Читать книгу Chainsaw Manual for Homeowners - Brian J. Ruth - Страница 11

The risk of an accident or injury is always present, but actually having the mishap is entirely avoidable. It’s entirely up to you. Your attitude is key to not ever having a serious chainsaw accident. You have to decide to take seriously this business of learning how to use your chainsaw safely and well. You must put safety uppermost. In this chapter, I’ll tell you more about what that means.

With a new chainsaw in your hands, it’s very tempting to jump right over the obligatory pages of safety rules and exhortations and to get right into the “Assembly” or “Operating Your New Tool” sections of the owner’s manual.

Let me say right now that is not a good idea with a chainsaw. It’s OK if you don’t want to read the safety information first. Maybe you are itching to assemble your new tool, and read about how to operate it. OK good, but do not plug in the chainsaw (if it is electric) or put any fuel into it (if it is gas-powered) until you have gone back and completely read all of the safety information in the owner’s manual.

Accident Location and Frequency

Here’s why:

■ The chain in a chainsaw can move up to 68 mph. That is incredibly fast and you are holding that speed in your hands.

■ At full speed, more than 600 teeth will pass a given point per second. You cannot possibly react fast enough to get a hand, arm, leg, or your head out of the way.

■ Eighty-five percent of chainsaw injuries come from contact with a moving chain.

■ There are more than 100,000 chainsaw-related injuries every year in the United States. In 2007, the U.S. Product Safety Commission estimated that more than 26,000 chainsaw injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms.

■ The average number of stitches from a chainsaw accident is 110.

■ A chainsaw is one of the world’s most dangerous handheld power tools—especially in the hands of a new user.

■ There are good reasons why the chainsaw is a prop in many horror movies.

Had enough? Me too.

Rather than giving you a long list of safety rules at this point, I’m going to discuss the problem more broadly, to help you understand the risks involved as well as your strategies for minimizing each risk.