Market research for chainsaw safety

[joe23232]

Hi,

I am carrying out some research into chainsaw safety as part of my University degree. As part of the research I need to find out some data regarding chainsaw injuries. If you have a minute could you please have a go at the quick question Poll attached, it would be a great help! Feel free to discuss about the accident in the replies or what your thoughts are on how a chainsaw could be made safer.
NOTE: No names or any personal data will be used in the data received

Thanks for your time!

 

[farmer steve]

Really no way to make a chainsaw safer Joe. Unless you don't start it. That said 25 years ago my dad was almost killed while dropping a dead hickory tree. He is experienced in this type of work. 1 small limb less than wrist size hit another tree on the way down. It snapped off and became a missile and hit him on the head. He was not wearing any safety gear. He recovered after part of his brain was removed and skull repaired and continued to cut trees. He is 91 years old now. 1 question for you. What type of degree are you pursuing? Good luck with it.

 

[joe23232]

Really no way to make a chainsaw safer Joe. Unless you don't start it. That said 25 years ago my dad was almost killed while dropping a dead hickory tree. He is experienced in this type of work. 1 small limb less than wrist size hit another tree on the way down. It snapped off and became a missile and hit him on the head. He was not wearing any safety gear. He recovered after part of his brain was removed and skull repaired and continued to cut trees. He is 91 years old now. 1 question for you. What type of degree are you pursuing? Good luck with it.

Thanks for your help and response Steve, much appreciated. I am studying Electrical Engineering. We are possibly looking for ways to stop kickback for amateur users who are not trained as well as professionals and as part of this we need injury data.

 

[farmguywithasaw]

I know a few people injured. No cuts I’m thankful. You may find that the majority of injury’s involved being hit with something. My dad had a close call once and got his chaps but only barely my grandfather the same. Knock on wood I have yet to even graze them. I personally got hit in the head with a small, brush size poplar. It hit my hard hat and was enough to knock me over. If I didn’t have the hat I think it would have been worse

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Hi,

I am carrying out some research into chainsaw safety as part of my University degree. As part of the research I need to find out some data regarding chainsaw injuries. If you have a minute could you please have a go at the quick question Poll attached, it would be a great help! Feel free to discuss about the accident in the replies or what your thoughts are on how a chainsaw could be made safer.
NOTE: No names or any personal data will be used in the data received

Thanks for your time!

Seems like we get a post like this every few months... must be a standard exercise in some textbook.

 

[computeruser]

Pretty much.

The surveys are sometimes more comprehensive but none show any meaningful familiarity with saws or saw use, which leaves you to wonder how useful the findings will be in designing a better mousetrap.

 

[DutchWoodPecker]

No, but I know a guy who last half of his thumb in a splitter. Does that count?

 

[CacaoBoy]

I suspect everyone who has used a chainsaw more than a few times has had some injury, if only cuts, scratches, and bruises from contact with cut and broken branches.

While I have never had an injury that required medical attention, I retain a vivid recollection from my youth -- I did a ride along on an ambulance to pick up a young farmer who tore up a leg pretty badly. The sight of his injury impressed on me how dangerous are chainsaws, and not just the machines themselves but the risks posed by trees and branches with lots of weight and tension, and debris surrounding trees that may trip a person trying to move clear of a falling tree. I consider my saws to be more dangerous than my firearms and always wear my PPE.

I know someone who tells of having a kickback that came within an inch of opening her skull. I do not know the details of the saw nor how it happened.

As you are "studying Electrical Engineering. We are possibly looking for ways to stop kickback" I suspect you are considering a senor to detect the sudden movement of kickback and instantly brake the chain. If your objective is to eliminate kickbacks, I think that is impossible without impairing functionality of the saw, the best you could achieve would be to mitigate, not eliminate, injuries. The problem I see would be translating the electronic signal to a mechanical brake capable of stopping the chain quickly enough to make a difference, and to do that without adding unacceptable weight and cost, and to do that without normal vibrations being mistaken for kickback. Good luck. Have you measured how long it would take a saw tip to travel from the point of a detectable kickback to impact with a body part?

 

[KarlP]

Really no way to make a chainsaw safer Joe. Unless you don't start it.

I've only ever hurt myself with a chainsaw when slipping and slicing my finger while sharpening or burning my hand on a hot muffler, never while one was running.

 

[Philbert]

Why is this ‘Market Research?

Thanks

Philbert

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

Im interested in a movie where the main VILLAIN gets killed by the ever threatening "Kick Back!" Of his saw while chopping up teenagers at a summer camp.
This subject has been beaten to death, an inexperienced user should be running their saw with an experienced user who has proper training, we cant idiot proof the world .
Homelite's solution was probably the best option with the little shield bolted to the end of the bar. That allowed inexperienced cutters to get some trigger time in a relative safe way.
Ive seen a chunk of 4x4 sticking out of a shop ceiling where a young man was using a miter saw to cut posts, the common denominator is not the saws we use but rather the knowledge of the user.

 

[Bearcreek]

Feel free to discuss about the accident in the replies or what your thoughts are on how a chainsaw could be made safer.

Chainsaws can't be made safer without making them less useful.

We are possibly looking for ways to stop kickback for amateur users who are not trained as well as professionals and as part of this we need injury data.

The way to do that is for the amateurs to get training so that they're not amateurs.

 

[derwoodii]

The majority of saw cut injuries are wounds to the left leg and then left hand,
The left leg cause is the positioning of leg into harms way by operator & loss of saw control.

The left hand is by user handling moving timber while operating saw
Top handle saws are primary cause of this injury.

Training and awareness & PPE cut proof saw pants/chaps could help reduce or saws could be fitted with cut out on handle but this would harm sales and soon deactivated ( worked around) by users.

 

[swingdjted]

One of my saws is a somewhat old Stihl 362 CMQ. It has a safety feature that many Stihl dealers around here claim they have never seen. On the top of the rear handle there is a lever bigger than normal, and it not only serves the usual purpose, but also is connected to the chain brake so that when you remove your trigger hand, the chain is locked. This stops the flywheel effect if you let go and keeps the chain braked any time you are holding the saw only by the front handle. This is very handy when limbing because you can brake and unbrake without any extra action like pushing the front standard chain brake, especially when you're repositioning to make new cuts. StihlUSA told me in YouTube comments that they discontinued the feature on all saws, but I actually like that feature and I'll use that saw any time I'm in awkward situations where I have to reposition myself often because of it. I think they called it "Quickstop". Anyone else ever use a saw with that feature?

 

[Dave1960_Gorge]

No poll attached. Once nicked the side of my left thumb with a top handle Stihl 200T because I was holding the wood I was cutting, instead of stepping on it with heavy boots and chaps. Never will do that again.

I grabbed my thumb to stop the bleeding and was afraid to look at it for several long seconds. Then I looked: all I did was rip off part of the nail and peel the skin off the side down to the knuckle; I was sure that the end of my thumb was gone. It was really painful and took a long time to heal. Still skinnier than my right thumb.

 

[Howard Justice]

Just wondering if this one day evolves into the Tablesaw “SawStop Patent Issue” we see now with Bosch and SawStop fighting legal battles. See videos of hot dog making contact w blade and it’s immediate stopping. Maybe if all saws one day are electric (I hope not) this chain stop technology might be more feasible?

 

[Modark]

I do have a corded electric chainsaw that stops the chain as soon as you let go off the tigger like a chain break has engaged. And on the topic of kickback. I know a, now retired, forester that cut up his face pretty bad due to kickback. He was not wearing a helmet with the wire face shield but lucky for him the chain had stopped by the time it hit him. A nice sharp chain meant he still needed stitches. The saw was a 254xp

 

[Philbert]

Anyone seen the OP?

That’s usually the way these ‘part of a class ‘ threads go.

Philbert

 

[Sawdust Man]

I've never sawed on myself with any kind of saw, nor do I anyone who has, (and I know plenty of idiots).
If you could install a reasonable amount of common sense into people, that would do more good than all the brakes and guards in the world, but trouble seems to be that universities don't specialize in common sense, just degrees.
If you are successful in developing a "smart brake" for chainsaws, someone will have to get the government make it mandatory because most people that actually work with them won't buy them.

No offense intended, just my observations.

Good luck.

 

[Maintenance supervisor]

That is exactly the University standard, " I can't do your job ,but I'm going to tell you how to do it"
Security is a prison not freedom.