Carpenter Amputates Finger While Using Circular Saw

At 11:20 a.m. on July 28, 2010, Employee #1 was working as a regular employee for the construction company Edge Development, Inc. He was a journeyman carpenter with eleven years experience as a carpenter. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was cutting wedges off the end of a 2-inch by 4-inch board believed to be approximately 20 inches long. The wedges were roughly less than one inch to an inch tall on one end by seven inches to eight inches long by 1.625 inches wide. He was using a fairly new Skilsaw Model SHD77 worm drive circular saw with Serial Number 785-103083 to cut the wedges. He used the trigger switch of the Skilsaw, a momentary contact switch as defined in CCR 3941, to energize the saw so that it would cut the 2-inch by 4-inch board. He was wearing tight fitting gloves that had been provided by the company. He was cutting the 2-inch by 4-inch board on a flat bench made by placing a pallet on two saw horses. He was holding the board with his left hand and cutting the board with his right hand with the board lying on the bench. He rotated the board after each wedge was cut so that the next wedge could be cut from the other side of the board. He was cutting the wedges in the open area of the pallet so that he was only cutting the 2-inch by 4-inch board and not cutting into the wood of the bench surface. Employee #1 stated that the accident and injuries occurred when, as he was cutting a wedge in the board, the Skilsaw kicked back for some reason. When the Skilsaw kicked back, its turning blade contacted Employee #1’s gloved left hand, and he amputated the little finger on his left hand. He received first aid treatment at the worksite and was transported to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, CA, by a coworker.

Source:  https://www.osha.gov