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Implications Surrounding the Provision and Installation of Replacement Woodworking Machinery

Daniel Piasecki

Firstly, apologies if this is not the correct location for this query!

To provide some background:

I'm a building services engineer working for a local authority and have received a query from one of the community groups that operate within our borough:

The community group provides a facility for service users with various special educational needs, to attend and participate in various indoor and outdoor activities such as basic gardening, cooking and woodworking. 

The service is a great benefit to the users but unfortunately as with all services which are mainly funded by local authorities, money is quite tight. As a result of the lack of funds, the service providers often purchase equipment via fundraising, one such piece of equipment that has been purchased in this way, is an electric double-bevel sliding mitre saw which was purchased by the staff from a large DIY retailer. This equipment was purchased by the staff to replace a faulty mitre saw which is mounted to a bench within their carpentry workshop.

After reviewing the woodworking / carpentry workshop arrangement, I would be inclined to say that the workshop appears to be a classroom workshop type arrangement which has been designed for the space and incorporates various emergency measures such as emergency stops.

My query:

The service providers have purchased the replacement saw, and are now requesting that the council's building services department make arrangements for a contractor to attend, to replace the existing (hardwired saw) with the newly purchased saw.

As the existing arrangement appears to have been designed to suit the teaching space, I have reservations that simply cutting the plug top off of the new saw and wiring it into the existing fused connection could expose the users and also the service providers to a multitude of H&S issues. 

In the initial instance, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires equipment to be suitable for the actual work it is provided to do. I can't guarantee this with the new saw, as the unit appears to be more suited to DIY. I also can't guarantee that the safety measures put in place for the original appliance are suitable for the new appliance.

I'm more inclined to engage with a specialist workshop provider but wanted help on justifying my position / reservations. Can anyone point me in the direction of suitable guidance or regulations in this field?

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

  • +1

    You, well the users really, may invalidate the guarantee that comes with the new saw using it in that way, but on its own that is not especially dangerous. The biggest safety consideration will be to do with how fast the blade stops if the power is cut and the security of guards etc 
    This is likely to be much better on a new device, DIY or commercial, than an older one. Is there any merit in leaving the plug on, and fitting a socket to the outlet where the old saw went, so it can be unplugged for cleaning etc, and then the instructions for use can then be followed as originally written ?

    Portable tools used by DIYers, jobbing handymen and professional builders are all supposed to be designed to meet the same safety standards, what varies greatly is how  good a line they cut, how well balanced they are,  and how long they last. Some cheaper models do make you wonder though.

    Who is responsible for deciding who can use what tool ? I presume someone is already in charge of the workshop? Beyond the basic electrical aspects it is not yours to worry about on your own, there should be rather more happening in the way of risk assessment and user training etc, there should be someone suitable already involved, I hope.

    Mike

  • +1

    The biggest safety consideration will be to do with how fast the blade stops if the power is cut and the security of guards etc 

    +1 for that. For example my DIY electric chain saw stops the chain almost instantly the trigger is released (or the anti-kickback-guard activates) - but not via stopping the motor but by kind of clutch & recoil spring mechanism (you can hear the motor itself gradually spinning down for a considerable time after the chain has stopped). So in that kind of setup a simple e-stop setup that just cuts the power wouldn't be anything like as effective.

    That said my chop saw blade carries on spinning for ages after the trigger is released, it just relies on the guard swinging back into place when the saw is allowed to return to its upper position - so what's suggested may well be OK, but it's still worth checking I reckon.

       - Andy.

  • +1

    I agree with advice on keeping the plug and changing the fused connector to  a socket. I always want to pull the plug when working on a machine or have a proper switch with a clear position indicator.

    I have just checked my 12" mitre saw and it stops in three seconds. I have an old smaller mitre saw which takes a fraction over ten seconds to stop. From memory the blade on a table saw should stop in 10 seconds but I am not sure if this also applies to mitre saws due to the guarding in place. You mention emergency stops, as these usually just cut the power that will stop an electric brake from working.

    Perhaps of more importance is the dust collection. Mire saws even the professional versions have poor dust collection as standard  when used with a dust extractor. In a workshop environment it is common to fit additional extraction to the saw. It is the very small particles that are not visible which cause the damage and many types of wood dust are cancerous or can cause allergic reactions. There is information on the HSE web site about dust collection and lots on the web.

    You may get some better ideas from the UK woodworking forums where there are professionals who use these machines in their work and they will be familiar with the specific regulations.

  • +1

    If there the person in charge seems to be less than clued up on this, then they may be re-directed to the HSE Woodworking Information Sheets

    https://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/wis.htm that are pretty comprehensive.

    The one about braking on machines may be specially relevant

    https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/wis38.pdf

  • 0 in reply to mapj1

    The 10 second braking time for a circular saw would still not stop somebody from removing a finger or even a whole hand.

    I have set the DC brake on my lathe to stop in 2 s at full speed. 2 s at 2000 rpm is still 66 revolutions!

  • +1

    To add to the reading list posted by @mapj1 this is probably the first reference to be read:

    www.hse.gov.uk/.../l114.pdf

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