Near Miss: Saw Blade Flys Off
This week's near miss report deals with the daily maintenance check of a circular saw.
I was doing a morning check out on the aerial tower on which I was riding the T3 position. I went to start the (name deleted) diamond blade saw. I had been warned a few months ago by my captain that I should not just start the saws with out first checking the blades or chains, depending on the saw. So I did a visual check on the blade of the diamond tip and quickly tried to turn the holding bolt of the diamond tip to see if it was loose. It did not seem loose so I proceeded with the starting of the saw. About ten seconds into starting the saw, the blade appeared to be wobbling. I immediately hit the "off" switch. As the motor turned off the blade continued to rotate, the holding bolt came out, the blade flew off the saw, rolled about twenty feet and embedded itself about half an inch deep into a bay door.
Oooo, that could have been bad. Here are some discussion questions:
Does your department check power equipment on a regular basis?
In the case of a saw, do you ensure the blade is on tight? Do you use a wrench to check this?
When power equipment is in use, do your members maintain a safety zone around the operator?
Posted May 4, 2006 07:58 AM · Link
· Near Misses
