Introduction
No one can deny that powered saw equipment is marvelousmachinery. It saves time, effort, and allows materials to be cut and processedprecisely in a fraction of the time than manual saws. Powered saws are alsosome of the most dangerous pieces of equipment used in any industry. In a splitsecond can change your life forever.
It’s important that you recognize the power and destructivecapabilities of the equipment you work with. The goal of this program is not toscare you. After all hundreds of thousands of people work safely with sawsevery day, however there are many cases each year where someone loses a finger,hand, or their eye, or even worse their life, because they failed to followsafety procedures, or decided to take a short cut. The choice is really up toyou. If you choose to follow procedures and use your common sense and goodjudgment odds are you won’t experience an injury. But if you choose to not payattention or take short cuts sooner or later you will. Make the right choice.
Personal Protective Equipment
Let’s begin with PPE, or personal protective equipment. Youremployer provides you with everything you need to work safely, but it’s yourresponsibility to wear it when its required. Safety glasses sitting on the workbench can’t protect your eyes. Anytime you use a power saw eye protection mustbe used. No exceptions. A simple pair of safety glasses can mean the differencebetween just another day at work, and a life time disability. Think about it.You should also wear leather top steel-toed work boots. If a piece of woodfalls off the table a good pair of shoes can prevent a painful injury.
Gloves are useful for some tasks but should never be wornwhen working around saws. Gloves can be caught in the saw and drag your handand arm into the cutting path. Saws create a lot of noise so hearing protectionis required. Wear it, you’ll be glad you did. Long sleeves should be worn uppast the elbow. This prevents the material from getting caught in the movingparts of the saw. Long hair can also get caught in the blade and pull yourentire face and head into the cutting path. If you have long hair tie it backbefore using the saw. Before working with any saw, inspect it. You’re the onlyperson who can determine if the equipment is safe to use. If you find a hazarddo not use the saw. Notify your supervisor immediately so corrective action orrepairs can be taken.