[OP]
Member
School sued over TS accident
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...06/detail.html
A student that lost his fingers on a table saw in shop class is sueing the school district.
Anyone care to guess howmuch longer there is still a shop class?
Those in the Beaver Falls, PA area may have some equipment to bid on soon.
Chuck
When all else fails increase hammer size!
"You can know what other people know. You can do what other people can do."-Dave Gingery
NH Woodworkers Guild
Good location for a "Saw Stop" to CYA. I tried to get the local HS to put one in when they were equipping the brand new shop, but the know-it-all shop teacher did not want one. He knows it all, but doesn't belong to any shop teacher associations or woodworking groups or read any woodworking mags or visit any forums. Also, doesn't like me much as I try to give free advise and he is intimidated by it. Kind of too bad.
CPeter
Member
CPeter,Originally Posted by CPeter James
You know... being the devious person that I am... I would go to the principal and let them know that there are other options in machinery other than a "traditional" tablesaw. He may be the shop teacher, but he does have a bossAlso the fact that you have brought up the SawStop to the shop teacher, actually makes him even more liable for not bringing it in, in the event of a TS accident. I am not a lawyer, but they are pretty good at sniffing things like this out.
Of course when I took shop class way back when, the teacher would not even let us use the TS, it was all hand tools back then.
Still to this day I always use my blade guard and I have a SawStop, even when I had my DeWalt hybrid, I used the blade guard. I know that the protection is there in the SawStop, but I still do not want to make contact with the blade.
I can pay retail anywhere, so how's your service?
Grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory one project at a time
Maker of precision cut firewood
Member
It seems unclear from the story if the saw had the blade guard on. The student was "using safety procedures" whatever that means - like a push stick.....or not?
Member
Due to the aggressive nature of lawyers and the moron mentality of some students, here is one place where the saw stop should be mandatory. Furthermore, all students taking shop class should 1). Sign and have the parents sign an indemity contract before allowing any class to begin. 2). Require the students to take instruction *AND* pass both a written and practical exam for each item of power machinery. For those with the knack, its a minor inconvenence. For those with two left hands (or right hands if your left handed), it may prevent them from taking the class and in the end, were all better off.
Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.
Member
SAFETY PROCEDURES! Truely you jest! Guys who nickname is lefty are those who never read or follow safety procedures. You dont need to be a rocket engineer to figure this much out! Somebody screwed up. Fingers are now independent agents and the original owner of those digits is filing a law suit.
Had the dog not stopped to go to the bathroom, he would have caught the rabbit.
Member
Dev
I think Mike was just stating the facts as shown in the article. And fwiw I have a friend who has helped me out a few times. He is a very very long way from dumb but happens to be left handed. Seeing him trying to use an SCMS left handed educated me into just how right handed most tools are.
Anyway - in this instance nobody is gonna come off well. The school has a problem, the kid has a problem. I may be naive about it but the legal system should be there to sort out whether there is cause for one of them helping the other to deal with the problem in the future. If the results of the case ever get the same publicity it would be interesting to know what it is.
Contributor
Would indeed be interesting, but most likely outcome is a hefty out-of-court settlement negotiated between/among the lawyers, with a confidentiality clause for all concerned. The lead time for actually getting a personal-injury case to court pretty much guarantees it.
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
[OP]
Member
The kids and his parents are claiming the guard was not on. I will report back if the outcome becomes public. If any of you are familiar with Pittsburgh news this will probably be right at the top of the news just behind d' STILLERS!
Chuck
When all else fails increase hammer size!
"You can know what other people know. You can do what other people can do."-Dave Gingery
Contributor
But they're also claiming the kid followed "all safety procedures". Does the phrase "trying to have it both ways" ring a bell?
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
Member
From my travels on various forums over the years there seems to be two camps on TS safety. One camp will not use the TS unless the guard is in place, and the other views the guard as unsafe refuse to use the TS with one on. So based on which camp the teacher/adminstration sits in they were following all the safety rules/procedures.
I am in the won't use the TS unless the guard is in place.
I can pay retail anywhere, so how's your service?
Grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory one project at a time
Maker of precision cut firewood
Guest
Everyone is Born right handed. Only the Great Ones overcome it.
On a more serious note:
************************************************** *
"The boy's mother says his pinky finger has been transplanted as his new middle finger and he now uses his ring finger as his thumb."
*********************************************
That's gotta suck. Things like that tend to leave a permanent scar on the mind too.
Last edited by Cliff Rohrabacher; 04-28-2006 at 2:38 PM.
Member
This is just another example of our letigous society. Shop class (espically wood shop) poses an inherant danger. If Mom and Dad agreed to have the child take this class (I'm assuming there was a release otherwise the school would be completely liable) then they have no grounds to sue....
It's like me playing football in high-school and having an unfortunate accident (becoming paralyzed) and blaming the school for my injury...
I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. Accidents happen,it doesn't mean that the school is at fault!
Member
I recall reading about this case somewhere else. In that article they clearly described that the TS guard had been broken and so was removed from the saw. The TS should not have been in use. The school district will most likely settle this out of court IMO.
Dave F.
Member
I have a great deal of sympathy with your viewpoint Jim - BUT (there is always a but) if you had been playing football at HS and the referee failed to control the game properly or the school failed to maintain the goalpost padding which contributed to your injury, would that make the position different?
If the parents signed a release to enable their child to take a properly supervised shop class and the class wasn't properly supervised then do they have a case? If the release form undertook that at all times all of the equipment manufacturers safety measures would be in place and they weren't does that change matters?
The problem is, no matter how honourable or otherwise any of the participants is a young man is going to go through life at some level of disdvantage because of this event. It may be that an exploration of the facts indicates that as being nobodies fault except himself, in which case we should regret that it happened and do nothing else. The purpose of the legal process SHOULD be exactly that - an exploration of the facts. Maybe that is not the way it works in practice and that is a shame, but a rush to judgement rarely helps clarify things.
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