Safer Saws: California Table Saw Safety Bill Flops

In 2007 and 2008 U.S. emergency rooms treated 66,900 saw blade-related injuries, with amputations accounting for 12% of those cases, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The economic cost of those accidents topped $2.3 billion each year, the agency said.

Despite those statistics, the controversial California legislative bill AB 2218, which would have required table saws sold in the state after Jan. 1, 2015 to have active injury mitigation technology (i.e., technology that detects when a hand or finger comes into contact with the teeth of the blade), has been ordered to the inactive file. Proponents of the bill would have to reintroduce it during the next California Legislature session.

A similar table saw safety technology to address the risk of injury associated with blade contact is being considered for a nationwide safety standard by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency is reviewing the public comments on the bill that it requested last year.

Finger-Pointing: Why would remodelers fight against a better blade guard?

Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Make Table Saws Safer