Friday, June 17, 2011

Calls for Safety Technology to Prevent Table Saw-Related Accidents

According to the National Consumers’ League, every year more than 4,000 people suffer horrific amputation injuries involving the use of table saws. Most of table saw injuries occur at home. The average medical bill for a person who suffers a finger amputation from a table saw-related accident is about $30,000. The total cost of these injuries is more than $2 billion a year.

The worst part of it all is that these injuries are preventable. The technology to prevent amputations from the use of table saws and bench saws has been around for years now, but manufacturers of table saws have failed to adopt this technology in their tools.

Now, the National Consumers’ League is asking the Consumer Product Safety Commission to pressure the industry to install amputation-prevention technology in their tools. The technology to prevent these injuries is Saw Stop. It has been around for a while, and has been widely proven to prevent amputation injuries from the use of table saws. Saw Stop works by detecting a finger in the path of the blade. When the finger is detected, the machine automatically switches off.

However, the company that manufactures Saw Stop has already begun its own line of tools incorporating the technology. Other manufacturers don't want the Consumer Product Safety Commission to mandate Saw Stop technology because it would give that company an unfair edge over their tools.

While manufacturers continue to delay, thousands of innocent people suffer serious injuries from dangerous products every year that can leave them incapacitated. Amputations can be life altering injuries. According to the industry, these tools are currently equipped with plastic guarding systems that protect them from injuries. However, Los Angeles personal injury attorneys believe that the guarding technology is hardly useful, because it discourages easy use of the tool, and therefore, consumers are simply likely to remove the guard.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

High Incidence of Traumatic Brain Injury in Prison Population

A new report indicates a substantially increased risk of traumatic brain injury in prison inmates compared to the general, non-incarcerated population. Brain injury among prisoners is a much neglected and underestimated health and safety issue facing these people.

According to the study Traumatic Brain Injury among Prisoners, brain injuries are believed to affect an estimated 25% to 87% of the prison population in the country. In comparison, about 8.5% of the non-incarcerated population of the country suffers from traumatic brain injury. The incidence of traumatic brain injury in the prison population therefore, may be as much as 10 times as in the non-incarcerated population.

There have been other studies and surveys that have pointed to the causes of such injuries. In a study conducted among male prisoners in Minnesota, the survey found that of the 998 inmates, an approximate 82% reported having suffered from one or more head injuries during their lives. Most of these injuries were caused by assault, auto accidents and sports accidents. However, the Minnesota study seems to indicate that prisoners may also be at risk of suffering brain injury because of certain unique prison factors. For instance in Minnesota, incarcerated gang members are sometimes initiated through a procedure called “pumpkinhead,” in which a person is severely beaten until his head swells like a pumpkin.

Another study showed that traumatic brain injury occurs among prisoners who knock their heads against the cell walls or bars until they are unconscious. This is very often seen in persons who are restrained in isolated cells.

The report makes for fascinating reading. California brain injury attorneys suspect that the problem is even greater in California with its overcrowded and congested prisons that have recently been criticized by the Supreme Court because of the lack of medical care.
 
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