It Can Happen to Anybody!

[Ed Sallee]

I saw this article on Fox Sports today on the internet.

Here's an excerpt...

"CHICAGO (AP) - Koyie Hill (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/player/139861) may have been the happiest callup of all when the Chicago Cubs (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/team/71602) expanded their roster Monday for the final month of the season.

Just to be in a major league uniform — any baseball uniform really — seemed unlikely a little more than 10 months ago when Hill nearly lost three fingers and the thumb on his right hand in a table saw accident."

As you can see.... it can happen to anybody!

[Jim O'Dell]

Bet he has a Saw Stop now, huh? If not, maybe it should be in the negotiations for his first big league contract. :p
We have a mechanic at one of the company's dealerships that cut all 4 fingers off last fall. They were able to reattach them, and after a lot of rehab, he's back fixing cars again. But it was touch and go there for a few months. Seeing him go through this sure makes me think twice before I make a cut. Jim.

[Peter Quinn]

I'd like to know more about the details of his 'accident'. Table saw accidents can happen to anyone but tend not to be random in nature. At the base of each story there tends to be a lapse in judgement, a failure to follow or understand safety protocols or use safety aids, or a moment of distraction. How anyone staring at a spinning TS blade can fail to pay attention is beyond me, but it happens.

I am not trying to start an argument here but I resist the suggestion that the TS is a tool beyond control, the inevitable result of whose use is a tragic accident. In theory it can happen to anyone, and yet in practice it happens to individuals under a specific set of circumstances, the details of which might help educate others and avoid similar situations.

[Ed Sallee]

Here's the rest of the story.... http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/01/sports/BBN-Cubs-Hill.php

I just ran across this and thought it would be of some interest in here...

Nobody intends to cut their fingers off.... but, it does, indeed happen.

[John Keeton]

I'd like to know more about the details of his 'accident'. Table saw accidents can happen to anyone but tend not to be random in nature. At the base of each story there tends to be a lapse in judgement, a failure to follow or understand safety protocols or use safety aids, or a moment of distraction. How anyone staring at a spinning TS blade can fail to pay attention is beyond me, but it happens.

I am not trying to start an argument here but I resist the suggestion that the TS is a tool beyond control, the inevitable result of whose use is a tragic accident. In theory it can happen to anyone, and yet in practice it happens to individuals under a specific set of circumstances, the details of which might help educate others and avoid similar situations.

Peter, we will both probably raise a ruckus with these posts, but I agree with your assessment. I have spent my life around firearms and they are no different - an inherently dangerous tool used to accomplish a task. In every firearm accident, one of the basic rules was violated. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Tablesaws don't jump out and cut off fingers, people shove their fingers into saws.

Having said that, we ALL have mental lapses. We ALL are guilty of setting up a set of circumstances that invite disaster. The key is to purposefully use a TS - manage the environment and minimize the risks. It can happen to anyone of us, but it ONLY happens when there is a violation of the rules.

Although I have been around guns my entire life - I am very afraid of them and respect the dangers. I stay away from those that do not feel the same. I am still alive.

Same with my TS. Every time that blade fires up, a chill goes up my back. I don't care how many times I do it, I still get an adrenaline rush. I think that is why I can still count to 10!!

Complacency is dangerous!!

[Jim Becker]

Complacency is dangerous!!

Amen to that!!!

So is working "tired".
So is working "distracted" by other things in life.
So is working "hurried".

Etc.

Work safe.

[Peter Quinn]

Ditto Jim and John. Both more eloquent than I. Watch those fingers, but don't banish the tools. Work safe, if you can't muster the focus to do so at a given point, walk away, come back later when you can. A sharp spinning blade is an unforgiving teacher with harsh lessons to give.

I read the press release, said "Piece of wood got 'stuck' in the saw, pulled in his fingers". Seems a bit odd and vague?

[Richard Wolf]

Amen to that!!!

So is working "tired".
So is working "distracted" by other things in life.
So is working "hurried".

Etc.

Work safe.

That sure sounds how most of us go through life.
I know a lot of people think they can work safely by paying attention to all the details, but some times it's the detail you never thought about that gets you.

Richard