A man in his twenties contacted our office to discuss a significant injury
he suffered while using a table saw. Every year, tens of thousands of
injuries are suffered by table saw users. Many injuries occur as a result
of kick-back, and that is exactly what happened to this man. Kick-back
can occur even with experienced wood workers despite the exercise of reasonable
care. The table saw industry is aware of “Sawstop” technology,
which is a safety feature. Unfortunately, the industry is not regulated
such that Sawstop is added to all table saws. Sawstop is a safety feature
that utilizes electrical conductivity and stops the saw blade upon contact
with human skin. These product liability cases can be long and hard-fought.
For that reason, our criteria require that the injuries to the table saw
victim must be severe (amputation or other injury requiring surgery).
Additionally, the saw must be recently manufactured so that we can successfully
argue that flesh detection technology such as Sawstop should have been
incorporated. We also need to know the brand, model and serial number
of the saw and we need to make sure that the date of injury is within
the applicable statute of limitations.
