Surveillance of Nail Gun Injuries by Journeymen Carpenters Provides Important Insight into Experiences of Apprentices

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Lipscomb H ; Nolan J ; Patterson D
• Description:
  Experienced journeymen conducted detailed surveillance interviews with injured apprentice carpenters (n = 413). Nail gun injuries commonly occurred due to inadvertent discharge, ricocheting or projectile nails, and penetration of the wood surface. Framing nailers with contact trip triggers were most often involved; these triggers allow nail discharge anytime the trigger and nose piece are both depressed including following recoil of the tool after firing. Injured workers made concrete and practical suggestions for prevention. Scenarios were identified where changes in work practice, safer triggers, and thoughtful training could prevent injuries. Most injuries were not reported through workers' compensation; this was often due to perceived lack of injury severity, but also involved subtle as well as overt pressures on apprentices not to report. These case-based analyses are consistent with reports that many injuries from nail guns could be prevented with existing safer trigger mechanisms and training. Efforts should also focus on improved injury reporting. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Epidemiology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Accident-rates Accident-statistics Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs Occupations Risk-factors Safety-education Safety-engineering Safety-measures Safety-practices Statistical-analysis Training Work-analysis Work-operations Work-performance Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  1048-2911
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  95-114
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037064
• Citation:
  New Solut 2010 Jan; 20(1):95-114
• Contact Point Address:
  Hester Lipscomb, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040801
• Source Full Name:
  New Solutions
• End Date:
  20090630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:155f52dd3c9e9fbc024f06171bc303c12d6e65448c4711337cd68b1c5f86c72099d51cbeec80e6060411c5a2c6cc62c150f7e189f3209b28c71ff911790c7d76
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188223/cdc_188223_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 343.56 KB ]