CPSC's analysis puts the annual cost of table saw accidents at around $4 billion. The cheapest table saws sell for a bit under $200.ĬPSC commissioners in favor of the rule point out that the $200 price difference is dwarfed by the financial cost, and pain and harm caused by 30,000 ER visits and more than 4,000 amputations every year. Gass says SawStop is about to come out with a $400 saw with his injury prevention system. But those cost estimates have ranged over time. The industry has said the cost is too onerous. For one, adding the safety technology will add cost to the saws. The industry for years has had a long list of complaints and concerns about mandating this kind of safety standard. So I come with frustration and I'm really hoping that we adopt this mandatory standard.'Įven after all this time, it's unclear whether the CPSC will vote to adopt the rule. And there's going to be another 10 tomorrow.

That means 'six people have already had fingers amputated today. 'As we speak it's about 12:30,' Ward says. 'It's kind of been a lifelong dream of mine to be a firefighter it's been in my family forever, and this injury has put that to an end,' Ward says. His dad's a firefighter and he says he grew up in the firehouse with his dad every day. So the Consumer Product Safety Commission staff says a new rule is needed to make table saws safer.īeyond the surgeries and the pain, Ward says it has limited his life. The industry's efforts to date have failed to reduce serious injuries. Four of his fingers were either cut off or badly mangled. In 2013, Ward was in a wood shop class in high school when a table saw jerked the wood he was cutting in a way that sent his left hand smashing into the spinning blade. Joshua Ward from Oregon wanted to be there. The hearing was also a chance for the broader industry and the public to weigh in.

To this day the company says SawStop has never been involved in a serious table saw accident and has documented more than 5,000 'finger saves.' He estimates his saws are '99 percent' effective at preventing injuries. Gass told the commissioners that history has continued to prove his technology effective. And it has issued a draft of the proposed rule for public comment. The CPSC staff recommended creating a mandatory standard requiring them to have sensing technology that could stop the blade to prevent injuries. Joshua Ward was injured by a table saw during a high school class in 2013.Įarlier this year, the safety commission voted to take a key step toward a new safety rule for table saws.

Table saw cut fingers