Hand and Power Tool Safety

Guards, inspection, and safe habits for hand and power tools, from kickback and blade changes to mushroomed chisels and damaged cords.

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Equipment & tools · 29 CFR 1926.300

Tools hurt people every day, usually in ways that felt too routine to worry about, a slipped wrench, a saw kickback, a chisel with a mushroomed head letting go. A hand injury can take you out of work for months, and almost all of these injuries trace back to a damaged tool, a missing guard, or the wrong tool for the job.

Key hazards

• Missing or bypassed guards on saws and grinders
• Kickback from circular saws and binding blades
• Damaged cords, cracked housings, and mushroomed striking heads
• The wrong blade, wheel, or bit for the tool, or one not rated for the tool's speed
• Loose clothing, jewelry, and dangling straps near rotating parts
• Flying chips, sparks, and dust hitting eyes and skin

Safe practices

• Inspect every tool before use. Check the cord, guard, handles, trigger, and blade or wheel, and tag damaged tools out of service.
• Keep guards in place and working. Never pin, wedge, tie back, or remove a guard to make the cut easier.
• Use the right tool for the job, and the right blade, bit, or wheel rated for that tool's speed.
• Unplug the tool or pull the battery before changing blades, bits, or wheels, and before clearing a jam.
• Let the blade or wheel reach full speed before it touches the work, and let it stop completely before you set the tool down.
• Dress out mushroomed heads on chisels and wedges, and replace cracked or loose handles on hammers and striking tools.
• Cut away from your body and keep your free hand out of the line of the cut.
• Secure small workpieces with a clamp or vise instead of holding them in your hand.
• Wear the PPE the tool demands, safety glasses at minimum, a face shield for grinding, and hearing protection for loud tools.
• Never carry a tool by its cord, hoist it by the cord, or yank the cord to unplug it.

Discussion questions

• Which tool on this job has bitten someone before, here or on another site, and what happened?
• Have you seen a guard tied back or removed anywhere on site, and what should happen when you do?
• What is your habit before a blade change, and does it always include unplugging or pulling the battery?

If something goes wrong

• For serious cuts, apply direct pressure with a clean dressing, keep pressure on, and call 911 for heavy or spurting bleeding.
• Secure the tool and the area so nobody else uses it, then report the injury or near miss to the foreman.
• Tag the tool out of service and find out what failed, the tool, the guard, or the setup, before that model goes back to work.

Keep the record without the paper

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