Thursday, February 03, 2011
CPSC wants to stop daily table saw amputations
USATODAY.com: "As pressure to address debilitating table-saw injuries builds, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission says she will call in the power-tool industry and the safety standards group to find out why more hasn't been done to address the problem.
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4 comments:
In one sense, I want to say that all tools have inherent risks and you can't completely room those risks no matter how many ways you practice baby proofing. Of course, with a figure like 10 amputations a day is rather startling. It would appear that perhaps we have not done enough to protect the worker from the machine with the table saw. If anyone was able to pass hard-fast regulations on the matter I wonder how easy it would be to enforce. The period to adapt these regulations would take time and there are simply too many table saws in use in commercial and residential settings to really enforce it. What would it cost to put in effect ways to monitor everyone? Of course, it would definitely be affect in court when someone sues the table saw company only to find out they were in the wrong do to violations. I understand not wanting to rely on the skin detection technology because that is an inventor promoting is product half the time, but I'm surprise companies aren't all for this because it may just save them in the end from huge lawsuits. They could even be misers and sell the parts separately for older products. It seems this could have a positive affect for everyone if it goes through. Of course that would be overlooking the initial upstart cost for the consumer who would need to invest in the products in the beginning.
Read this article and then followed the link to the PTI website and watched a couple of videos. There have been times where I've incorrectly used these tools and had a couple of close calls. (I've slipped using a table saw and easily could've been the guy with a 45 miter cut-off of all the fingers on his right hand.)
But oddly enough after watching these videos even though I "know" how to use all of these tools, I felt more secure. Some of their tips were no brainers I've never thought of, common sense for whatever likes to leave the workplace sometimes: sweep around your workplace, always clamp down whenever you can. Of all those fingers that went off I'm sure they all could've easily been preveneted. Perhaps the solution isn't all in the technology of the tool but in the education of the user, no matter how much experience he has. Supposedly Yo Yo Ma plays scales when he practices. His philosophy being you need to always be great at a basic level to improve on. Maybe requiring everyone, regardless of experience and age, to watch videos like the ones the PTI puts out (no matter how basic the premise or quality is) would help keep the basic no brainer safety tips always in mind.
I agree with Nicole...while I realize that any sort of new safety requirement may call for some costly updates on the parts of consumers, I think that this change would be worth it. The industry that we work in is so dangerous; why shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to prevent injury? I know enforcing this law would be hard, but getting it in place is the crucial first step. It seems as though most people would want to comply with the new law in order to avoid lawsuits, as Nicole pointed out...maybe we are too optimistic? I just keeping wondering why this law is not already in place. 10 fingers should not be lost to a table saw everyday, especially if there's something that can be done about it.
Saw stops are great. They have one in use over in the Architecture Dept. and apparently it save someone a digit or two once a month.
However, i bring up this example because if you really need it that much, something is seriously wrong. Saw stops are great, but there's a bigger issue of training and misuse that is what is hurting people. Personal liability is now going out the window in this discussion, and its that personal element that keeps people in check and their digits in place.
Plus, Saw Stop has now shot themselves in the foot from a money perspective because now companies are going to be coming out with their own brands of "Flesh Detecting" devices that they will want to cling to and control the patents / licensing for. Hopefully ones that don't destroy the blade, and the stop module, which forces you to spend money on new ones. Especially because saw stops have accidentally triggered on materials as well.
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