Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315776757 - Pacific Peninsula Group

Inspection Information - Office: Foster City District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 11, 2013, Employee #1, a carpenter foreman employed by Pacific Peninsula Group, was performing interior carpentry at a residential construction site. He was using a Bosch 4000 stand-mounted benchtop table saw with a 10-inch blade to cut wood pieces for framing modifications. As he was making the first rip cut to a section of laminated wood product measuring approximately 16 inches long by 1.75 inches wide by 4 inches high, his left hand contacted the blade. His left hand and fingers were severely cut. Emergency services were called, and the Mountain View Fire Department responded. Employee #1 was transported to Stanford Hospital, where he was admitted and treated. His left middle finger, which had been completely severed past the first knuckle near the palm, was surgically reattached. The left ring finger, which was severed through the bone past the first knuckle, also was reattached, but during a return hospital visit this finger required surgical amputation. This event was timely reported to Cal/OSHA by the employer, and also reported by the Mountain View Fire Department. In its subsequent investigation, Cal/OSHA identified the employer as a construction management company performing as a general contractor for this residential apartment building project, with tasks being performed by its own employees as well as subcontractors. The task Employee #1 was performing required two rip cuts to the section of laminated wood product to achieve the desired finished piece, because the blade was capable of rising only to approximately 3 inches high. Employee #1 was working alone, and no witness to the event was identified. The guard for the Bosch 4000 included a hood, a splitter, and an anti-kickback device combined as a single unit. This guard/hood was at the site, but Employee #1 stated the guard was not installed on the saw at the time he began to plan and perform his cuts. Employee #1 stated he set the rip fence to the right of the blade at approximately 1.25 inches and had no other anti-kickback attachments, separate from the guard/hood, available to install. He also stated he did not install any featherboards or jigs to use as he made cuts without the use of the guard/hood. Employee #1 stated he was pushing and guiding the wood through the blade, with his right hand positioned at the end of the wood length nearest to him, and his left hand positioned on the top and at the end of the wood farther away from him. He stated there was no push block or push stick at the saw, and he did not make one to use. He stated that the first cut was almost complete, and the blade was about to come out at the back side of the wood piece, when the wood kicked back and shot past his right side. He stated his left hand was extended behind and over the saw blade before the cut, but was pulled back partially by the kick-back, or his hand movement may have been reflexive. The result was that his left hand contacted the blade. The investigation report included a comment that the guard, anti-kickback, and spreader features of the Bosch 4000 were not separable. They were designed to extend above and past the blade of the saw and would not have allowed the uncut portion of the wood piece to have passed. The first cut of the employee's two-step cutting plan was similar to a dado or cut where the blade does not extend through the top of the wood. The report concluded that the type of rip cut Employee #1 was making was allowable without use of the blade's guard/hood only when additional protective devices, such as featherboards, were being used and separate anti-kickback devices had been installed. No protective devices, such as featherboards or anti-kickback attachments, were available or installed on the table saw during the time when the saw's guard/hood was not in place. No push sticks or push blocks were available during the time when the table saw was being used. These devices also could have helped to protect the

Keywords: KICK BACK, AMPUTATED, CARPENTER, FINGER, GUARD, CONSTRUCTION, LACERATION, BLADE, UNGUARDED, TABLE SAW