FACTS

Common injuries caused by power tools include the following:

1. Electric shock. When using electric tools, workers are at risk of a shock that could cause heart fibrillation and burns or startle the worker to fall off an elevated work surface and suffer other injuries.
2. Eye injuries. Saws, sanders, grinders, and other similar tools produce debris that can hit a worker in the eye, causing serious and permanent damage.
3. Puncture wounds and lacerations. With even a slight slip of the hand, a nail gun, drill, saw, or other tool could easily puncture flesh, causing an injury that requires stitches, damages ligaments and tendons.
4. Crushing injuries and amputations. Electric saws, jackhammers, forklifts, and chippers have the power to crush a person who gets caught in machinery or cut off the limb of an operator.
5. Repetitive-use injuries. While power tools are designed to make tasks easier for the worker, you can still experience soft-tissue and repetitive injuries from long-term use. The vibration from a jackhammer can cause joint and nerve damage that could be permanent.
6. Hearing loss. Being exposed to the loud noises caused by power tools can cause permanent hearing loss.

STATS

Emergency room (ER) visits per year caused by Power Tools:

• Power nailers or nail guns: 37,000 emergency room visits/year
• John Deere-type Riding Lawn Mowers: 37,000 hospital visits a year
• Chain Saws: 36,000 ER visits/year
• Stationary Table Saws: 29,000 ER visits/year
• Snowblowers: 5,7000 ER Visits per year; 19 deaths
• Circular or Rotary Saws: 10,600 ER cases/year
• Power Drills: 5,800
• Yearly, there are over 960,000 injuries caused by power tools.
• There are over 200 deaths each year that are caused by power tools.
• 29,000 emergency room department visits were caused by table saw mishaps.
• Every year in the U.S., power tool injuries result in approximately 400,000 emergency room visits, including both work and non-work-related incidents. More than 22,000 of these power tool accidents involve workers using nail guns.