Table Saw Injuiries Study -- Interesting Read

[ChuckM]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154236/

I'm really pleased that all school shops in my province (probably in the country, too) are equipped with the SawStop PCS/ICS, knowing that school kids suffered from such a high incidence rate of injuries due to the use of table saws.

Semi-surprisingly, many injuries happened even with the use of the blade guards (22% to 31% of the time).

And yes (or as many know), experience doesn't necessarily make one safer.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi ChuckS,

Thanks for sharing, interesting but rather outdated paper, how many years ago was it published?

 

[ChuckM]

Hi ChuckS,

Thanks for sharing, interesting but rather outdated paper, how many years ago was it published?

Yes, the paper was published in 2013/2014, but nothing to date that I'm aware of has superseded or repudiated its findings. Maybe there's some paper out there about table saw injuries pre- and post-SawStop era that would shed more light?

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Hi ChuckS,

Thanks for sharing, interesting but rather outdated paper, how many years ago was it published?

Yes, the paper was published in 2013/2014, but nothing to date that I'm aware of has superseded or repudiated its findings.

Ah, gotcha. I was thrown off by this statement:

"SawStop technology is currently available only on the few models of table saws produced by the SawStop company themselves. Other manufacturers have not adopted the technology due to several drawbacks."

There are now three other saw manufacturers using digit/hand/flesh sensing technology, so the "SawStop's the only game in town" tone of the paper is rather dated.

I'm surprised to hear they're still using SawStops in classrooms, you'd think they'd be using sliders if they're trying to prepare students for a career in woodworking, I suppose they're exposing students to machines they might use in more of a hobby setting?

 

[ChuckM]

In terms of accuracy, I'm referring to the injury findings where my focus was, not every bit about the paper.

As for the absence of sliders, it may be cost or the lack of experience on the part of the shop teachers, none of the high school shops I've visited has a sliding saw. All SawStop ICS, or PCS for the smaller shops.

I've been to about half of the school shops located in my city, and this school, one of the bigger ones, had three ICSs if my memory is correct:

[attachimg=1]

Smaller school shop, just one ICS:

[attachimg=2]

Even with the SawStop in use, but with many other machines (like the miter saws!) that can maim, I don't know how shop teachers can manage their classes full of kids. I'd have had heartburn even after teaching just one semester if I were a shop teacher!

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

In terms of accuracy, I'm referring to the injury findings which were my focus was, not every bit about the paper.

As for the sliders, it may be cost or the lack of experience on the part of the shop teachers, none of the school shops I've visited has a sliding saw. All SawStop ICS, or PCS, for the smaller shops.

I've been to about half of the school shops located in my city, and this school, one of the bigger ones, had three ICSs if my memory is correct:

[attachimg=1]

Ah, yes, I see your point. Yeah, the only professional shop I can think of with a SawStop is a local shop in Minneapolis with a prototype/pre-production ICS machine set up with a dado stack, since the three sliders aren't set up for grooving tools (older machines).

It will be interesting to see how SawStop and other machines affect these statistics. In theory, SawStop wouldn't affect the total number of injuries since it still requires flesh contact, and even though it's advertised as resulting in a "band-aid injury", it's still technically an injury (particularly in a workplace setting)(risk of infection, etc...), so to my way of thinking use of SawStops wouldn't reduce the overall number of injuries, but it would reduce the severity of injuries. I wonder if the authors ever did a follow-up study?

Now that we are seeing non-contact protection systems on the market, I'd expect that we'd eventually see the total number of injuries start to drop...

Agreed that there are many, many other machines in a school/home/professional shop capable of inflicting injury/death. Some of my worst workplace injuries involved utility knives or coping saws  [embarassed]

 

[ChuckM]

Tom,

The SawStop tech has reduced and will reduce the number of reported accidents, at least for the hospitals & ERs, based on which the authors developed their paper. If the injury is not serious enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, it wouldn't be known to the care-providers which keep/report the data. SawStop itself does keep the finger-save reports, but I don't think it'll share the data with anyone else. Any researcher interested in the subject should try to solicit the assistance of SawStop as it's sitting on a data trove.

The first finger-saving technology that doesn't damage the blade was developed by Bosch in its Reaxx jobsite saw. Although I've never activated the brake once since I started having access to the SawStop 15 years ago, I'd prefer the Bosch technology. When the SawStop patents expire (some say within three years), we should see many competitors coming to the field. One can still buy a Reaxx in Canada legally, though it's not easy to find one.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Tom, maybe things are different in Minnesota, or you are referring to a different type of shop, but all of the cabinet shops I have been to have at least one "regular" table saw. Most of them have SawStops.
The shop where I work has had at least two of them for the last 8 years. Of course there is a slider and a vertical panel saw, along with a beam saw, but the standard cabinet saw is still very much a thing.

But, IMHO, the most dangerous machine in the shop is a hand-held router.

 

[Tom the Remodeler]

Tom, maybe things are different in Minnesota, or you are referring to a different type of shop, but all of the cabinet shops I have been to have at least one "regular" table saw. Most of them have SawStops.
The shop where I work has had at least two of them for the last 8 years. Of course there is a slider and a vertical panel saw, along with a beam saw, but the standard cabinet saw is still very much a thing.

But, IMHO, the most dangerous machine in the shop is a hand-held router.

Hi Crazyraceguy,

It very well may be a regional thing. I can't think of a professional woodworking shop (other than the one listed above) I've visited in the last several years that still uses a "traditional" table saw, SawStop or other. Most of the local cabinet shops are breaking down sheets with CNC machines (better yields and safer than using a saw), with a slider kept in reserve to step in if the CNC has an issue. Sheet goods are moved around with vacuum clamps and gantry systems.

I should note that I'm not saying there aren't SawStops and "traditional" table saws in regular use in local shops, I just haven't seen one (other than the one I mentioned) in awhile.

 

[jeh]

Tom, maybe things are different in Minnesota, or you are referring to a different type of shop, but all of the cabinet shops I have been to have at least one "regular" table saw. Most of them have SawStops.
The shop where I work has had at least two of them for the last 8 years. Of course there is a slider and a vertical panel saw, along with a beam saw, but the standard cabinet saw is still very much a thing.

But, IMHO, the most dangerous machine in the shop is a hand-held router.

Hi Crazyraceguy,

It very well may be a regional thing. I can't think of a professional woodworking shop (other than the one listed above) I've visited in the last several years that still uses a "traditional" table saw, SawStop or other. Most of the local cabinet shops are breaking down sheets with CNC machines (better yields and safer than using a saw), with a slider kept in reserve to step in if the CNC has an issue. Sheet goods are moved around with vacuum clamps and gantry systems.

I should note that I'm not saying there aren't SawStops and "traditional" table saws in regular use in local shops, I just haven't seen one (other than the one I mentioned) in awhile.

My local dealer does business with all of the counties in his vicinity and SawStop is what they buy. He said prior to it being available for purchase most schools had removed or stopped using a tablesaw in class. Given that trades related jobs are generally frowned upon by many parents it would seem unlikely that these programs would be flush with money to purchase new equipment. Thought every geographic area is different the push seems to be college at all costs versus trades.

 

[Mini Me]

A large number of injuries are not contact related at all but caused by kick back caused by poor understanding of how to avoid it in the first place. I would suggest that most kickback injuries are not reported though it is assumed they exceed contact injuries by a large number. A slider used correctly for ripping cannot kick back as it is impossible to do so when ripping using the sliding table but most new users see a rip fence on one and assume they should rip the same way as on their cabinet saw. I rarely use the rip fence in that manner, perhaps two or three times a year and using an F&F jig means hands are nowhere near the blade but accidents can still happen of course. Older cabinet saws I have seen used a half fence to avoid kickback but somewhere in history full length fences appeared.

I was told of one accident where a slider was turned off but still running down and someone walked past it and brushed off some sawdust near the blade and his hand contacted the still spinning blade and I think that injury scenario might still happen with a SS but perhaps I am wrong??

 

[ChuckM]

Snip.

I was told of one accident where a slider was turned off but still running down and someone walked past it and brushed off some sawdust near the blade and his hand contacted the still spinning blade and I think that injury scenario might still happen with a SS but perhaps I am wrong??

Yes, the injury will still happen, but a "band-aid" one. The finger-saving feature will still get triggered even if the paddle switch is turned off (main power switch on) as long as the spinning blade is in contact with any part of the hand. It can be an expensive habit of removing offcuts while the blade is still coasting down whether the saw is a SawStop or not (SawStop will provide a free replacement cartridge if the incident is reported for analysis, and the activation is verified to be caused by the contact of a human part).

Some people still use a sliding saw like a table saw such as this YouTuber (in this example, he even withdrew the workpiece half way during the cut! [scared]):

[attachimg=1]

It's a good thing that three of the major sliding saw manufacturers have come up with their own finger-saving technology.
 

 

[Mini Me]

Look where the rip fence ends, some people never learn.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Look where the rip fence ends, some people never learn.

A short fence used to be a safety feature, reducing the chance of kickback when a natural wood board has tension and bows towards the fence. A short fence reduces how much the board pushes against the side of the blade.