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

[Joe Jensen]

I bought a Sawstop ICS, later traded for a Euro slider. I would guess the table saw is named most often as the reason for an ER visit because most people would have a table saw as a first machine. Bandsaws are more dangerous IMHO because you get lulled into a sense of safety as you don't get explosive kickback. A butcher in my small hometown slipped on fat on the floor and lost his entire arm. He nearly bled to death. Always always think about how a tool could injure you before you start a cut.

I've never been to the ER but over 40 years I've had some serious cuts from:
- table saw
- router
- bandsaw
- utility knife
- etc etc.

I personally think investing in safety is smart...joe

[John Kee]

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.

Andrew I don't think you could ever get an honest answer, everything and almost everyone has an agenda today especially concerning tablesaws and Sawstop. Safety zealots, insurance industry, government agencies etc. will find the numbers they want one way or another to try and justify their cause. In some peoples mind even a hotdog type injury would require forms to be filled out and a trip to the ER. Consider, even badly cutting yourself on a newly sharpened sawblade could be considered a tablesaw injury. Trying to get some good industry related safety and machine operation training is one of the best courses of action.

[Jeff Davies]

Hi Andrew- I spent over 45 years on cabinet shop floors. in the thousands of hours using a table saw, I got tagged once --in a Rube Goldberg insane progression of events that would be impossible to duplicate or protect yourself from. it was not serious. the serious injury I sustained was from incessant lifting of things that were too heavy .
I used to say it was more the man than the machine. Some guys are hyper-vigilant, they don't get surprises, they thought of what might happen and protected themselves. those guys made good cabinetmakers because not only did they realize that cross cutting shelves on the table saw could be risky, but that those same shelves may not span 30 inches without sagging - no surprises .
Other men would bind up a saw, fling a quarter sheet across the shop and then declare " wow, I din't see that a commin !!" these guys got into fender-benders with their cars and their personal lives were often trainwrecks. they were the ones that built tall bookcases and then brought them back to the shop to be cut down because they wouldn't lean up.
Back to specific tools , the injuries you don't heal from were typically dished out by jointers or large shapers . I won't talk about the collar shaper that came apart in 1973 or the guy that slid his hand into a wood frame 14 inch rip saw -both those were antiques and you would more advised to worry about being run-down by a model 'T' .
As I have opined before, if I were managing my own shop again with my choice of employees, I would not have a 'Sawstop'. If I were responsible for a shop class with people I did not train , or persons whom I did not know, I would not be without one.
Given that since you are an enthusiast, and you are asking about safety , I would say you should be fine . the guys that get hurt are almost invariably the the guys who are not interested in discussing safe operation or are just accident prone .
So ask yourself : Do you dent your truck? Have you slipped on your porch steps? Have you cut a tree and had it go the wrong way? when was the last time you broke glass?
Kind regards, J J Davies, cabinetmaker .

[Patrick Walsh]

Jeff that's to funny,

I never thought of it that way but I'd say your perspective is dead accurate..

[Rod Sheridan]

Very, good, I enjoyed reading that Jeff.............Regards, Rod.

[Randy Heinemann]

If there was anything available that had safety features like Sawstop for a bandsaw or jointer, I would look seriously at those also. For me, cutting the risk of cutting my fingers off on the tablesaw is worth every penny given that the Sawstop saws are high quality saws and cost about the same as other saws in their categories. Even if they cost more than others (and the Jobsite Saw does), I consider some price worthwhile for the piece of mind that the saw will stop if I ever do run my hand against it.

I understand the argument that people mostly are the cause of tablesaw accidents because they mishandle wood on the saw or don't use proper tablesaw cutting method. But . . . no sense losing a finger or hand because one day you made a mistake or were just inattentive for a fraction of a second. Plus, sometimes wood just doesn't act the way it is supposed to on a tablesaw.

So, if getting a Sawstop gives you piece of mind, I doubt you will ever be sorry that you bought one.

[Martin Wasner]

. . . no sense losing a finger or hand because one day you made a mistake or were just inattentive for a fraction of a second.

View it like a pilot would. When you screw up. Everybody dies. The good news is you probably won't be killed by a piece of woodworking equipment, and you won't be taking another 230 souls with you. But you might loose a digit or two as penance for your inattentiveness.

I typed out a whole bunch more, but this thread doesn't really need to go down the pro/con of black saws. We've beaten that to death over the years.

[Greg Parrish]

Jeff, that’s almost funny about the tree comment if it were not so scary. Chain saws are probably way worse than table saws due to lack of respect and misuse, combined with pure lack of thinking it through. Just go on YouTube and watch all the mayhem with tree drops gone wrong. It’s the “here, hold my beer” crowd.

[Andrew More]

Good answer Jeff. The truth is that I'm a bit absent minded, and likely to push my hand into the blade while thinking about other things, hence the question about safety. However, your point about safety is well taken, people who pay attention are less likely to get hurt. OTOH, I also watched the Jimmy Direst Tablesaw tips video where he talks about running table saws for decades without incident, and then one day put his hand into the blade. So if he can do it, I can definitely do it.

As for the last time I dented my car, I got a nice dent in the roof when a short, crappy piece of board fell out of the garage rafters. It was just long enough to fit between the two rafters, but short enough to fall after enough wind or whatnot pushed it around. Previous home owner had carefully saved that board for me just in time to make a nice dent! Boy that was an expensive "free" board.

[Jeff Davies]

Hey Pat & Rod, thanks for the kind words .
Andrew, I still think you will be OK . Just the fact that you are thinking about it sets you apart.
There came a time when I had been around saws so long that I could not relate at any level to those who had not . That is when I would have one of the younger guys teach the new-comers about the table saw.
One warning I gave to all my guys about table saws that I know you guys are aware, but maybe some readers are not, and I would like to pass on...when beveling long edges on man doors, suppose you have a scrap stripe left on the saw, say, 1/8th X 1 3/8ths X 80 . it is left in contact with half the blade just as it was cut off. It does not matter exactly what it is, just a scrap stripe laying there between the blade and fence. A natural tendency was to grasp it far from the blade and feed it all the way out ,,,but ,, if it is allowed to move backward any slight amount, the blade action may grab it, and the unhappy person will have a finger or two being compressed against the fence so that they cannot be withdrawn and then passed back through the blade in a fraction of a second .
This was perhaps the only specific warning I would give , partly because it is not intuitively treacherous, and partly because the results were not just a cut or a gouge, those digits are coming off, instantly.
But enough of the supposedly wise old hands boring everyone to death with valuable safety admonitions like ""make sure you never cut into barrels filled with gasoline" and "Never use full Nitro-glycerin bottles to hammer on saw blades while the saw is running " ,, , Have fun and be useful while wood whacking . Regards, JJ

[Tom Stenzel]

My first learning experience with power tool safety was when I was a teenager. I wasn't even working at the saw. Dad was ripping a section of plywood on the radial arm saw when it got away, flew across the room and hit me in the chest. I wasn't hurt but Dad just about had a coronary.

My most serious injury was when I was cutting a ceiling tile with a knife and doing a fine job. Shortly after the nice Henry Ford emergency room doctor put 4 stitches in the back of my hand and did a fine job.

My brother nicked his thumb with his table saw. I don't know the circumstances but luckily it wasn't serious.

Another brother of mine put on his safety gear and used his very sharp chainsaw to cut up some wood. When he was done he took off his safety gear. Cleaning up he was putting the chain saw back in the case. It slipped and the blade scraped his leg. That one only took 6 stitches.

My point: it can happen to you. Especially when you don't expect it.

-Tom

[Jeff Davies]

Or you can keep a sewing kit in your tool box.....that's what I always did...saves time and money. like this pic from a few years ago , me playing doctor after ""oh look, I just found a sharp chisel in that pile of shavings on the bench.""
Regards, JJ


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[David Utterback]

That looks a whole lot better than the 3 stitches I got in my left thumb at Urgent Care last fall. Of course, I was flopping my hand all over the place each time she shot me with the needle. It was 6 or 7 times so I think I had convinced her that I was not into pain. What type of needle did you use for the sutures?

A few more tidbits. 66% of users who contacted the blade had their hands behind the blade. I also saw that only 2.6% of users with a table saw injury were ill, or using any medication, pot or alcohol. Almost 60% of the saws used a blade directly attached to the motor (lower cost saws?). 13% were not using any protective equipment.

All in all, I think there are a lot good safety lessons in the report.

Or you can keep a sewing kit in your tool box.....that's what I always did...saves time and money. like this pic from a few years ago , me playing doctor after ""oh look, I just found a sharp chisel in that pile of shavings on the bench.""
Regards, JJ


Jeff 001.JPG

[Randy Heinemann]

In the end, I'm not sure that collected data really matters to me. What matters to me is that I reduce my chances of losing a finger or more. While I know what I'm supposed to do and have not had any finger threatening injuries in over 40 years of woodworking as a hobby, I don't believe it can't happen. If I can find an essentially fool-proof way to prevent an injury I'm going to do it.

[johnny means]

In twenty years as a professional, I've seen very few oldtimers (which I now consider myself), without some sort of amputation. Some were just a pinky without a nail. Some were the arc of horror (five digits spun through a saw blade). Most were a half finger or two. I would guess that less than one in five pros leaves this world in one piece. But that's just my observation.