Potential Circular Saw Safety MistakesIt is statistically shown that more severe, debilitating injuries occur from the table saw than any other woodworking machine or power tool. When it comes to handheld woodworking power tools, the circular saw may take that crown as the most dangerous.
Safety Equipment
While using a circular saw always remember to wear the safety equipment. Never forget things like
These common safety protections will reduce the chances of accidents. Don’t take them too lightly. They sound silly, but one of the most major facts of the circular saw safety guard.
If put down incorrectly, the user could get injured. Do not put the saw down before it has stopped moving. Place the saw on its side, and you’ll avoid this problem entirely.
I feel like this one is obvious once you think about it, but not something we ever stop and actually think about. If your finger is on the trigger and you trip and fall, you might press the trigger and start the saw, which would probably have bad consequences. Find another way to carry your saw.
This seems like a good idea. If your piece is supported and clamped on both sides, then nothing will fall to the floor when you’re done cutting. I suppose that logic is technically correct, but you’ll rarely be able to finish cutting without encountering kickback. The two pieces sag toward the middle as you finish the cut, pinching the blade and causing kickback.
If kickback occurs, the saw will fly right into you. Stand a little to the left or right, therefore if kickback occurs, you wont be directly hit by the saw.
This increases the likelihood of kickback. Enough said.
This is bad for a couple reasons: A) The more saw that needs to go through the wood, the harder the saw has to work. The harder the saw has to work, the more likely it is to kickback. Keeping the saw at the appropriate depth therefore reduces kickback. B) The deeper the saw, the more the blade will be exposed. This increases the likelihood that it will come in contact with a human appendage.
The appropriate saw depth is 1/4″ more than the piece you’re cutting. Any deeper, and you’re setting is too deep!
Yes, wood has splinters, and gloves seem like a good idea. But they increase the risk of your hands getting caught in the saw, so they are a big no-no when operating any power tool.
I hope there was at least one thing on this list you learned about operating a circular saw, and the circular saw safety mistakes people commonly make. If so, make sure to subscribe to my email list; I plan to do a whole sequence of posts for all sorts of power tools, so make sure you don’t miss out!
Tips
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The Health and Safety at Work Act, etc 1974 states that employers should provide “such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of his employees”. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 further require that employers provide employees with adequate health and safety training both on recruitment and when the risks to which they are exposed change, for example, where they move to a new role or when new work equipment is provided.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 go on to state that training should be repeated periodically where appropriate, be adapted to take account of any new or different risks and take place during working hours. Other sets of regulations which require training of employees include the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, the Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Organisations that have their health and safety management systems certified, for example to BS OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001, are also required to conform to requirements concerning competence.
Unfortunately, when it comes to work-related training, there is no one-size-fits-all. Employers should consider who in their organisation needs training, what training should be provided, when, by whom, and when training should be repeated and refreshed. Consideration should also be paid to whether staff require formal qualifications for their role, such as facility managers, first aiders, or the maintenance teams responsible for legionella safety.
Ensure Employees follow Your Training: 5 Top Tips. Click here
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We have a great post detailing 7 Common Workplace Safety Hazards. Due to the popularity of this piece, we have now created an infographic to support this. If you would like to share this image please scroll down for the embed code.
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Tips to Help Manage Vibration and Prevent Cases of HAVS
Take the time today to ensure your company is up to speed with the legal requirements concerning vibration, and that you have put the necessary controls in place.
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Here we look at what we must do to keep forklifts and pedestrians apart.
Each year, 1,300 workers in the UK are seriously injured following accidents involving forklift trucks. Forklift truck accidents have revealed that nearly 75% of ‘impact with a third person’ events involve pedestrians that were completing tasks unrelated to the immediate truck operation at the time of their accident.
Wherever it is feasible to segregate your operating areas, it is best practice to do so. But how do we deal with areas that can’t be physically segregated? It’s here that life-changing accidents and injuries too often occur.
To try to minimise the risk, many companies opt for a generic safe distance rule across their entire site. This might be a set distance, or a minimum number of pick points that are expected to be maintained at all times.
But the danger of fixed-distance rules is that not all tasks carried out on your premises are the same, and neither are the associated risks. Every lift must be judged on its own merits, if the chance of an accident is to be adequately reduced. The best way to do this is via risk assessment, followed up with the relevant Safe Systems of Work.
Targeting the trend – lost loads
One recent trend in the news is those working alongside forklifts — often colleagues or delivery drivers — suffering life-changing injuries (or worse) as a result of a truck losing its load during operation. Many suffer crush injuries while trying to steady the load or get involved in the loading or unloading of their vehicle. Indeed, in one recent case, a delivery driver was fatally crushed when an overloaded forklift became unstable and tipped over, as no safe distance was kept between them.
Tragically, injuries to pedestrians caused by lost loads are almost always avoidable because the pedestrian should never need to be in the operating area in the first place. Should a forklift lose its load with no pedestrians in proximity, the worst-case scenario is damage to your stock or equipment. This is still an issue for budget-conscious businesses, but far preferable to the devastating consequences should a pedestrian become involved.
As stated earlier, nearly 75% of ‘impact with a third person’ events involve pedestrians on an unrelated task, but around half of the remaining pedestrian impacts are with delivery truck drivers not respecting safe working distances while their vehicles are being unloaded. In areas where physical segregation often isn’t possible, there need to be robust Safe Systems of Work in place to reduce the risk. These could include the following measures:
So when forklifts and pedestrians must operate in proximity, how close is too close? Well, there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to safe operating distances.
A safe distance for your operations
The best approach is to create separate Safe Systems of Work for the different forklift operations carried out on your site, each taking into account the specific risks that the task presents. A good start is to consider the following:
Make sure a safe distance is kept between forklifts and pedestrians
Once you’ve assessed safe distance throughout your operations, the next step is to communicate it, and be sure to include everyone who may need to access an area where forklifts operate, however rarely this may be. This shouldn’t just include staff but also contractors and visitors, particularly delivery drivers whose vehicles become part of your operations during the loading/unloading process.
Remember, your safety measures are only effective if they’re being followed, so raising awareness and fending off complacency is key.
Not worth the risk
As someone responsible for health and safety, you’ll need no reminding of the implications if you and your organisation are found by the HSE to have failed to identify risks or provide adequate training and instruction. It could result in a hefty fine or even a jail term, but that pales into insignificance when compared with the devastating and life-changing effects a forklift-related injury can have on the victim along with their colleagues, family and friends.
Ultimately, as a manager or health and safety representative, it’s up to you to ensure staff follow processes and procedures that will keep them safe and your business compliant and efficient. But with the right policies, communication and guidance, you can take simple, practical steps towards developing a culture of personal responsibility, where everyone takes ownership of their own safety and that of those around them, to the benefit of everyone.
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