves or at the most a bit pasty from sweat.
2. Another personal tip I have is that when I grind I put small strips of elastoplast (fabric plaster) over my fingers either under or over the gloves. (Under when I am going to do a lot of grinding and I know I will have to replace the gloves once or twice and over for a quick job). This stops the glass from cutting into your finger tips when you push the glass against the grinder head and leaving those extra sore cuts.
3. My final personal tip is that I use make up sponges (the small triangle wedges) to apply gel flux to the pieces requiring flux and to apply patina to the finished soldered items. I find that it allows for smooth and light application first time.