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Thread: What are the actual rates of serious accident in the woodshop?

  1. #1
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    What are the actual rates of serious accident in the woodshop?

    So I've been thinking about getting a SawStop for a while. Not going to happen just yet, mostly because of budget.

    The safety aspects are clear, and nobody wants to have a table saw accident. However, what about the other tools in the shop? Having a saw stop doesn't help me much if I mess up on the band saw. Does anybody know what the actual rates of accident are for the other various tools in the shop? Also how common are table saw accidents?

    Just wondering if anybody has any indepth studies of exactly which tools are the most dangerous, and what are the most common injuries.

  2. #2
    I'd be surprised if there was any real data out there, I'm not sure I'd trust it either.

    In 15 years of running a cabinet shop we've sent two people to the emergency room. Once was a tablesaw, a few stitches nothing major. The other was a router, same thing a few stitches. There's been a few times myself personally I should've gone in, but I've played triage on myself enough that I know going in sometimes only results in a waste of money.

    You can't fix stupid. I shoved my middle finger in the blade of my panel saw a while back. It takes effort to be that stupid.

    From working at a big shop where the guys were getting pushed pretty hard, I'd guess somewhere around half of the injuries were from a tablesaw. The rest ran the gamut. We sent someone to the ER about every other month on average I'd bet.

  3. #3
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    You'd have to compare number of injuries per man-hours of use (which no-one tracks) to determine "most dangerous". But for sheer number of accidents, hand tools probably win.

  4. #4
    I guess if a sawstop gives you added confidence to use it more than definitely go for it. I don't have one and I seriously doubt I ever will. I tend to look at things a little differently than the rest of the world, I believe that machines don't hurt anyone, people try to use them and hurt themselves. It's kinda like saying a particular road or traffic area is "dangerous" and that it causes accidents. Well, for every accident that occurred there how many drivers were able to negotiate that section of road safely? You can slow people down to 20mph and put a red light every 50 feet and someone is still going to come along and wreck. Was it the car, the road or the drunk behind the wheel???
    I believe that if someone really and truly feels like they have to have a sawstop so they don't cut their arm off they probably should look for a new hobby. That last sentence really grinds against the guys that paid all that money for one, but go back and read my very first sentence, if you like it go for it. But, as already pointed out, a single machine that has been made accident proof does nothing for the safe use of the other machines. Safe operation of any device is on the user and a mechanical safety is no substitute for safe operating practice.
    To say one machine is more "dangerous" over another implies that there must be some non-correctable reason why it cannot be operated in a reasonably safe manner {the machines fault or the way it must be operated with no choice if you have to use it}. If that was truly the case then manufacturers would either find a way to make it safe or get sued out of business. As with anything that can hurt you, use at your own risk.

  5. #5
    I spoke to someone at Delta about a manufacture date on a 6" jointer I picked up. He explained it to me like this: "Do you know what scalloped potatoes look like? At least when the TS/RAS bites you, the doctors have something to sew back on." (seriously, the delta guy really said that to me on the phone)

  6. #6
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  7. #7
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    Hi Andrew, every study I've read shows that the table saw has the highest number of incidents. If I remember correctly there are over 30,000 table saw incidents per year in the USA.

    That's related to poor training, number of hours of use and of course they're the most prevalent saw in wood working.

    Of course there are injuries from band saws, however except for cross cutting of cylinders, there are very few blade grab or kickback injuries possible with a band saw.

    Jointers and shapers are the machines with really ugly injuries, however those incidents are less in frequency due to lack of hours and ownership.

    regards, Rod.

  8. #8
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    Here's a summary of a survey-based estimate:

    Table saws win, by a lot.

    A brief look through various publications suggests that in the broad classification of workers with wood that loggers and carpenters suffer much higher injury rates than cabinetmakers.

  9. #9
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    These conversations often break down. As Martin stated, there is inaccurate data, a history of statistics being used to make a point, etc. I don't know that anyone has been able to perform a solid scientific method of tracking incidents versus hours of use of a given machine, therefor the most common machine or the one that attracts the most attention wins . . . or loses .

    Injuries of people hitting themselves in the face on the back-swing of a claw hammer are surprisingly high. Given an investigative effort and budget I bet we would find all sorts of fascinating data.

    I happen to own a Saw Stop. Ignoring the safety feature, at the time I was looking it was as good as or better than other competing colors. For a third more money the market hits another tier of really fine machines. In the $3k tier I have been happy with the machine I have. As has been the case for many years, we now buy the product, not the brand or color .
    Last edited by glenn bradley; 03-25-2019 at 9:01 AM.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  10. #10
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    The most dangerous tool on my worksites is not a tablesaw, it's the stupid utility knives we all carry. None of us have ever been hurt by a tablesaw (not counting my back when I moved one last week), but we've all got scars from the knives. That's a comment that is completely anecdotal and irrelevant for your pure data desire. Point is, how good is any study when it has to be manipulated so much to reach a statistical conclusion, that it completely misses this class of accidents?

  11. #11
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    Thanks for the article, lots of good data, and it seems it's in line with some of the anecdotal comments as well.

    I also wonder how many of those table saw injuries could have been prevented with a blade retraction/stopping technology like SawStops. Kickback also seems a serious source of table saw injury, which is partially addressed by riving knives equipped on every modern saw. (My current tablesaw also lacks a riving knife, which is another good reason for an upgrade)

    The other struggle I'm going through it whether or not to hold off in hopes that Bosch, Jet, Grizzly, or Powermatic will introduce a SawStop competitor in the next couple of years as the SawStop patents expire. Personally I think the Bosch technology is an improvement over the SawStop approach, but Bosch doesn't sell cabinet saws.

  12. #12
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    +1 on the utility knife.

    When I was college learning to teach shop, I was told that a bench chisel was the most dangerous tool. The reason given was that the sharp edge was always on the move whereas the danger area on a bandsaw is known and in one place. I wasn't so sure about it but ok.

    I have a Sawstop and love it. But you can make any table saw a lot safer by aligning and tuning it so that it cuts straight. Also, I have two of every blade type I own. That encourages me to to switch blades and get the dull one sharpened. Having to push the work introduces more forces and increases the chance of a slip and injury.

    That said, some saws are pretty much beyond redemption because of the fence. If you can't align the fence, you are asking for trouble.

  13. #13
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    Hi Andrew, the method of preventing kickback is to prevent contact of the work piece by the rear, or top of the blade.

    Contact at the rear is accomplished through a splitter or riving knife, contact at the top is prevented by a blade guard.

    To have adequate saw safety you'll need both, and they can be supplemented by an active safety system such a Sawstop, or other manufacturers solutions.........Regards, Rod.

  14. #14
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    I'd say the TS would have to win. Almost everyone working with wood starts with one and then adds the other power tools. The one that scares me the most is the router though, Theres tools that can do more damage but none as likely to kick.

  15. #15
    I guess part of the reason I am suspicious of these statistics is that there are thousands of hobbyist woodworkers out there putting in hundreds of thousands of hours, no doubt — mostly invisible to collectors of data.

    I bought a Sawstop last year with little interest in the blade-stopping feature and much interest in the build otherwise. With the upgraded fence and blades, it’s a fine tool. Buttery-smooth, burn-free cuts have a lot of appeal to me.
    Life is too short for dull sandpaper.

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