Skil saw kickback (kickoff)?
 

Imagine, gentlemen, if you will, a perfect storm of poor judgement,
stupidity and bad conditions that led to about 2 inches being the
difference between a 'Holy S**t! WTF was that!?' and an OSHA
recordable.

A crew of form carpenters is forming a fairly substantial slab. It's
3 pm on a Friday, and the crew is winding down, getting ready for
their weekend. As the last few form boards are getting set, one of
the crew members measures the remainder on the form, and calls it out
to the "cut man."

Sawhorses? Nah, those are all the way over there. He props the 2x10
on a steel shoring beam that is about gut height. Wait, don't want
the saw to catch THAT. So, he moves the form board over onto a more
yielding surface: a stack of 2x3x3-foot stakes (sitting atop the
shoring beam). About halfway through the cut, apparently one of the
saw teeth caught one of the stakes, because it shot out across the
workzone at a pretty considerable rate of speed. Had it not hit one
of the other workers (the pointy end) a glancing blow on the shoulder,
I'm sure it would have traveled 30 feet before hitting the ground. 2
inches to the right, and that guy would be in the hospital with a 3-
foot form stake sticking out of his neck. All of this literally right
in front of the foreman and the PM, who were having a discussion while
looking out over the site. Nothing was said, no reprimand, nothing.

I'm so glad I'm outside the chain of command here.

Phil

Skil saw kickback (kickoff)?
 

wrote in message
...
Imagine, gentlemen, if you will, a perfect storm of poor judgement,
stupidity and bad conditions that led to about 2 inches being the
difference between a 'Holy S**t! WTF was that!?' and an OSHA
recordable.

A crew of form carpenters is forming a fairly substantial slab. It's
3 pm on a Friday, and the crew is winding down, getting ready for
their weekend. As the last few form boards are getting set, one of
the crew members measures the remainder on the form, and calls it out
to the "cut man."

Sawhorses? Nah, those are all the way over there. He props the 2x10
on a steel shoring beam that is about gut height. Wait, don't want
the saw to catch THAT. So, he moves the form board over onto a more
yielding surface: a stack of 2x3x3-foot stakes (sitting atop the
shoring beam). About halfway through the cut, apparently one of the
saw teeth caught one of the stakes, because it shot out across the
workzone at a pretty considerable rate of speed. Had it not hit one
of the other workers (the pointy end) a glancing blow on the shoulder,
I'm sure it would have traveled 30 feet before hitting the ground. 2
inches to the right, and that guy would be in the hospital with a 3-
foot form stake sticking out of his neck. All of this literally right
in front of the foreman and the PM, who were having a discussion while
looking out over the site. Nothing was said, no reprimand, nothing.

Back in the day, there was something called a safety engineer. I knew a
couple of them. I don't know if there is a modern day equivalent. If not,
there should be. If safety is not a concern of the crew, then stupid things
like this happen. Safety consciousness may be a PITA simetimes. But if it
prevents injuries, deaths. etc., it is worth it.

Skil saw kickback (kickoff)?
 

On 2009-03-21, wrote:
saw teeth caught one of the stakes, because it shot out across the
workzone at a pretty considerable rate of speed.

Sounds like that ancient high school safety film shown in most shop classes
back in the 50s, where a student sets the table saw blade way low so the
cutting force is pushing horizontally instead of high so the teeth are
pushing the work down onto the table surface. Anyway, the low blade grabs
the finished rip, an approx 2"x2" cut, and flings it across the shop where
it impails another student, the student's stomach entrails grossly wrapped
around the protruding spear. A classic in its day. ;)

nb

Skil saw kickback (kickoff)?
 

wrote in message
...
in front of the foreman and the PM, who were having a discussion while
looking out over the site. Nothing was said, no reprimand, nothing.

I'm so glad I'm outside the chain of command here.

The eloquence of the action and reaction needs no more elaboration. He
either is a skilled workman, now also wiser for the near mishap, and an
asset to the team, or he was a barely worthwhile liability waiting for the
crew to expend its last bit of patience. What isn't said is sometimes louder
and clearer than what is said.

So now we have an illustration of the distinction between "nearly hit", as
perhaps yelled by an oversensitive motorcyclist nonconversationally into an
open convertible, and a "near miss". There's just no mistaking the two, even
though the outcomes are largely not much different. One makes you more aware
of your mortality and appreciative of your time on this planet, while the
other brings out the excitable girlie girl in the man.