Table saws account for more injuries than any other woodworking tool, according to a
newly published study. An average of 31,500 table-saw injuries are treated in emergency rooms each year says a report from the
Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Of those, lacerations (66 percent) were the most common type of injury while amputations (10 percent) were the most serious.
The majority of injuries (86 percent) were to the fingers or thumb. Males (97 percent) and adults (97 percent) accounted for the majority of table saw-related injuries. In comparison to adults, children were more likely to injure their heads, faces and necks and to be injured at school, according to the study published online in the
Journal of Trauma. Researchers said that injuries remained consistently high over the 18-year study period (1990 to 2007).
Most of the table saw-related injuries resulted from contact with the blade of the saw. In cases when the mechanism of injury was documented, kickback was the most common mechanism (72 percent), followed by debris being thrown by the saw (10 percent), lifting or moving the saw (6 percent), or getting a glove or clothing caught in the blade (4 percent).
The researchers also mentioned a new technology that could prevent some of these injuries, the SawStop, which can detect contact between a person and a saw blade and then instantly react to stop and retract the blade. "Although this technology could be beneficial in preventing serious injuries, it is currently too expensive for the average home woodworker to afford," said study author Brenda Shields, MS, research coordinator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital. "We recommend that all table saws be equipped with such technology and be made available at an affordable price."
We've tested the
SawStop in the past (
watch the video) and recommended that it be adopted as standard equipment. Until that happens, follow these
safety tips.
