Get out of the path the tool will take
Struck-by 5 min 29 CFR 1926.300
Why it matters
The line of fire is the path a tool, a board, a cable, or a part will take if it slips or breaks. That path includes you. Before you cut, pull, or strike, see who is standing there. Stay out of a saw's kickback path, keep your hand off the front of a wedge, and leave the guard on.
The talk
You set a circular saw down on a plank. If the saw kicks, it comes back at your leg and at the person kneeling behind you. You drive a wedge, and your free hand rests on the wood just past it. You pull a cable to free it. If the hook slips, the cable comes back through the spot where your partner is standing. None of that looks bad while the tool is still. The line of fire shows up the moment something slips or breaks. It is the path the tool, the board, the cable, or the part will take. If you are in that path, you are what it hits.
Before you cut, pull, or strike, ask who is in that path, including you. Move them, or move yourself. Do not stand in the kickback path of a saw. Kickback throws the saw back toward the operator and toward anyone lined up behind the cut. Stand out of that path. Do not put a hand in front of a wedge or a pry bar. If the wedge jumps or the bar slips, the hand in front takes the hit. Guards stay on tools. That is 1926.300. The guard is what keeps the blade or the wheel from taking a path through you. If the guard is off, the tool does not run.
On each task today, stop before the first cut, the first pull, or the first strike. Point to the path. Say who is in it. That includes the person holding the tool. Move your legs out of the kickback path of the saw. Keep both hands back from the front of a wedge and the front of a pry bar. Check the guard. If it is missing or tied back, stop and tell the foreman. Do not cut one more piece while someone looks for the guard. If a partner steps into the path, you stop, even if the cut is almost done. The path stays empty until the tool is still.
Key points
- The line of fire is the path a tool, board, cable, or part takes if it slips or breaks.
- Before you cut, pull, or strike, see who is in that path, including you.
- Do not stand in the kickback path of a saw.
- Do not put a hand in front of a wedge or a pry bar.
- Guards stay on tools.
- If the guard is missing, the tool does not run.
- If someone steps into the path, stop.
Do this
- Point out the line of fire before you cut, pull, or strike.
- Stand out of the kickback path of a saw.
- Keep your hands back from a wedge and a pry bar.
- Leave the guards on tools.
- Stop if a person steps into the path.
Do not do this
- Do not stand in the kickback path behind a saw.
- Do not rest a hand in front of a wedge.
- Do not rest a hand in front of a pry bar.
- Do not run a tool with the guard off or tied back.
- Do not keep cutting while someone walks through the path.
Talk about it
- On the first cut or strike today, where is the line of fire and who is in it?
- Which saws are we using, and where will we stand so kickback misses us?
- Are the guards on, and what do we do if one is missing?
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