WoodworkerRick

As a 30+ year insurance company safety consultant, in my experience, the real culprit is little discussed in this ongoing debate. Davcefai and others who discuss the supervisor above, are on the right track.

In long-established safety practice, and in fact federal law (OSHA), it is the employer, PT Hardwood Floor Service, who is most at fault, and in my book, entirely at fault in this case.

For starters, who provided the saw upon which Mr. Osorio was injured? Who determined Mr. Osorio's competence to operate a dangerous machine? Who was responsible for determining what training Mr. Osorio needed and delivered it to him? Who was responsible for ensuring Mr. Osorio had assimilated the training adequately to avoid injury? Whose duty is it to ensure required guarding and safeguards are in place, operating properly and adjusted properly? Who is responsible for providing alternate safeguards for employees, if factory-provided safeguards cannot be used for certain operations? Finally, who is responsible for supervising their employees, observing their work, and ensuring proper procedures, equipment, and safeguards are being used?

One answer: The employer. In this case PT Hardwood Floor Service. By definition, their fulfillment of these moral and legal obligations to their employee was less than adequate.

Why weren't they sued along with One World Technologies? Good question, and the answer is a commentary on todays legal scene. Workers compensation coverage should have, as a "sole and exclusive" remedy been the entire mechanism for Mr. Osorio's accident and the after-effects. When originally enacted, workers compensation coverage provided this no-fault coverage so workers, no matter what, would be compensated for injuries suffered on the job. The trade-off is that WC legislation protects employers from lawsuit by the injured employee.

However, clever lawyers, ever on the alert for big cash, and aided by stupid juries, have found ways to bypass the "sole and exclusive" remedy provisions of WC law, while retaining the protective provisions of WC for employers. This is quite clever, as without the protective provisions, the lawyers would have to pursue the most culpable party--the employer. And let's face it, One World Technologies is a far more lucrative target to exploit than little old PT Hardwood Flooring. Bigger payday for the lawyers.

I think Sawstop's innovations are remarkable. I intend to purchase one in the near future. When I encounter a client who has implemented them into their production operations, the client is invariably a superior insurance risk, and a well-above-average woodworking operation. Having said that, though, thousands of workers come home without injury every day, after spending their shifts working with old-fashioned table saws, plus tools and equipment and far more dangerous than the common table saw.

The difference is invariably the employer.