Woodturning Deaths?

[Russell Neyman]

I think some of the current angst may come from the Schwarz. In his latest video, he says he wears face protection because at least one turner is killed every year presumably by face strikes. Ironically, the face shield he uses in the vid doesn't look like it could stop anything.

There: someone has stated, clearly, that "at least one turner is killed every year." But is that true? And are these occurrences unique to turning, or are they simply woodworking related? Let's say that there is one death per year and there are, perhaps, 500,000 regular woodturners in the world. Given that most of us work on the lathe multiple times a week, that's an extremely low fatality rate.

[Geoff Whaling]

Russell,

Long term I suspect it averages to 1-2 wood turning related deaths per year in our English speaking wood turning community. How do I arrive at that figure?

It is very difficult to say with any authority due to research data capture methodology. On scene deaths do not appear in hospital admission figures and other data that does record fatalities does not record sufficient data on mechanism of death etc. Some recent confirmed deaths at the wood lathe I have found are Aust in Dec 2012; USA x 2 Apr & May 2011; Canada July 2009. There are a number of metal lathe fatalities and horrific injuries each year.

In 2007 I reviewed research from UK (2002 HASS), USA (CDC 2006), Canada & Australia ( ICCWA, QISU, NISU etc) while preparing articles on wood turning safety. Mortality & injury statistics are kept by various medical authorities, however interpreting data pertinent to wood lathe injuries is not easy. Deaths from hobby (or work related) woodturning are insignificant relative to other causes of death. The most relevant research I found relates to injury / death (in hospitals only) from Do It Yourself (DIY). Some of that research includes wood hobbies. The UK HASS data has a national estimate of some 400 lathe injuries (angle grinder 6000, circular saw 3500, chainsaw 1200 pa).

[Thom Sturgill]

1-2 deaths a year is probably about 2 degrees of separation on average in this age of the internet. That is to say you either knew the person or knew someone who did.

It would probably be impossible to rate woodturning related injuries as you have to include bandsaw, chainsaw, and lathe injuries and the impossible to define lung damage from sanding and finishing.

[robert baccus]

Some years ago it was reported that a turner died and another almost working on some silky oak. Supposedly poisoned by the same green log.

[Russell Neyman]

What I'm taking from this is that the fundamental activity of Woodturning -- working in front of a spinning piece of wood -- isn't extremely dangerous as my debating friend insists. Yeah, you can bang a knuckle now and then, but we have very little in the way of life-threatening stuff.

Not to say that a good face shield, respration filters, and standing clear of the bowl's waistline aren't good practices.

Chainsaws are another matter. They scare me to death!

[Thom Sturgill]

What I'm taking from this is that the fundamental activity of Woodturning -- working in front of a spinning piece of wood -- isn't extremely dangerous as my debating friend insists. Yeah, you can bang a knuckle now and then, but we have very little in the way of life-threatening stuff.

Not to say that a good face shield, respration filters, and standing clear of the bowl's waistline aren't good practices.

Chainsaws are another matter. They scare me to death!

I have a few tools that scare me too - hand held routers (other than the small trim routers and dremels, etc) and that angle grinder with a chain saw blade... Both tend to want to get away from me. I've been bitten by tablesaws, and they instill great respect but not fear as I *know* how to use it safely. I was too hot and not thinking clearly - the problem with Florida summers - now I know better when to walk away.

The cure is proper training, though avoidance works too. In the case of chainsaws, avoidance generally means missing out on a lot of free wood or owning a honking big bandsaw, which has its own set of dangers.

[Geoff Whaling]

Researchers use the term "unintentional injury" to refer to injuries that are non-volitional but preventable. All wood turning injuries fall into this definition – they are not “accidents.”

A significant proportion of lathe injuries are hand injuries however the more important number is how many head, severe facial & eye injuries and traumatic brain injuries (TBI’s) are there from wood turning? Due to the mechanism of injury, many lathe injuries tend to have long treatment, hospitalization & recovery times.

The most significant messages from the research on DIY injury relevant to wood lathes are,

• Hand tools, table saws & grinders (angle, bench etc) cause the most numerous injuries,
• Slips, trips & falls associated with workshops feature significantly for “older persons.”
• Falls from ladders kill far more DIYer’s than all other causes of death associated with DIY combined,
• Lower torso & leg injuries from the lathe are almost non-existent (shielded by the tool rest & lathe bed),
• Hand & finger injuries are very common,
• Severe facial & eye injuries are common,
• Traumatic brain injuries are very significant proportional to the numbers of injuries to wood turners (and to older persons), and in terms of hospitalization time.
• the wood lathe is by far the most likely machine in a wood shop to actually be involved in the death of a wood worker. Other machines maim but don’t knock people unconscious.
• the cause of death at the lathe usually involves working alone, an unstable work piece, an oops moment, a flying object with significant mass & velocity, severe head injury, being rendered incapable of getting assistance, then being undiscovered for some time.
• Often there are other medical conditions (pre-existing? or otherwise) that may have contributed to the cause of the injury / death at the wood lathe.

“Common” simply means common in terms of the reported statistics relative to total figures. In terms of injuries per 100,000 wood workers per year or per wood turning man hour we really don’t know. In most lathe fatalities we don’t know the details but we do know what are the typical mechanisms of injury and the scenarios in which they occur.

Look up Lynne Yamaguchi’s blog. Lynne’s story is so typical of the potential horrific injuries sustained.

The good news much of this is very avoidable using prudent and proven “safe turning techniques.”

[Russell Neyman]

The last sentence of Geoff's post says a lot.

But I want to add this: To turn safely, you absolutely cannot be timid or fearful. I see more catches and broken bowls caused by novices who are hesitant to engage the wood and too quick to leap in the air when something unexpected occurs. You need to proceed with a firm grip, a good/safe plan, and a positive attitude.

[Hilel Salomon]

Perhaps I'm writing too quickly and letting some emotion creep in, but I think that two deaths a year are two too many. The number of injuries to hands, face, head and arms is significant. Can most of these be avoided? Yes, but not all of them. When a bowl suddenly breaks because of a hidden default and the pieces go flying in every direction, there is a good possibility of some injury occurring. Using safety equipment and using the tailstock can prevent a lot of "misfortune." The proper speed is as important as the proper equipment. I also think that demonstrators and instructors should assume a responsible role in woodturning. I have seen too many of them move the rest while the lathe is turning, smile and say "do as I say and not as I do." One demonstrator routinely opened his bottle of CA with his teeth and assured us that the fumes were not dangerous and that he had never had his lips glued together. It's nice when you can hold a tool steadily with one hand, but demonstrators, IMO, shouldn't do so. I have also seen experienced demonstrators cut round stock on a bandsaw. All of these things, I think, contribute to sloppy habits and danger.

[Rich Aldrich]

The only sure way to protect yourself when turning burls or otherwise unstable wood - or any wood that happens to let loose - is to use a structural guard. They are a nuisance because it interferes with seeing good form lines, but they are always there. Unlike methods of staying out of the line of fire, the guard is there and in place. There are no lapses of thought where you happen to briefly cross in the line of fire.

I think that lathe manufacturers should spend some R&D on a decent guard that isn't as intrusive on seeing the form. I think more people would use a guard if the designs were better.

[Geoff Whaling]

Hilel, I’m with you – any death is one too many. Yes blanks do fly apart while turning but usually it is because the turner is pushing the envelope or not checking. That is a hazard and a risk of turning. If a turner chooses to accept that risk, it is their choice but their choices affect others, family, friends etc.

I have given Russell’s statement about timid novices much thought over the years. Many novice turners are quickly taught to be afraid to present a tool to the work piece because of the methods used to teach novices - much like teaching swimming & having learners jump into the deep end first with no life jacket or other aids. Novice wood turners face a rather steep learning curve & if they have little or no previous experience with hand tools or machinery it can be an even more daunting process. I come from a different perspective - give them a safety net.

The fear and stress levels for novices can be alleviated by starting them off on previously prepared round & trued spindle blanks using cone/ring centres as drives (or with a slack drive belt). Essentially they have a clutch until they work out tool presentation and have a blank with no nasty surprises. Initially it may be frustrating but it is far safer. The work simply spins rather than having an inexperienced turner wrestle with unexpected tool movement from a catch and becoming frightened by the whole experience. It also teaches novices to avoid making heavy cuts and to concentrate on taking light technical cuts or the work piece simply spins. Once the novice masters tool presentation, take a step back and then teach them to prepare blanks from the rough.

With modern variable speed lathes novices can learn by seeing what actually happens in almost slow motion. Learn spindle roughing gouge, spindle gouge or detail gouge presentation angles with a very conservative rubbing the tool/bevel presentation first then drawing & raising the tool into the cut. Learn to present a 3/8" spindle gouge to make a cove or a skew to make a V cut on a 1.5” or 2" spindle blank at say 50 or 100 rpm without the fear factor and in a situation they feel they are in control of. Slowly progress & increase the speed & friction on the drive and then move to a spur drive as their confidence and skill level dictates. Novices who learn fast can advance quickly.

The same can be done with bowl blanks. Forget using a four jaw scroll chuck initially and start between centres as above. Learn bowl gouge presentation angles with a very conservative rubbing the bevel presentation then raising the tool into the cut. No risk, no frightening moments. Novice turner’s progress as their confidence develops.

If you look at most training manuals and even the AAW's well prepared "Lets Go For a Spin" manual, they start off novices in session one using a 3" x 3" x 9" square spindle blank to be prepared with a spindle roughing gouge. That is pretty daunting if you have little skill with hand tools.

Personally I would start a novice turner in session one with a 1.5" or 2" prepared spindle blank being taught how to present a spindle roughing gouge to take a slicing cut, then straight to a skew. Forget beads and coves! Once they have mastered the SRG or skew move onto to previously prepared pen blanks on a pen mandrel. Use a pen style that gives them plenty of meat around the pen tube. Turn and sand the pen blank, finish it and assemble, one, two or three or how many they want to do in the first session. The novice gets a keepsake or two, and plenty of confidence with little risk of injury to body and very little waste of resources. If they fly through that in one session then move to beads & coves and roughing blanks.

[Russell Neyman]

"...stress levels for novices can be alleviated by starting them off on previously prepared round & trued spindle blanks using cone/ring centres as drives...The work simply spins rather than having an inexperienced turner wrestle with unexpected tool movement from a catch and becoming frightened by the whole experience. It also teaches novices to avoid making heavy cuts and to concentrate on taking light technical cuts or the work piece simply spins..."

I like that. I see beginners choose a cheap, crappy wood for their first time -- lumber yard fir or cracked pieces of firewood -- and that's a big mistake. I usually start a newbee with wet madrone because it cuts like butter and I have plenty of it. Seems to me the first lesson should be wood selection.

[Lee Reep]

What I'm taking from this is that the fundamental activity of Woodturning -- working in front of a spinning piece of wood -- isn't extremely dangerous as my debating friend insists.

I think I'd find a new friend to hang out with ...

[Geoff Whaling]

What I'm taking from this is that the fundamental activity of Woodturning -- working in front of a spinning piece of wood -- isn't extremely dangerous as my debating friend insists. Yeah, you can bang a knuckle now and then, but we have very little in the way of life-threatening stuff.

Not to say that a good face shield, respration filters, and standing clear of the bowl's waistline aren't good practices.

Chainsaws are another matter. They scare me to death!

Chainsaws won't kill you, just maim you badly, or at least that is what the statistics say. There are many times more chain saws in use than wood lathes yet the fatality rate from chainsaws is almost non existent. The injury rate is high and the extent of injuries from chainsaws is quite horrific. Same for table saws - no deaths to speak of but numerous digit amputations. You don't see many amputations from a wood lathe, more like nasty crush injuries to digits and a very very high proportion of head injuries.

If a wood turner thinks wood turning isn't or can't be dangerous or that a face shield will save them from a traumatic head injury well I suggest they should take up another hobby - real fast! Hand wood turning has many hazards, some with potentially fatal outcomes, that we quite deliberately choose to accept and tolerate because we wish to enjoy and preserve the craft of hand wood turning. Assuming a calculated risk is fine in my book as long as turners observe the protocols that reduce hazards to acceptable levels of risk.

Wearing a good quality face shield (all the time) rated to the appropriate impact standards of the potential hazards is one very good safety control. It should not be the only hazard control measure in place. A face shield will not save a turner from all potential injury if they continue to take high levels of risk turning blanks that have a high probability of creating high mass, high speed flying objects. Appropriate face shields will serve their purpose well to eliminate common eye injuries and will reduce and mitigate some more serious potential eye and facial injuries and hopefully mitigate the extent of injury in the more traumatic cases that cause traumatic brain injury & death.

In industry mandated risk management protocols identify hazards and prioritize risks then action is taken to eliminate the hazard, substitute the hazardous process or product for a safer option, or to engineer out the hazard or isolate the "worker" from the hazard - i.e. machinery guards, screens etc. Attempts to introduce safety guards to isolate a wood turner from the spinning work piece have failed miserably so far with almost all screens removed from wood lathes.

In a workplace a business owner would be considered negligent and exposed to potential prosecution if they permitted a worker to remove a safety screen, modify machinery, or permit many of the tasks hobby wood turners undertake to continue without modification to minimize risk.

Why do hobby wood turners willingly accept risks in their hobby that they would not tolerate as a worker? I haven't figured that one out yet.

[Hilel Salomon]

I don't mean to keep this thing going, but there were a few comments that really caught my attention. The use of chainsaws in turning is quite common. A lot of us cut up fallen trees or use a chainsaw for trees that need to be cut down for one reason or another, and many of us do a preliminary "rounding" with a chainsaw. It is a serious error to dismiss the dangers of using a chainsaw. The number of serious injuries and deaths due to misuse of chainsaws runs into the scores of thousands a year. I'm not talking about cutting a large tree down in the wrong manner, or falling off a tree while cutting limbs. What I'm talking about is kickback which can be deadly. Most good chainsaws have a chainbreak but that's not foolproof. Good safety equipment for chainsaw use tends to be better than the things commonly used for woodturning, but the former is also not foolproof. People have had their necks almost severed because of kickback. Here again, I've seen videos of people explaining how to cut lumber for turning where the demonstrator was not even wearing safety glasses. That's crazy!!!! I don't think of myself as a wuss, but I wear chaps, safety glasses ,a helmet and guard when I use one of my chainsaws. I'm especially cautious because I often do this while alone in my property. Yes, each of us is responsible for our own use of tools, but almost all of us will-at one time or another- teach, instruct or introduce people to woodturning. It is irresponsible to pass along unsafe practices.