On Topic: Frying Debris

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from the obvious typo on page 16 - I found this pretty interesting.

1) Judging from the pictures - looks like Craftsman tools are causing all of the injuries. But it looks like there's a Porter Cable miter saw that's problematic too.

2) Vast majority injuries on Table Saws. Vast minority on RAS. Due to dearth of equipment or operator skill? Hmmm.

3) Cutting your 51 year old finger is the most likely outcome. Wonder what Day Care provider has a table saw for that 2 year old?

4) Free hand ripping a rectangular hunk of mahogany/walnut/oak with the combo blade straight up on your own, new saw -- seems to be pretty risky.

5) Unmodified, assembled yourself, saws with sharp blades should probably be avoided.

The guard/kickback pawls section was interesting too. 32% guard off, 22% guard on. 57% had no anti-kickback or they had been removed.

The overwhelming number of ER vists was due to blade contact. Within that group - 41% was because of the way the stock was being feed into or removed from the machine.

"Blade contact has been identified as a major hazard related to stationary saw use during this study period. Finger contact with the operating blade occurred most often in different scenarios.

With table and band saws, the operator used a hand to guide the stock/cutting material; lacerations and sometimes amputations resulted when he failed to move his hand as it came into the path of the blade. In some incidents, the operator was pushing the stock and got too close to the blade and his/her gloved hand was caught in the blade. With miter and radial arm saws, the operator accidentally engaged the operating switch on the saw arm/handle which automatically started the blade, resulting in blade contact to the hand (which was holding the stock/cutting material). With all types of saws, the operator?s hand which was holding the stock and/or guiding the stock slipped into the blade when the blade jammed in the stock. Also the blade contact occurred when the operator was trying to remove cut pieces from the table/base without first turning the saw off.

In many of the blade contact cases, there was no blade guard in use at the time of the incident. Often the operator had removed the guard to get a clear view of his work, to do a special cut such as a dado, or to cut a very small piece of stock/cutting material."