Table Saw Injuries: Are Our Safety Features Really Keeping Us Safe?
Sarah E Smith1, Ian Kendrick2, Thomas Huntsman1
11 Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY, USA.
Hand (New York, N.Y.)
|July 20, 2017
Summary
Most table saw injuries occur when safety features are disabled. Even when safety features are enabled, injuries still happen, indicating current table saw safety devices are inadequate.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Trauma Surgery
- Public Health
Background:
- Table saws have three safety features: riving knife, blade guard, and antikickback device.
- These safety features are often removed or disabled due to user inconvenience.
- Table saw injuries are frequent, yet literature on them is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate characteristics associated with table saw injuries.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of existing safety features in preventing table saw injuries.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective, observational study was conducted using electronic medical records (2002-2014).
- Patients who sustained table saw injuries were identified and surveyed.
- Chi-square or Fisher exact tests were used to analyze associations between safety device usage and injury severity.
Main Results:
- 73% of injured individuals had disabled or lacked safety features; 27% had them enabled.
- Injury severity ranged from mild (laceration) to severe (amputation).
- No statistically significant association was found between safety feature presence/absence and injury severity.
Conclusions:
- Current table saw safety features are inadequate, leading to user dissatisfaction and injuries.
- Disabling safety features increases injury risk.
- Even enabled safety features do not prevent severe table saw injuries.
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