When the term “table saw accident” comes to mind, most people think about lacerations, amputations, and other types of blade-contact injuries.
Kickback is when the blade catches and propels wood workpieces or cut-offs in unexpected ways. Table saw kickback can injure and even kill you.
Always read your table saw’s user manual. Learn and understand how kickback can happen, and the steps that can be taken to prevent it.
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I was searching OSHA’s accident database today, as part of research into a different topic, and came upon a report for a table saw kickback incident. Further searching turned up additional accident reports, including fatalities.
Please be careful!
And again, always read, understand, and adhere to proper safety guidelines, which are often detailed in tool user manuals.
The image above is of the SawStop PCS cabinet table saw with standard safety accessories in place – blade guard, riving knife, anti-kickback pawls.
WARNING: Following are graphical descriptions of fatal and non-fatal injuries.
Accident: 127316.015 – Employee Dies When Struck By Object Kicked Back From Saw:
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At 3:38 p.m. on June 25, 2020, an employee was working for a commercial photographer and photography studio. The firm also provided marketing services and built interior sets. The employee was working as a carpenter. He was using a table to cut some waste wood. He was struck in the carotid artery by an unknown object that was kicked back by the saw. Emergency medical workers transported him to the hospital. He was admitted for emergency surgery to his carotid artery, but he died.
Accident: 110211.015 – Employee Is Impaled By Board From Kickback Of Table Saw Blade:
At 1:00 p.m. on October 16, 2018, an employee was speaking to another employee working on a door on the “surgery” table in the customs department. At the same time, another employee was operating a table saw approximately 10 feet away, with the operator/back end of the saw facing the employee.
The operator was performing rabbeting on a piece of molding when a the circular saw blade caught the end of the piece of wood, catapulting it behind the operator into the employee’s chest. The employee sustained a penetrating injury to the chest including injuries to the heart and right lung leading to exsanguination. The employee was hospitalized and later died.
Accident: 116762.015 – Employee Is Struck By Board When Kicked Back From Table Saw:
At 1:00 p.m. on May 30, 2019, an employee was cutting a board on a table saw whe n the board kicked back, striking the employee in the abdomen and perforated his intestine. The employee was taken to the hospital, where he died while being operated on.
Accident: 36796.015 – Employee Using Table Saw Is Impaled By A Piece Of Wood:
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on December 19, 2012, Employee #1 was cutting a piec e of wood on a table saw without the safety guard in place. Employee #1 was impaled by a piece of wood that entered thru his abdomen and he was killed.
Accident: 200901411 – Employee Dies When Plywood Strikes:
At about 11:00 a.m. on February 10, 2004, Employee #1 was cutting a small piece of 0.75-in. plywood board on a table saw, which was not guarded. The plywood board kicked back, striking Employee #1 in his abdomen. Employee #1 had medical complications and died on February 10, 2004.
There are very many injuries that don’t result in fatalities. For instance:
Accident: 108347.015 – Employee Punctures Stomach While Using Table Saw:
At 3:00 p.m. on August 9, 2018, an employee was using a table saw to cut a piece of Brazilian Tiger Wood (five inches by three quarters of an inch). As the employee cut through the wood, it kicked out of the saw and punctured the employee’s stomach. The employee was hospitalized due to the injury.
Accident: 132796.015 – Employee Using Table Saw Amputates Three Fingers:
At 2:30 p.m. on January 25, 2021, Employee #1, employed by a construction company, was using a table saw to rip a wood board at a commercial building site. The employee was pushing the board with his left hand. When he reached to turn the power switch off with his right hand, the board kicked back, and his left hand was pulled into the blade. One finger was amputated by the saw, and two other fingers lacerated. The employee was transported to the hospital and admitted for treatment. A physician treated the amputation and needed to surgically amputate the two severely lacerated fingers.
Accident: 127795.015 – Employee’s Hand Is Lacerated While Using Table Saw:
At 2:15 p.m. on January 14, 2020, Employee #1 was working as a cabinet maker, cutting ? in medium density fiberboard (MDF) wood with the use of an Altendorf F45 table sliding saw for the purpose of making cabinet doors.
Employee #1 was assigned to begin working on a new project that consisted of him cutting the large panels of MDF down to a smaller size (18 in by 18 in) for the cabinet doors. Employee #1 began cutting the wood down to size using the sliding table saw. Employee #1 placed the wood against the rip fence and began to push the wood through the blade using his right hand to cut off an approximately 2 in piece, and as the wood was being cut, Employee #1 used his left hand to grab the scrap piece of wood that was falling off.
As he held the wood, the saw kicked back and pulled the wood that he was holding and his hand into the blade, causing severe lacerations to his left hand leading to his left index finger eventually being amputated. Employee #1 had been treated and released from the hospital pending appointment with a surgeon on January 16, 2020, in which he was informed that they would be amputating the tip of his index finger due to the damage that was done.
Several casual factors were identified during the course of the investigation. The employer did not ensure that Employee #1 was properly trained and instructed on the safe operation of the sliding table saw to ensure that the blade of the saw above the table and material was properly guarded at all times no matter the size of the wood piece that’s being cut. Ensuring that the hood was being used on every cut to guard the blade would have prevented the employees hand from being exposed to the saw blade in the event of a binding situation.
If you’re looking to better understand kickback, James Hamilton (Stumpy Nubs) put together a couple of very informative videos over the years.
Blocky
It’s a small sample size, but from the above incident reports, it appears that accidents are more likely in the two hours immediately following lunch.
fred
Circadian Rhythms come into play – as much as a heavy lunch.
TimNotTheToolman
Going to add on to this to say that it’s important to respect your body and know when you’re fatigued and need to stop. That can be because it’s late, because you’ve been working outside in the heat (or cold) all day, whatever – but I’ve found that almost all my mistakes happen either when starting out on a new project or when pushing myself to just get done with whatever step.
Working – especially with/around power tools when tired – risks health and also mistakes that can mean a ruined piece, etc. Personally, I also find that it’s around that time that my productivity nosedives – taking 5x longer to set up a cut, calculate where the next cut has to be, etc.
Paul
Right after lunch should be no surprise. In the morning you kind of establish a routine work flow pattern. Lunch is treated as a long break and the idea is “back to the routine” but often the work flow changes or after a rest of 20-60 minutes people change positions or do other things that reset the work flow but don’t necessarily take the same precautions. LOTO failures and others are common too.
fred
Thanks for the timely and hopefully sobering heads-up. Table saws are not just another benign power tool. On-the-job injuries suggest that they may be one of the most dangerous tools. It would be hard to live without them – but they require proper training, constant awareness and respect in their use. Inexpensive jobsite table saws have increased their appeal for novice users who can easily get into serious trouble using them. With $150 in your wallet, you can buy a cheapie (Warrior brand) at HF and then think you are ready for “battle”. While today’s inexpensive saws probably include a blade guard, riving knife and anti-kickback pawls – many pro carpenters seem to remove all of these – scoffing at their benefits in favor of speed. The untrained newbie, trying to emulate the pro, may end up being an accident statistic.
My first stationary power saw was a Sears-Craftsman Radial Arm Saw – bought in the 1960’s. It was at or near their top of the line – and advertised as a do it all tool. One encounter with kickback when trying to rip a piece of dimensional lumber convinced me otherwise. While I was not injured, the amount of adrenaline that flowed through me convince me to not do that again.
Years later, when I had a bigger home shop, I bought my Unisaw – certainly better for ripping – but still subject to kickback. I had some experience with a Unisaw in HS Shop class and thought that I knew proper etiquette around it for safe operation. Some years into its use, I had a kickback incident that had a piece give me a glancing hit and a whopping bruise. An after-action analysis in my mind – convinced me that I was inattentive/fatigued, was standing in the wrong position and should never do that again. I later learned a bit about circadian rhythms and decided that for me early afternoons and evenings were not the time for undertaking potentially dangerous operations in the shop. I’ve been using my Unisaw now for about 50 years – and that first incident was my only really close call. I’ve still encountered a few minor kickbacks over the years, but my body parts have been clear of mostly splinters thrown off.
In one of the businesses that I partnered in (a Cabinet/Woodworking Shop) – we had a dedicated ripsaw (Oliver Straight Line) with a power feeder – that did help to ameliorate some of the potential for injury.
MM
Table saws are clearly dangerous, but I think that most people realize at least some of the risk–it’s a power saw, so quite clearly it can cut off body parts. I feel that many of the most dangerous tools in the workshop are those that don’t appear to be so dangerous at first glance because they don’t have sharp spinning blades or fire or other obvious threats of harm. And then it is much easier for someone to fall into a false sense of security and get hurt.
In my opinion a hydraulic press is extremely dangerous, especially those cheapos which are built using a bottle jack. People often stack up things like sockets or short pieces of steel rod or pipe to use as extensions when pressing….if things aren’t lined up correctly (which is almost the norm with a bottle-jack press), or one of those parts fails, the pieces can go flying sideways out the press with an incredible amount of power. I have seen a 3/8″-drive deep socket go flying out a press and embed itself in a cinder block wall on the opposite side of the shop. A puller (screw or hydraulic) can also store up a massive amount of energy which can suddenly be released if a jaw slips or a part lets go.
Lifting tools of any kind–jack, crane, forklift, engine hoist aka “cherry picker”–are always dangerous because people can’t help but put their body parts underneath a load. The “Hi-Lift” style jacks are both incredibly useful due to their flexibility but also especially dangerous since it is very easy to get yourself into trouble with one of those if you aren’t being very careful thinking about the stability of the jack, the load, ground conditions, how forces change as the load is lifted, and so on.
Bill
Ah the 1960s Craftsman radial arm saw. My dad bought one and I think he grew to hate it more than he enjoyed it. It proved dangerous to rip with and at times it would climb out of a crosscut. This saw had launched more than one board across his garage, but he was always mindful of this and stayed clear of its path.
Sears promoted these saws as the one tool that could do just about everything. And like most multi-function tools, it wasn’t great at any of them. Besides ripping and cross-cutting boards, Sears had attachments for sanding, molding cutters, dado blades, plaining and a drill chuck if I recall correctly. That’s all I can recall, but there may have been more.
MoogleMan3
My first and only kickback was back when I was younger, an inexperienced woodworker, and immortal (apparently). I made the mistake of cross cutting a small piece of 1/4″ hardboard using the miter gauge in conjunction with the fence. It was not a big piece; maybe 12″ long and 4″ wide.
It sounded like a gunshot and the the piece that got kicked back hit me in the gut. It felt like I got kicked by a mule and left a huge bruise (almost literally like in the thumbnail for one of the videos you posted).
I became a huge safety advocate after that, because it could have been a lot worse. I couldn’t care less about the “political” bs behind the sawstop and its patent, every shop who does woodworking as a business, or even serious hobbyists, should have one.
Great post Stuart.
Ken
One thing to note though, Sawstop saws blade brakes won’t prevent all of the potential harm from kickback(getting hit really hard by a flying chunk of wood) or the kickback itself. Presumably they can greatly reduce the harm from some of the worst kickback incidents where hands and arms are drug into the blade by the piece kicking back and other safety features built in like riving knives and blade guards are still needed to prevent or reduce the severity of kickback. Many of the worst kickback events on competitors saws involve removing those safety features.
Having worked at places with the Saw stop saws, they really are nice and it was refreshing to work somewhere with a high ratio of fingers to employees.
MoogleMan3
Yeah, the blade danger from a kickback comes from the piece being ripped from your hand and then the forward momentum flinging your hand/arm into the spinning blade. That’s where sawstop shines.
I also stay out of the path of the blade now too; I stand to the left of the “kickback zone” when ripping or crosscutting. Kelly mehler’s tablesaw dvd demonstrates this perfectly.
I don’t use a blade guard, but I never remove the riving knife from my saw. A riving knife/splitter is probably one of the best preventives of kickback aside from safe sawing practice.
And yeah, even without the blade sensing tech, sawstop saws are amazingly well built. I compared the trunion design between the 1 3/4HP PCS and powermatic PM1000 and the PM1000’s were anemic in comparison.
Plain+grainy
That cut can now be made with a Mag Switch( short fence).
Plain+grainy
Repeatable cuts with the Mag Switch.
MoogleMan3
For most crosscuts now, I use my crosscut sled.
MM
It may not be the latest tool news but this is a very important article nonetheless. Everybody can use a heads-up warning about kickback, even seasoned pros.
I had a very close call years ago. My college housemate’s father turned out to be a serious woodworker and was kind enough to loan me the use of his shop to work on a loudspeaker project. I was using his table saw (3 HP Delta) to rip some panels consisting of 3/4″ birch plywood laminated to 3/4″ MDF, so a total of 1.5″ thick. My project was rather complex so I had to work on it on several weekends. I had about half the panels ripped but I ran out of time. I came back the next week and go back to work roughing out the last couple of pieces. What I did not know was that sometime during the week, a contractor working in the owner’s home had used the saw briefly and cut some 2×4’s with screws embedded and now the blade was damaged. I fired the saw up with no knowledge of this and went to work. I could tell the cut sounded different when I was about halfway through and suddenly the blade caught the workpiece and flung it back at me; it was roughly 2 foot x 4 foot x 1.5″ thick. Somehow I saw it coming and managed to twist myself out of the way in time so it barely missed me, but it struck the door behind where I was standing with enough force to break the wood where the lockset was fitted, as though someone kicked it in.
Rafe
Riving knife, and if it doesn’t mess your program up too much, a blade guard. I started using a riving knife/blade guard combo about 6 years ago for purely because I was tired of dust and wanted a dust collection port at the blade. Now I can’t believe I ever used a saw without even a riving knife. Such a basic safety mechanism, and along with a blade guard much safer. Only rarely do I have to remove the knife or entire guard mechanism. A rear and blade mounted dust port are very nice also guys.
fred
I first saw riving knives on European saws. First thought was that they were no different than the splitters I had in the zero-clearance inserts on my Unisaw. But they move up and down with the blade and are not as easy to forget/remove – so they are better. The only advantage of the old splitters is that they come in different thicknesses so you can match your blade kerf a bit better. BTW a good zero-clearance insert can help prevent slivers from getting trapped against the blade resulting in some kickback issues. A well-aligned fence can also prevent pinch-point kickback.
Marko
I have got two different riving knives for Dewalt table saw that I swap together with the blades.
Andrew
^ This. I’m curious how many of these kickback incidents happened with a properly installed riving knife. Even if it’s not recorded, since riving knives are required for all new saws, you could guess by checking the number of kickback incidents overtime.
JoeM
I was told, at age 5, I think, “If it can fly off the table, it can fly into you. So, be extra safe!”
Back when my Mother’s friend had a table saw, and lent it to us for something Mom was making in miniatures. Wasn’t allowed to use it, but I wanted one ever since. Got to learn how they work and such though. Especially safety. There was a lot of “Duck!” and “Hands Up!” in those teachings back then. Not sure if they included “Hit The Emergency Stop Button!” contingency, but I do know it, so… I picked that up somewhere. Along with “When in doubt, use a Push Stick instead of risking your fingers.” That came from somewhere.
I’m glad you’re covering this, Stuart! Safety for everyone is good for everyone else! Should be regularly enforced and promoted!
Plain+grainy
There are lots of YouTube videos on different tools. They are great for keeping you refreshed on your tools operation. Many safety minded videos also.
AlexK
Was cutting quarter inch plywood on a Ryobi table saw outside. I was standing to the right side of the fence and a small piece shot back around twenty feet and hit the house. Sounded like a gunshot. What Fred wrote about Circadian rhythms is interesting. I only know that I eat a light lunch when working and work much slower around 2 pm.
Anyone have thoughts about the European design of table saws with a shorter fence? So it minimizes binding.
Chris I
When learning woodworking watching YTvids, I was astonished how many “educational” channels didn’t have riving knives on their saws.
I think the mindset of woodworkers is still macho and invincible.
Bonnie
There’s a lot of overlap with “Old Arn” folks and those building a shop on a budget. Many of those old tools simply didn’t have riving knives. For some saws it would require an involved retrofit to add one or there simply isn’t an option for riving knives or kickback pawls. There’s still a lot of old Unisaws out there in shops.
fred
I’m not sure about when riving knives started showing up on European saws – but back in the 1970’s when I bought my Unisaw Rockwell-Delta did not offer the feature – nor did Powermatic or any of the other top contenders in that class. Of course, there was no internet back then and researching product features was a bit tricky. I ended up adding a Delta sliding table and then swapping to a Biesemeyer fence. Both probably improved safety a tad – but the sliding table was always a bit kludgy – and not by design for ripping long pieces. As far as I can tell, adding a riving knife to an old Unisaw is not practical. So, I keep my fence well aligned, use a splitter in my zero-clearance insert, use featherboards and/or rolling-holdowns when appropriate, use push sticks and push sleds, rely on large infeed, outfeed and side support surfaces, and try to stay alert and out of the way of a potential kickback. Truth is, I’m doing less as I get older – and at some point may decide the table saw part of the hobby is no longer worth the risk.
David+VandeBerg
My dad wouldn’t let me use a saw until I respected/was afraid of it. Now a days, Saw-stop/OSHA aficionados would have a heart attack if they saw my everyday saw. Much respect and I’m left-handed, so never behind my work; No problems in 20yrs…..yet.
Andrew
Jimmy Diresta had about that much experience when he cut off a good chunk of his hand. It just takes once.
Bonnie
“yet”
That’s the key word there.
Mark M.
Great reminder. This can’t be emphasized enough. Other thoughts from someone with a few scars:
1) Never be in a rush. Nothing is so important as to be in a hurry around a saw.
2) If you’re tired, STOP. I know for trades it’s necessarily different but for DIYers, be honest with yourself and either take a break or come back tomorrow.
3) If something feels off, STOP. Binding, weird angles, something not feeding right, a dull blade. All of those should be a flashing red light in your brain.
Thankfully I still have all my digits but the stupid mistakes I’ve made have all 100% been related to either #1 or #2.
Mike
Back in the early 60’s, my dad was using a table saw in our basement. That saw did not have anti-kickback safety features. The blade got caught on a knot and threw the board back at my dad. He only had time to lift his hand to protect himself – the board amputated a finger at the first joint and the tip of a second finger. Every time I use a table saw, I take a moment to remember that accident before I turn the saw on.
Marco Lima
My experience I have worked with guys who have had tablesaw injuries of various degrees. I in 20 years of carpentry haven’t. I believe having always a fear of the saw/constant awareness and don’t fall into bad habits is key. Two tablesaw injuries of former colleagues was a ripping cuts. One splitting 2x4s in half and the other similar. They didn’t setup a stand to catch the long material towards the end of the cut so toward the end of an 8-10’ board when it lifted on their end due to the weight of the overhanging they pushed their hand down to save it and landed their hand/thumb/fingers right over the blade. I was dumb founded when I found out from them as all they had to do is rip it half way, flip and finish it the other half…
JMG
This post has refreshed many bad memories from shop accidents for both myself and others around me over the years. The resulting issues from those accidents caused me to reevaluate shop use of both table saws and radial arm saws. I eliminated radial arm saws altogether from the shop environment, and relegated the shop table saw primarily to ripping operations using a three roller stock feeder to minimize any issues.
Jointers were another tool that had its use minimized as there are many other processes that could be used in a much safer manner and achieve the same end results. Accidents on a jointer can be just as bad as table saw issues. Too many people, over the years, seemed to think that the guard was optional.
I also prioritized the use of stock feeders on shapers as well. Hold down jigs didn’t always eliminate kick backs on that tool either, but at least they minimized the resulting damage. I have some scary large cutters left over from custom requests that made me nervous to even use, let alone attempt to feed by hand.
As an aside, the reason for deleting radial saws was directly related to having met someone who had had their hand cut off by one that also spun the hand around and sliced off all the fingers. The following surgery to save the hand left him with a single finger. Seeing the post operation results left an indelible memory and healthy fear of that tool’s accident possibilities that still remains after forty plus years on…
Joatman
Same goes for chainsaw kickback.
frampton
I own a table saw gifted to me by my father that I never use. They scare the crap out of me.
Plain+grainy
Perhaps one day they will change the operating station. Then you will be on the opposite side of the saw, and pull the work toward you( instead of pushing the work into the blade. This may even incorporate a moving table.
Ken
That runs the risk of you getting pulled in with the work towards the blade. Even with the saw stop technology, I’d just as well rather not have that happen.
fred
I don’t have a lot of data – but I think that pulling the work through the blade has resulted in a fair share of hands being pulled into the rotating blade. If you do a lot of production commercial shop ripping – a straight line rip saw would seem to be the ticket. We had an Oliver – probably produced thousands of face frames without incident. Here’s a listing for a Powermatic (obviously not for the home shop):
https://www.amazon.com/Powermatic-1791285-Model-SLR12-Straight/dp/B001AZTCXA
Bonnie
That’s even more dangerous. The best spot to be would be to the side like on a sliding table saw, but those don’t excel at many of the cuts you usually make on a cabinet saw.
Plain+grainy
I was picturing more of a self feed, where work is pulled toward you. And guards to prevent being pulled into the blade.
Bonnie
If you’re using a power feeder it’s still probably safer to be in-front of the saw than behind it.
Julian Tracy
The new built-in universally designed riving knife, quick release guards and anti-kickback pawls on all jobsite saws the last 5-8 years has been great for safety and I use them whenever possible. Funny thing is, Through all the jobsite saws I’ve bought or sold (maybe 7-8 of them) over the last few years, every time I mention those features either to a buyer or another contractor in general , most of them give the typical reckneck reply: “Shoot! I throw that crap out as soon as I buy the saw!” “Those are for pussies!”
Of course 90% of contractors are pretty much meatheads anyways…. Natural selection, take your pick!
Dave
You couldn’t pay me to use a tablesaw, I’ve seen way too many people get hurt on them.
kent_skinner
I’m a big fan of the Jessem TS Guides – https://jessem.com/products/clear-cut-ts-stock-guides
I won’t say that they eliminate kickback, but they seem to reduce the risk by a huge amount. As a test, I’ve let go of a board while being cut (1.5hp Unisaw). Don’t do this at home, In testing with the saw off, it’s difficult to pull the board backwards out of the saw.
Quick to adjust (adds 10 seconds to the setup time) and on the occasion where you can’t use them, they pivot out of the way in seconds.
Yeah, they are expensive, but there’s no aftermarket riving knives for vintage Unisaaws.
Julian Tracy
I’ve also got a vintage Delta Unisaw (1942 vintage), and have the Jessem guides installed on my fence. They really do work like a miniature manual power feeder, safety-wise. I also use them on my router table and again – game changers.
fred
I bought my first pair in August 2013 – was impressed – so bought a pair for the router table 2 months later. They were $106.05 in 2013 – with tax and shipping. Inflation has certainly taken its toll – probably still worth the $270 asking price today.
kent_skinner
My Uni is from ’66, and was purchased new by a local high school I bought it a few years ago when they replaced it and a PM66 with SawStop. Probably a smart move by the school, and a good deal for me. I’ve been wanting one forever, and all I could afford back in the 90’s when I bought my first saw,
Dominic S
I had a kickback incident that almost cost me my teeth, thankfully I was standing far enough to the side that the workpiece hit me in the shoulder instead of my face or neck but it was too close for comfort. It was 100% my fault for trying to make a cut I had no business making with my lousy jobsite craftsman saw, which I hate.
Borys Medicky
Good comments by all. I should add that there are videos online of people using table saws for completely freehand cuts: no fence or miter gauge, just holding the stock with both hands and cutting to a line. Terrible idea. A track saw should be used instead.
Diplomatic Immunity
Correct me if I’m wrong but can’t most of this be mitigated by using various “sled” designs?