A lot of students want to have a shop class where they can make cool projects and learn more about being a craftsman. One thing students do not understand before joining a shop class is just how dangerous it can be working with power tools.

First, you always want to be wearing safety glasses when you are in the shop because even if you aren’t working, a power tool debris may still fly up and hit you in the eyes.

Second, you want to make sure that you do not have any loose clothing that can get caught in the power tools, and this rule also goes for long hair or beards.

Third, you want to make sure that you are wearing close toed shoes because there can be sparks or debris flying that can injure your feet.

Finally, keep your hands clear of all moving objects because the most common injury in shops is someone losing a piece or their entire finger.

Here are some of the numbers that have been averaged for how many injuries each piece of equipment causes each year.

• The tool with the least injuries is the radial saw with 350 injuries a year. These numbers are so low because radial saws are now being taken over by table saws.
• The miter saw is responsible for 6,800 injuries every year on average. This number is so high because these saws are very well known for people getting their fingers caught in this kind of saw.
• Jointers and planers come in second with a total number of 10,930 injuries on average per year. These machines are very dangerous because once you get something caught in a planer it is going to pull whatever is caught all the way through the machine.
• The machine with the most injuries, as many would suspect, is the table saw, averaging 39,750 injuries per year. This number is so high because every kind of shop has a table saw and when you are making small cuts on a table saw, it is very easy to get your fingers caught.

In the accompanying video, Scott Mendenhall, who is the head of transportation for and also does bus maintenance in the Palestine school district, uses a miter saw to cut through a piece of metal. If you look closely, you will see Scott wearing all of the protective gear that is required when running a miter saw.

Shop safety is not something to take lightly because life will not be the same when you lose a finger or even a whole hand.