Approximately 4,000 workers get their fingers cut off by saws each year. The sad part about this is that saw accidents are completely avoidable for the most part. New technology — which can be cheaply installed on modern saws — can stop a saw instantly if it comes into contact with human skin, thereby avoiding injury.
The safety feature known as SawStop has been around for more than a decade. It renders a saw inert, quickly and safely preventing injury when it comes in contact with flesh. If the safety feature is utilized by employers, it will help prevent horrible and gruesome injuries, and it will prevent exorbitant medical bills associated with those injuries.
Still, each year, over 67,000 workers and at-home craftsmen get hurt by table saws. These injuries result in over 33,000 visits to emergency rooms and approximately 4,000 amputations. The average medical bill in these cases amounts to a whopping $35,000. In fact, table saw injuries are blamed for over $2.3 billion is costs to society every year, when considering medical bills, lost income and pain and suffering associated with the injuries.
SawStop has been manufacturing table saws since 2004. In the last decade, the company believes that its machinery has saved at least 2,000 fingers — and that is only the reported incidents. It is quite possible that many more fingers have been saved. When the SawStop feature is activated, saw accident victims suffer nothing more than a small nick, or at worst require a few stitches. The technology is truly a miracle in terms of the lives it has positively affected.
Unfortunately, not all employers have come on board with this new technology and many workers in Virginia Beach and across the country still end up losing one of their fingers in preventable saw accidents. At the very least, these workers are usually protected by workers’ compensation insurance and can get benefits to help pay for their medical care and time spent unable to work. If you or your loved one has been injured in a table saw accident, the Dickerson & Smith Law may be able to help you pursue workers compensation benefits for the injuries.