Popular Woodworking: "Back in junior high school, there were occasions when the entire class would be threatened with punishment due to the actions of one or two troublemakers. The current fuss over proposed actions from the Consumer Product Safety Commission possibly requiring “flesh detecting technology” on saws reminds me of Mrs. Vasbinder’s attempts to force a confession from a petty thief or vandal. There really is a problem with table saw safety; too many people are getting hurt, and most of those injuries can be prevented. But is the proposed solution the best choice for everyone?
Monday, February 14, 2011
How Not to Hurt Yourself On a Table Saw
Popular Woodworking: "Back in junior high school, there were occasions when the entire class would be threatened with punishment due to the actions of one or two troublemakers. The current fuss over proposed actions from the Consumer Product Safety Commission possibly requiring “flesh detecting technology” on saws reminds me of Mrs. Vasbinder’s attempts to force a confession from a petty thief or vandal. There really is a problem with table saw safety; too many people are getting hurt, and most of those injuries can be prevented. But is the proposed solution the best choice for everyone?
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8 comments:
Once again. A little forethought and common sense prevents injury, expense, and even unnecessary legislation. The only place I would could see using the flesh detecting blades would be places like a Jr. High wood shop. However, the students in Jr. High wood shops usually get the adequate training needed to safely operate a table saw. I would like to see the data on WHERE these accidents happen. I would bet that most of them happen in home owner's garages and that is a hard to legislate. The places that could actually afford this technology, (businesses and schools) often train people in a way that makes this technology not warranted.
I couldn't agree more with Dale or Robert Lang about this. A person is required to prove they're capable of operating a motor vehicle, a gun - hell, even a fishing rod. Maybe the answer here is to TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO USE A TABLE SAW!!! rather than make my only option a saw that is "smarter" than me. SawStop has saved many-an-errant finger but the technology isn't foolproof. It can just as easily go off with green wood or sappy wood. How does that save me (the user, owner and operator) anything?
Maybe the solution here is to require a training seminar on HOW TO USE A FREAKING TABLE SAW before we start dumbing down another "dangerous" shop tool.
I completely agree with Jacob. A lot of danger can be prevented with proper training. Put the fear of the table saw into people! Unfortunately I disagree that this flesh technology would be most useful on a jr. high table saw. First off, I doubt that the school systems would paid that much to upgrade the table saw, and secondly I wonder how many injuries really occur in middle school. I feel like that environment watches the students like hawks. The real problem comes into play when people feel capable on their own and end up hurting themselves because they feel like they won't get hurt. I'd like to see some more data about these injuries.
I feel lucky to go to CMU where the shop supervisors are so adamant about safety. Even though it's frustrating to not use any tools for the first three weeks of carpentry class, I wouldn't have it any other way. I had a thorough understanding of all of the behaviors to avoid when using a saw before I even got to pick one up. Safety is without a doubt the most important part of working in a shop, I feel like the kind of system we have worked out here is one which should be employed by shops around the country.
I have hear anecdotally about the use of SawStops over in the Architecture woodshop. Apparently in the first few months they had them, they were tripped a whole bunch of times. That seems like a larger issue, which the SawStop doesn't really help. Even with SawStops in place, people need to know how to use a table saw without putting their hand in the blade, and it sounds like that's missing. I think that SawStops are a valuable safety device, but must be used in combination with proper training. I couldn't agree more with this article.
I feel that you need to be trained and use the table saw properly, just like everyone else believes. The saw stop could just let people slack off in making sure they stay safe. Knowing that the Architecture students have already had to replace their saw stop a couple of times is kind off scary to think. We learn safety to be a high priority in the SOD and good training is the first step to that. Saw stops are a great device, but people need to be trained first. I would love to have a saw stop wherever I work, but I wouldnt make that a priority in my safety training. Finding a better way to prevent someone from actually touching the blade, like common sense, should be the priority.
I'm shocked that ANY of the people surveyed said that kickback "just happens". This tells me that they haven't been very well trained or informed on table-saw use. I agree with everyone who's saying that people should be required to be trained properly on these kinds of tools in order to use them...you don't ride a bike without someone teaching you...using saws is so much more dangerous than that!! Who in their right mind would have a middle school student use a saw without supervising them and knowing that they were confident with and informed about the saw. Some incidents do happen purely by accident. It is understandable for a table-saw injury to happen to even the most experienced of carpenters. But I'm sure better education could prevent most of these injuries. I still don't see the harm in having saw-stop though...why not have double protection against injuries???
Agreed, of course. Saws can be dangerous. As such, don't use one if you are 1.) not going to pay attention or 2.) don't know how. I was surprised when I read that a bunch of the injured people admitted they had let their attention wander. Obviously, when you are working with something that can cut off your extremities and beyond, you ought to be focused. The flesh-sensing technology just seems like a wasted investment to me.
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