I read many accounts about accidents caused by power tools. First off, power tools don't cause accidents (at least not very often). Accidents are caused by people. Does this sound like the argument for or against firearms? If so, it's because they are both very similar. Firearms rarely fail except through damage or neglect. Power tools are no different. If you use a power tool in the wrong way or abuse it, bad things could happen. This discussion is triggered (no pun intended) by the recent court case against Ryobi Power Tools Division where 1.5 million was awarded to the plaintiff. By the way, the plaintiff was found to be 35% at fault and Ryobi 65%.
While Saw stop can gloat over this court decision, it still doesn't make a case for Saw stop technology over any other power tool technology. I would hope that the court decision would be overturned as the plaintiff was clearly at fault, but juries are sympathetic over someone losing their livelihood. Sympathy probably was the reason for the 35% fault which reduced the award to such a small sum. After attorney fees, the plaintiff may get less than a million.
Power tools can be very intimidating and sometimes frightening to people who don't use them; again the same as with firearms. To these people, it is best that they stay away from them entirely. But! power tools (and firearms) are a fact of life and necessary in the world we live in. For those who use power tools, there are those who are satisfied with the tools as they now exist. They recognize and respect what the tool can do, how dangerous they can be and how they can be used safely. Then there are those who feel less comfortable around power tools and would like to see more safeguards built into tools. Saw stop so far has been able to come up with a safeguard used on one of the most dangerous tools around, the table saw (cabinet saws included). It has been proven to eliminate injuries caused by running fingers into rotating saw blades. It doesn't however eliminate other injuries caused by saws; kickback.
It is my opinion and mine alone, that power tools in general and table saws in particular can never be made to be 100% safe. As long as there is any physical interface between a human and a machine, there will always be a chance that something can go wrong. What can go wrong is never anticipated, but when something goes wrong, the result may be injury; the extent dependent mainly on luck. When tools fail or people get injured, the safety flag goes up and everyone starts speculating how to prevent it from happening in the future. Some say "make blade guards mandatory"; others say "add riving knives" and some advocate the Saw stop system. While each system or "safeguard" may add an additional measure of safety, it can never prove to be 100% effective. Let me take Saw stop as an example. Let's assume it is 99.99% effective. That means one out of 10,000 could fail. (I say could and not would) That one failure would reduce confidence in the Saw stop system. I'm not trying to make a case against Saw stop or anyone, but my point is nothing is perfect; not the Apollo spacecraft or the safety devices on the offshore oil rigs. Compare the time, effort and money spent on the latter two compared to that spent on the Saw stop or any other "safety device".
I really think that true safety can only be attained through experience. A child learns not to touch a hot stove by first hand experience much quicker than if he is told "the stove is hot". Inevitably he will learn through experience. The same is true with power tools. Watching a saw blade cut through a piece of wood usually is enough display of power to keep people from running their fingers through the blade. Accidents are never anticipated. They happen! Every person on this earth, who works with power tools, will suffer an injury in their lifetime. Some will be minor and some major. The severity of the injury will depend on his experience. It is the experience and nothing else that determines the extent of an accident. Experience is the ultimate teacher. It can be a hard way to learn a lesson, but I see no easy way. Safety devices on tools can help prevent accidents and injuries, but the final lesson will always rely on experience.
2
Accidents and Power Tool Safety
Re: Accidents and Power Tool Safety
Good Answers: