Kickbacks are one of the most infamous and feared types of power tool accident injuries that can happen on a worksite. Kickback accidents happen very fast; without warning; and are known to be violent and strong.
Sadly, each year there will continue to be catastrophic injuries suffered by workers in a kickback accident with power tools while on the job even though the risks are obvious and the ways to prevent them and protect the worker are clear. Most every kickback injury is the result of a preventable work accident that is the result of one or more parties failing to meet their legal duties of safety and care.
Power tools are recognized to be inherently dangerous on any industrial worksite. Those on the job in our warehousing, manufacturing, maritime, agri-business, construction, metalworking, or mining industries should be provided protection from all the hazards that come with the use of power tools. Chief among them, especially with some types of power tools, are the dangers of a serious or fatal kickback.
For more, see Infamously Dangerous Power Tools: Angle Grinders, Chainsaws, Table Saws, Lathes; Metalwork Tool Accidents: Hand Tool and Power Tool Dangers on the Job; and Power Tools and the Risk of Serious or Deadly Construction Accidents.
What Is A Kickback?
A kickback comes with the use of a tool using a power source (battery; electric cord; pneumatic (air); etc.). It describes the jerking or kicking of the power tool back towards the worker operating the tool. There is no advance warning. The jerk or kick happens almost immediately and with great force when the tool is bound or blocked or obstructed in some way.
Kickbacks are particularly dangerous when the power tool operates a sharp object or blade, such as most power cutting tools (think saws and grinders). If the kickback is violent enough to thrust the blade (or sometimes the object being cut) into the body of the worker, then a severe cut or blow can result. These can cause life-altering injuries or death.
Read, Cuts Can Kill: Tool Accidents on the Job in Illinois or Indiana.
How Do Kickbacks Happen on the Worksite?
It is known by safety experts, government agencies, those advocating for worker victims and their loved ones, as well as employers, tool manufacturers, and others with custody or control of aspects of the jobsite that kickback risks involve things like:
- Failure of those responsible for the power tools to keep the blades sharp. Dull blades are prone to becoming snagged or stuck in material (wood, metal). As the power pushes through, there can be a kickback.
- Failure of those responsible for the worksite to setup the power tool or its components (like the power source) in proper working order. Power surges can cause kickbacks. So can unsteady work surfaces where the worker is faced with an imbalanced stance, or a saw is not level and sturdy. Safety guards should never be removed from the power tool.
- Disrespecting the need for proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that can save a worker’s life in a kickback accident. This includes gloves, eye protection, and more, depending upon the particular tool and the specific worksite.
- Lack of training in the proper use of the power tool. Workers need to understand how to properly use any industrial tool, especially ones that are known to be hazardous. Training needs to be done on how to apply the proper force to a power tool and in the steady feeding of the material into a blade. Patience pays when using a saw or grinder.
- Additionally, workers new on the job should be supervised on their use of dangerous power tools because they are particularly vulnerable to severe power tool injuries from kickbacks.
- Use and instruction manuals for all power tools should be made available to the operator.
- Those in control of materials should never provide workers with substandard materials for use on the jobsite. Warped wood, for instance, invites a saw blade to kickback.
Legal Regulations and Industrial Standards to Protect Workers Against Kickback Injuries
Kickbacks are recognized dangers in both legal regulations creating duties of safety and care for workers on the job as well as in industrial standards that have been formed and adopted by recognized safety experts.
Workers in Illinois and Indiana are protected by these safety regulations through our State OSHA Plans. The industrial standards do not have the force of law; nevertheless, they can help define a breach of duty in a legal claim for damages based upon negligence or product liability.
For more, read Workplace Safety and OSHA Regulations in Indiana and Illinois; also read: “Saw Safety: Risk in the Real World,” written by Richard S. Current, Bruce W. Main, and McKinnon Main, and published by Professional Safety: American Society of Safety Professionals in November 2020.
As for the specific legal duties that protect our workers from kickback injuries in power tool accidents, safety regulations will vary depending upon the industrial worksite. Construction workers, for instance, are protected by a distinct set of legal safety regulations that differs from those that apply to the general industrial workplace.
Safety Protections: Ripsaw Example
One example here: any worker tasked with using a ripsaw is protected by law from kickback accidents by 29 CFR 1910.213(c)(2),(3); (s)(2). These safety laws demand that safety include things like:
- Using anti-kickback fingers to hold the stock down in the event that the saw kicks back the material;
- Maintaining and sharpening the blade; and
- Using a spreader to prevent material from squeezing the saw or kicking back during ripping.
OSHA also advises additional safety precautions to avoid kickbacks here that include:
- Use the proper blade for the cutting action. For example, do not use a crosscut blade for ripping.
- Operate the saw at the speed specified by the manufacturer.
- Leave sufficient clearance for stock.
- Stand to the side of the saw blade to avoid injury due to kickback.
- Guide the wood to be cut parallel to the rip fence to minimize the potential for kickback.
- Avoid crosscutting long boards on table saws. Considerable hand pressure is required close to the saw blade, and the boards create a safety hazard to other people.
- Use a filler piece between the fence and the saw blade when necessary, such as when there is little clearance on the fence side.
Power Tools with High Risks for Kickback
A number of power tools used daily by workers here in Illinois and Indiana are extremely likely to kickback and cause harm if proper protections are not provided. These include the following:
Circular Saws
Used on construction sites, in factories, and on farms, among other worksites, are circular saws. These are portable saws with sharp blades that can suddenly thrust with great force toward their operator in a horrific kickback accident.
Making sure that the blades of a circular saw are sharp, clean, and in good repair (no missing teeth) is mandatory here. Providing the worker with stock that is in good condition is also vital. A carpenter faced with knotty wood is at risk of a kickback.
Chainsaws
In a chainsaw, no matter its length, a kickback can happen when the nose of the guide bar hits something that blocks or snags the chainsaw while in motion. The force moving the chain will suddenly push upward or backward, depending upon the object being cut. If the chainsaw blade comes into contact with the operator, there is a great danger of serious or deadly cut injuries.
Miter Saws
Kickbacks with miter saws involve the saw blade slamming the object back towards the operator at a high speed that can cause injury or death upon contact. The saw blade will suddenly reverse direction, usually because the object is binding or blocking the blade’s forward movement. Dull blades; the absence of blade guards; failure to clean away sawdust and debris; and flaws in the object or material being cut all contribute to the risk of a miter saw kickback.
Pole Saws
Pole saws are used to cut objects at a height, such as tree branches and limbs. Kickbacks are a danger here when the power tool hits a snag or block, or where the object pulls against the chain suddenly as the tool is trying to cut. Things like dull blades, loose rivets, or problems with the chain’s depth, etc., can contribute to kickback accidents with a pole saw.
Angle Grinders
One of the most common power tools used by our industrial workers today are angle grinders. However, the risk of a kickback from an angle grinder remains one of the greatest risks for any power tool on the job. Kickbacks here can happen as the tool is being used to cut, grind, or even polish an object, as the grinder’s wheel can get blocked and is suddenly forced backwards toward its operator.
Kickbacks with angle grinders are particularly risky if the safety guards have been removed; the wrong wheel is being used; blades have not been kept sharp and clean; or the disc itself is flawed or improperly installed.
Kickback Accidents in Illinois or Indiana: Power Tool Injuries
Power tools, especially those using blades like saws or grinders, are known to be very dangerous for any worker who is required to use them on the job. These tools should be designed, manufactured, distributed, sold, and marketed with safety features that protect against kickback accidents. This includes things like auto-stop devices if the blade begins to tug or stall or hit against a hurdle of some sort. Kickback dogs and safety guards are recognized product protections.
However, power tools will fail and kickback injuries will happen. Defective blades, substandard safety guards, even altered tools (like removed guards or finagled blades) can be the cause of a horrific kickback accident. Investigations after the accident may reveal several different parties have legal responsibility for what has happened, based upon workers’ compensation, negligence, premises liability, and product liability laws. Read, When Tools Are to Blame for Serious Work Accidents: Who’s Responsible? Product Liability and Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
The result of serious kickback accidents with power tools can be severe cuts where bleeding; shock; or infection can cause permanent harm or even death in a matter of minutes. Workers are also at risk of kickbacks having such force that there is an on-the-site amputation injury (traumatic amputation) of finger, hand, toe, foot, etc.
Kickback accidents are often very serious and horrific work accidents involving power tools known to be dangerous. Some of the most popular power tools (angle grinders; circular saws; etc.) can cause a deadly kickback injury. Please be careful out there!
