A 15-Year-Old Student Amputates Fingers While Operating an Unguarded Table Saw in Woodworking Class - Massachusetts

Details

• Description:
  Incident: In 2003, a 15-year-old student amputated one left finger (both joints) and a portion of another left finger and thumb while operating an unguarded table saw in a woodworking class at a school. The saw, manufactured in 1991 and equipped with a 10-inch woodworking blade, was located in the woodworking shop, near the shop door. The student was making a lengthwise cut (ripping) and reached around to the back side of the unguarded saw blade to grab the cut piece of wood. The student's two fingers and thumb came in contact with the rotating saw blade, resulting in the serious injuries to the left hand. To prevent similar incidents, schools that have woodworking shops should: Ensure that the manufacturers' supplied guards are installed on all table saws, and that the guards function properly and are used at all times. Position tables at the backside of saws to prevent the work pieces from falling off the saws and onto the floor. Design the woodworking shop layout to reduce distractions to equipment operators. Provide woodworking class conditions that at a minimum meet safety and health standards set by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and train students about these standards. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Safety
  • Wood
• Keywords:
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-prevention
  • Injury-prevention
  • Protective-measures
  • Industrial-education
  • Industrial-equipment
  • Industrial-safety
  • Woodworking-equipment
  • Woodworking-industry
  • Traumatic-injuries
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Newsletter
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-2
• Volume:
  6
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034267
• Citation:
  FACE Facts 2003 Aug; 6(2):1-2
• Contact Point Address:
  Occupational Health Surveillance Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02108
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20010901
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality Investigation Report: FACE Facts
• End Date:
  20061031
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228599/cdc_228599_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 53.16 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:eb5da54d9e72c4ccdf7a5ee7df20a9933cb82adf88f333a18d8067717315cba32fb862bddf16d14890534e8fe9116541c5950bc98ec185743fb8472812fbd31f