You may feel in control while handling the tools in your garage, but many tools pose unexpected threats to your safety. Some consumers fail to realize the dangers of typical tools or overestimate their ability to operate them safely. Tool related accidents can result in amputation, puncture wounds, brain injury, broken bones, burn injury, and even death. Here are few standard tools that everyone should exercise caution when using.
Table Saw
The table saw is arguably the most dangerous tool a person can own. With its high-speed rotating blade, the table saw presents a risk for laceration and amputation. Many people who use table saws due not wear the proper safety equipment, including protective eyewear, and materials going into the eye blind them. These accidents can result in serious injuries when the user cannot see the rotating blade and prevent it from hitting their limbs. Despite safety mechanisms such as an automatic shut-off, table saws account for thousands of injuries every year.
Chainsaw
Chainsaws are another dangerous tool. They present a high risk of kickback injury when users cut with the top part of the bar. Chainsaw accidents generally result in severe injury and death due to the violent nature of the injury. The rotating chainsaw blade can cut through flesh as easily as wood. Use safety precautions including as wearing special chaps, a helmet with face screen, and steel-toed boots.
Nail Gun
Nail guns present another user hazard. It’s easy to mishandle a nail gun or lose control of the high-powered tool. Nail guns work using powerful compressed air, making them fire a nail into the piece of material at about 120 pounds per square inch. Failing to realize the immense power of a nail gun can lead to severe puncture wounds to the fingers and hands. Extreme cases can result in nails going into the skull or body, when a user drops a nail gun and it fires into the air.
Ladder
You may not think of your ladder as a dangerous tool, but slip and falls from ladders account for a large majority of personal injuries. Misuse of ladders, such as standing at the very top of a ladder or resting an extension ladder at the wrong part of an object, can lead to injury. Even if you use a ladder correctly, inattention, fatigue, or vertigo can easily result in a fall. Falls commonly involve broken bones, fractures, concussions, and spinal cord injuries.
Power Drill
Power drills are one of the most dangerous tools, but not only for the reason you may expect. Puncture wounds are common injuries related to power drills, especially when the user is not paying attention to other workers near the drill, but electrocution is more deadly. A large number of power drill injuries happen when a user drills through a live wire, and electricity travels through the drill and into the user’s body. Knowing how to avoid live wires while drilling can help prevent these accidents.
Defective Tools
Not all tool-related injuries are due to user error. Often, a tool can malfunction and cause serious injury. For example, if a manufacturer creates a table saw with a faulty shield, the shield might not fully protect the user from contact with the rotating blade. In this case, the victim can hold the manufacturer responsible for the accident and injury and file a product liability lawsuit claim. Other tools may not come with proper safety warnings or instruction labels.
Personal Injury Attorneys in Savannah
For more information about common garage and household tools known to cause significant injury, contact the Savannah personal injury attorneys at Roden + Love, LLC. We have years of experience handling personal injury cases relating to manufacturer error, and we can help you file a claim against the tool manufacturer.