Be Extremely Careful Using Circular Saws
Most people really don't care about how to tips on power
tool safety, but I'm going to tell you a story and see if that makes a
difference. About 20 years ago I remembered another carpenter, who was
working on the roof, installing fascia board.
He had been installing fascia board longer than I had been alive. He
often shared this information with me and called me a young
whippersnapper. I was taking a break one day, while he was working on
the roof as I watched him cut his leg with an electric power saw.
You're probably wondering, did he have the guard wedged up, on his saw
or was it down, where it should have been. It was wedged up, like every
other carpenter on the job, at that time. It wasn't bad enough, that he
cut his leg with the power saw, but when he pulled the saw out of his
leg, he fainted.
Did I mention that this guy was working on the roof? Did I also mention
that this man was working on a roof that was sitting directly on top of
a two-story home? If I didn't, you probably have a better picture in
your mind, because this man fainted and fell off the roof.
He lived, but he didn't come back to work for quite some time. Years
later I talked to the man about his accident and he couldn't believe
that it happened to him. His thinking inspired me to write this article.
He didn't think it could happen to him and I didn't think that I would
ever cut my thumb off, but I did.
The next time that you're using a circular saw in an unsafe manner,
maybe you will think about the story you just read and realize that this
kind of stuff could happen to you.