Table Saw Accident Victims Plea For Safety Standards (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

WASHINGTON -- A consumers' advocacy group and a panel of table-saw victims called on government regulators and the power-tool industry Wednesday to enact new safeguards against saw-related mutilation and amputation.

The number of table-saw injuries has risen to 40,000 annually, an increase of 10,000 a year in the last decade, National Consumers League (NCL) Executive Director Sally Greenberg told reporters at the National Press Club.

The nonprofit group's leader called for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency tasked with protecting Americans from dangerous products, push through a table-saw safety standard that was first proposed in 2003 but has since languished. She also asked the tool industry to drop its opposition to the regulations and pass along any new costs to customers if need be.

"The vast majority of table-saw manufacturers haven't changed their technology in 50 years," Greenberg said. "This is a major public health and safety issue that cries out for a public policy response."

Long used by carpenters, construction workers and woodworking hobbyists, table saws typically come with little more than plastic guards to prevent fingers and hands from coming into contact with the blade. These guards are often removed by the saws' operators to make the work easier. About 4,000, or 10 percent, of the table-saw accidents each year result in finger amputation, according to statistics compiled by the NCL.

The consumers' league would like to see manufacturers adopt the kind of technology developed by a company called SawStop, which brings the blade to a standstill when it senses the electrical impulse emanating from human flesh. (Watch a demo of the SawStop in action.) Greenberg said the NCL has no affiliation with SawStop and receives no funding from the company. The safety measure would add about $100 to the price of a saw, she added. NCL officials and table-saw victims have been meeting with lawmakers this week to make their case.

The Power Tool Institute, a trade group representing table-saw manufacturers including Black & Decker and Bosch, said in a statement that the price of table saws would "increase dramatically" if companies had to use the SawStop technology. "The lower-priced consumer bench-top saws will disappear from the market," the group warned. It also said SawStop would enjoy an unfair market advantage.

Four victims of table-saw accidents spoke out in favor of new standards Wednesday, including Adam Thull of Crosslake, Minn. Thull owns his own woodworking business, and a year ago this month most of his right arm went through a table saw as he was cutting a wood panel. The blade sliced clean through the bone and nerve in his forearm. Thull's been told it may take five years for him to recover, if he's lucky.

"My two small children and my wife suffer along with me," the Minnesotan said.

Considering Thull didn't have health insurance, the accident has devastated him financially in two ways: With five surgeries down and six to go, he's run up a medical tab that he can't even fathom; and at the same time, he's also lost his ability to earn money.

He can only work for five or ten minutes at a time before the pain in his arm becomes unbearable.

"I've been able to find ways to do it, but there's no feasible way to turn a profit," Thull said. "It takes me ten times longer to accomplish anything."

In his ten years in woodworking, the 30-year-old had made a decent living doing what he loved to do. But now his family is on food stamps and receiving aid from the Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. He doesn't know how he'll earn money in the future.

"The business is more or less done. There's no way to pay the insurance costs," he said. "The physical suffering is on me, but my six-year-old knows. He says, 'I wish daddy was like before the accident.'"

Although there are no hard statistics, Greenberg said that about 20 percent of table-saw accidents seem to be work-related, with the rest happening to hobbyists.

Like Thull, many table-saw victims are injured in the course of self-employed work.

Curtis Harper, a firefighter from Provo, Utah, said he lost his pinky and suffered severe nerve and ligament damage while he was notching a corner of a wooden board in 2007. Harper owns a small mantel-making business, Masterpiece Cabinet and Mill.

Looking at his mutilated hand after it ran through the saw, his first thought was that he'd lose his primary job, as a firefighter. He's since gone back to work at the firehouse, but he's lost much of the strength in his hand.

And the accident isn't easy to forget.

"Phantom pain is real," Harper said. "I still feel that little finger."

WARNING: Some of the photos below are gruesome.

1 of 7

Adam Thull

1 of 8

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

Adam Thull of Crosslake, Minn., had his right arm run through a table saw in 2010. His woodworking business is no longer viable.

7 Tech Titans Funding Political Campaigns

Controversial Products

How The Workplace Hasnt Changed Since The Mad Men Era

Seven Jobs That Require the Most Education, but Pay the Least

High Calorie Chain Meals

10 Cities With The Highest Health Care Costs

Adam Thull of Crosslake, Minn., had his right arm run through a table saw in 2010. His woodworking business is no longer viable.

comments(404)

Total comments: 404 | Post a Comment

1 of 8

Comments

[CinciDave]

09:30 PM on 06/25/2011

Considering that these people already could have bought a SawStop saw, but chose not to, and in many cases, also chose to disable whatever safety features did exist, I really don't understand their position.

[Js420]

12:24 AM on 06/25/2011

No thanks, that one pic is enough for me.

[Elderwild]

01:41 PM on 06/23/2011

Yes saw stops are a great piece of equipment, BUT DON"T TELL ME WHAT TO DO BECAUSE A FEW INATTENTIVE NEW USERS DIDN'T TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN THE DANGERS AHEAD OF TIME! I have been using all manner of shop tools, including table saws and draw knives since I was 5 years old, I can still count to twenty, so even a child if trained properly can use one safely!

My point is, I am so sick of all the legislative BullS%*t that costs millions of dollars in tax payer dollars, costs me thousands of dollars in unneeded safety equipment that slows my production down. Thirdly don't we still live in America, home of the Free? Where have all my freedoms gone? You make your own decisions in this world, you chose how to make that cut, and the saw you cut it on. IF YOU WANT ONE(saw stop) PUT IT ON IF NOT DON'T, BUT DON'T CRY FOUL AND POINT YOUR MISSING FINGER AT SOMEONE ELSE. REMEMBER YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF, DEAL WITH IT!

Carpentry is DANGEROUS, that is why people like me spend our entire lives learning these trades and tools. Leave it to the professionals, and stick to what you know best, or get quality instruction!!!!!!!!!

[Elderwild]

01:41 PM on 06/23/2011

Honestly, I have to say, you people who speak of accidents don't get it. You think a car crash is an accident? There is no such thing as an accident! ACCIDENTS don't happen, PEOPLE happen, only cause and effect. You must know what you are doing. The only way to learn is by doing over and over again. It helps to have a good teacher to start with. Secondly, understand you're tools, table saws in this instance.

1) Kickbacks happen! A good carpenter is ready and believes each and every piece WILL kickback, thus he doesn't stand in the way.(EVERY time)
2) Use a GD push stick!! Think of the blade as a black hole, the closer you get, the more likely you are to be trapped and sucked in!(EVERY time)
3) Pay attention its free! Plan each cut! Do you have enough room, is the work area clean, do you need help?(EVERY time)
4) Most important? WEAR THE PROPER CLOTHING! How do you think he got his GD arm pulled into the saw in the first place, it grabbed his long sleeve shirt!(EVERY time) He's lucky he didn't loose his arm at the shoulder!

[RogerDF]

01:46 PM on 06/22/2011

After almost 30 accident free years, I finally upgraded from a cheap table saw and buying Sawstop was a no-brainer. Aside from the awsome safety feature, they are just plain well engineered saws.

The engineers at Sawstop are hard at work on other machines too.

[Caroline Harris]

02:13 PM on 06/20/2011

"table saws typically come with little more than plastic guards to prevent fingers and hands from coming into contact with the blade. These guards are often removed by the saws' operators to make the work easier." yeah, so what was the issue again? Whooo. Then again we are a country who needs to have Caution: Hot warnings on hot coffee to know not to drink it.

Wow totally did not see the little warning above the slideshow. Usually people include the warning on the beginning of the slides.... The half cut off pinky was a bit hardcore even for me, and I consider my stomach to be pretty iron clad. I guess I'm finished with my lunch now :-/

[vallen vella]

11:11 AM on 06/20/2011

Duuuh! While i feel bad for Adam and his family, He did not use his saw safely. He removed the blade guard, which would have prevented his arm getting chewed up.

What's to say he wouldn't remove ANOTHER legislatively required safety device.
If you are going to play with big-boy toys, learn SAFETY, or accept the consequences.

Don't make the rest of responsible woodworkers pay for your idiocy!

[RogerDF]

01:49 PM on 06/22/2011

There are operations where you must remove the guard. When I was in college studying to teach Industrial Arts (shop class), they taught us that about half of all accidents are caused by a lack of guards and safety procedures and the other half are caused by the guards and safety procedures. The takeaway from that is that the greatest safety feature in the shop is between your ears.

Don't call it idiocy. Many experienced woodworkers have had accidents. It happens to the best. Yes, all accidents are avoidable in retrospect but none of us is perfect.

[Dr Juan]

12:26 AM on 06/18/2011

Table saws do come with a guard - but that is the very first thing that gets removed when the saw is actually used.

There is no way to add a guard to a radial arm saw to make it idiot proof. Chop saws have an effective guard but it is still all to easy to put a finger or thumb in the path of the blade when holding stock during cutting.

[a16protester]

03:51 PM on 06/17/2011

Curtis Harper, a firefighter from Provo, Utah, said he lost his pinky and suffered severe nerve and ligament damage while he was notching a corner of a wooden board in 2007.

The tablesaw isn't a notching tool. That's why they make bandsaws and jigsaws. Or, heaven forbid, handsaws. You shouldn't be surprised if something bad happens if you use power tools for tasks which they weren't intended.

[pammiethekid]

02:27 PM on 06/16/2011

My husband slipped with a very sharp wood chisel—cut into his left hand badly enough to require seven stitches. He was lucky—the blade skimmed the nerve without severing it. He will have full use of that hand. He was careless in working toward himself, and he's the first to say it. No one else could have prevented that mistake. Although seeing these terrible photos makes me think I could probably make a habit of checking in on him—get him to stop in the late afternoon, which is when a lot of accidents happen.

[Michael Lubacz]

12:25 AM on 06/15/2011

$100, really? Have we forgotten about google? Stop Saws contractor grade is $1499, the Dewalt in my garage was $1,000 less than that, did someone forget a zero? Use a fence, dont lean over your work, use a push through and cut sheet good with a friend, yes sometimes you need a friend, because pushing a 4x8 sheet through by yourself on a tabe saw not set up for sheet goods is not safe.

Comment typed using 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.

[Hai Malon]

09:53 AM on 06/18/2011

I guess I have to agree with Micheal. Athough I feel bad for Adam Thull of Cross Lake, MN. He did broke some rules on table saw safety. I believe it said somewhere in the owners manual about never reaching over a spinning blade. The first thing I did when I receive my Delta Unisaw was build an outfeed table just so I don't have to reach over to catch the work piece from falling off the table. I also build a workbench that is the same height as the table saw and use that as the infeed table when cutting 4x8 sheets. You can do it yourself without help if you are setup for it. YES, YES, YES. I think the Sawstop technology will definitely cost more than a $100. Another thing to consider is what about cutting treated lumber??? They are usaully wet and wouldn't that activate the Sawstop??? There goes a $100 blade and probaly another $100 part the blade slams into.

[RogerDF]

01:52 PM on 06/22/2011

The $100 figure is an old one, I think, and based on universal adoption. At that point, economies of scale will help. Right now, I think the difference between a Sawstop and another saw of similar engineering quality would be around $400. Remember, the Sawstop saw is (my opinion but widely shared) a top quality saw aside from the safety system.

[MDhome]

04:28 PM on 06/13/2011

$100 dollars, I doubt that is any where enough to put the technology on any saw, I expect $500 to be more like it.

[headbangerou812]

07:55 AM on 06/13/2011

This isn't the table saws fault. If your not diligent in safety you'll come out of this with lost limbs. Everyone wants to blame someone else for their own negligence. If the stove is on don't touch it, unless your an idiot. The best carpenters get hurt all the time because they don't pay close enough attention to every cut they make. They get lax after evey cut and hurry to get the job done. It's called over confidence and it can kill you.

[AOGutierrez]

12:38 PM on 06/12/2011

Note that the rate of injury has increased at the same time that thousands of guys are losing their jobs and the ones left are doing the same amount of work. Production pressure and fatigue lead to inattention and mistakes. If you are worried about working fast enough and thinking about the next task instead of what you are doing a table saw is not going be your friend. Decent conditions and adequate work force can prevent about half these injuries the rest will probably happen under any circumstances as "learning experiences" for the less viable members of the species.

Saw Stop is a great system but is most useful for the part time craftsman. The additional cost will price him out of the market and shutter many small shops.

The family tragedy that followed for Adam Thull could have been mostly ameliorated by single-payer universal health care.

[hdc77494]

02:41 PM on 06/12/2011

F 80% of injuries are hobbyists, the unemployment rate means more accidents because more hobbyists are in their garage and not at work. Sawstop is only for hobbyists? Bull! Single payor insurance solves the problem? It creates a bigger one. An $8,000 a year insurance policy versus a $100 saw modification? That's a pretty bad investment.

[LREKing]

04:27 PM on 06/11/2011

Inattention and carelessness can get you no matter what you're doing. Living entails risks, and it's simply not possible to regulate and legislate away all the dangers in modern life.