Safeguarding Table and Panel Saws —

Employers and Supervisors

Supervisor impact and influence

The purpose of this document is to provide you as an employer or supervisor with information to assist you in protecting your workers from injury on table and panel saws. As an employer, you must equip your table and panel saws with effective point-of-operation safeguarding. As a supervisor, your role is to ensure that safeguards are used as required and to train workers to work safely.

Contacting a saw blade turning at high speed with any part of your body is a virtual guarantee of an amputation injury. It's impossible to foresee every circumstance that may occur when operating woodworking machinery. Guards protect you against unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances such as kickbacks or jammed materials, and are designed to prevent accidental contact with the blade.

Table saw with self-adjusting guard

Safeguarding the point of operation

The point of operation of a woodworking machine is where the stock is cut, shaped, bored, or formed. Of the 208 amputations that occurred in the woodworking industry in the five years from 2001 to 2005, the vast majority involved table saws and, to a lesser degree, panel saws. With very few exceptions, these saws were not equipped with point-of-operation safeguarding (blade guards and other devices) at the time these incidents occurred.

As an employer, you are required by law to ensure that your machinery is equipped and operated in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

For specific information on the requirements for safeguarding table and panel saws, please refer to the information sheet Table and Panel Saw Safeguarding Basics.

Safety is a shared responsibility

Everyone in the shop has a role to play to keep the workplace safe:

• Employers have a responsibility to equip their machinery as required by the OHS Regulation.
• Supervisors must ensure that safeguards are used when required and that workers follow their training.
• Workers must work in accordance with the safety regulations, follow their training, and report any safety concerns to their supervisors.

How to deliver a crew talk

Prior to giving this crew talk, ensure that all machinery is safeguarded as required.

• Read about safeguarding before you talk to your crew about the safe use of table and panel saws. Read the WorkSafeBC manual Safeguarding Machinery and Equipment: General Requirements, pages 68-78.
• Read sections 12.2, 12.3, 12.58, 12.59, and 12.60 of the OHS Regulation.
• Gather your crew together to watch the slide show Guarding for Woodworking.
• Distribute the Safeguarding Table and Panel Saws crew handout after watching the slide show.
• Emphasize that blade guards are not a guarantee against injury. Saw operators must pay attention, use all safeguarding devices as required, and follow safe work practices at all times.

Discussion topics

1. Emphasize WorkSafeBC statistics. In the five years from 2001 to 2005 there were 208 amputations and 1,048 serious cuts and lacerations in the woodworking industry in B.C.
2. State that this crew talk is to prevent them from becoming one of these statistics.
3. Use the Crew Handout as your discussion guide.
4. Explain which saws have been safeguarded to meet the requirements of the OHS Regulation.
5. Explain the safe work procedures to be followed when using table and panel saws.
6. Emphasize that safeguarding is mandatory. Make sure all workers are trained in following safe work procedures.
7. Dispel the attitude that "it won't happen to me." Don't encourage or allow shortcuts or carelessness.
8. Cite at least two true stories of injuries from your experience or that of the crew (or use the Hazard Alert on this page).
9. Instruct the crew to identify and report any safety concerns on machinery they operate.
10. Answer any questions or concerns they might have.
11. Set a good example by working safely at all times.

Employer support resources

Read a copy of the WorkSafeBC pamphlet Safety on the Job Is Everyone's Business: The Responsibilities of Employers, Supervisors, and Workers (PDF 84 KB), available at WorkSafeBC.com.

Keep the ball rolling: Follow-up

As an employer, you are required by law to ensure that your machinery is equipped and operated in accordance with the OHS Regulation.

You must effectively train your crew in the proper use of safeguards, and be vigilant in your supervision to ensure that safe work practices are followed.

After this crew talk, inform your workers that you will:

• OBSERVE work activity to ensure that safeguards are being used consistently and correctly.
• SUPPORT positive behaviours when safeguarding devices have been used correctly.
• CORRECT unsafe work practices when they are observed.
• REINFORCE safe work practices for table and panel saws by presenting this crew talk periodically.

WorkSafeBC resources

Print the booklet Safeguarding Machinery and Equipment: General Requirements (PDF 4.6 MB) and review the sections applicable to safeguarding woodworking machinery. Ensure that managers cover the relevant sections of the booklet in more detail with their crews. Visit WorkSafeBC.com to purchase or download this booklet for free.