What is safety? A simple question. Surely, everyone knows what safety is? Right? Safety is using guards, push sticks, eye protection, dust masks, etc. Safety is also taking precautions and think smart — planning ahead. These are the right answers. Safety is an attitude, a personal
statement that an individual
makes about him/herself. But safety is an even more fundamental matter. It’s an attitude, a personal statement that an individual makes about him/herself. A matter of self-respect. Consider these common examples. You wouldn’t take a bath with a plugged-in radio sitting on the edge of the tub, would you? Nor would you use a knife to pry a piece of stuck bread out of a glowing toaster. Ridiculous and obvious, right?
Sure . . . but how many folks who said “not me” to these situations would still operate a table saw or jointer without guards or push-sticks? Unfortunately, a few people continue to side-step safety and make injury a very real possibility. Let’s face it, tools and machines won’t hurt you unless you let them. . . . tools and machines won’t
hurt you unless you let them Newer power tools are designed and engineered to be extremely safe to use. Of course, if the operator deliberately defeats the guarding system or refuses to observe rudimentary safety precautions, all bets are off and the potential for an accident increases rapidly.
Studies have shown that the few people who do incur injuries often sensed that an accident was coming! They reported that “something just wasn’t right;” they were preoccupied, fatigued or hurriedly taking a shortcut from the safe way of doing the job. Continue . . . |
