How much is a finger worth?

How about a hand? Do table saw manufacturers have an obligation to use the safest technology available? The first jury to consider this question -- in a recently settled civil lawsuit against the maker of Ryobi table saws -- answered "yes," to the tune of a 1.5 million dollar award to the plaintiff.

Over 50 additional lawsuits have already been filed against major table saw manufacturers for not using available safety technology. New table saw models have to be equipped with quick-adjusting blade guards with riving knives, but manufacturers can keep making older models that use less effective blade guards. The Ryobi saw that injured Carlos Osorio, the plaintiff in the case that shook the industry, is one of these older models. The saw cut his thumb, two fingers and nearly amputated another. In the case, the jury determined that Osorio was 35% responsible for his injuries, while the table-saw manufacturer was liable for the other 65%.

Table saws can be built to prevent cuts - but most don't

Before the Ryobi table saw that Osorio's employer bought was put into production, Ryobi (along with all the other table saw manufacturers) was offered technology that would prevent a saw from cutting human flesh any deeper than a slight nick. It's this SawStop blade-brake technology -- available for the past ten years but refused by table saw manufacturers -- that will probably be at issue in most of the lawsuits.

The award-winning SawStop technology stops the blade in milliseconds as soon as it touches anything as soft as human flesh. The blade can make a slight nick at worst, maybe requiring a band aid. That's a far cry from the $250,000 in medical bills Osorio's injury entailed, which is typical of the average 3,000 hand and finger amputations a year caused by the non-occupational use of table saws, according to a recently published study in the Journal of Trauma.

SawStop controversy

So when SawStop inventor Stephen Gass demonstrated the finger-saving technology to all the table saw manufacturers in 2000 and 2001, he expected them to embrace it with enthusiasm. Instead, they all refused to license it, arguing that it was impractical. Gass himself, though, had built his first prototype in his garage using a secondhand table saw and tested it not only on hot dogs (about as soft as human flesh) but on his own finger. (You can see a video of him demonstrating this safety technology again on his own finger.)

Employers and schools find they can cut insurance costs by installing SawStop table saws, but not all woodworkers are enthusiastic about the lawsuits. At Popular Woodworking, Glen Huey points out that it's difficult to incorporate SawStop technology into benchtop saws. Some readers commenting at Fine Woodworking and other woodworking forums maintain that it's up to the user to be smart and alert enough to avoid injuries.

In an article posted on Boston.com, One World Technologies, the company that makes Ryobi table saws, responds that despite the ruling, "we remain confident that the saw which was the subject of this lawsuit was well-designed and manufactured with all due consideration for the needs and safety of the consumer."

For links to more information on the table saw lawsuits, safety and the best and safest table saws currently available, see our full report on table saws.