The greatest number of injuries suffered from table saws by a huge margin is not finger or hand injuries from blade contact but kick back Snip.

Care to share the data source to back that up?

The OSHA record seems to suggest otherwise:

https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/AccidentSearch.search?p_logger=1&acc_description=table+saw&acc_Abstract=&acc_keyword=&sic=&naics=&Office=All&officetype=All&endmonth=11&endday=25&endyear=2002&startmonth=11&startday=25&startyear=2023&InspNr=

Some table saw finger or hand injuries are also caused by kickback.

Quote from: Mini Me on November 25, 2022, 07:21 PM

The greatest number of injuries suffered from table saws by a huge margin is not finger or hand injuries from blade contact but kick back Snip.

Care to share the data source to back that up?

The OSHA record seems to suggest otherwise:

https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/AccidentSearch.search?p_logger=1&acc_description=table+saw&acc_Abstract=&acc_keyword=&sic=&naics=&Office=All&officetype=All&endmonth=11&endday=25&endyear=2002&startmonth=11&startday=25&startyear=2023&InspNr=

Some table saw finger or hand injuries are also caused by kickback.

It appears they don't log kickbacks because most of them are unreported. You only have to peruse fora such as this to see that kickbacks far outweigh finger and hand injuries. As you say some finger and hand injuries can be caused by kickback, I wonder how many hand injuries are caused by push sticks contacting the blade, they are an unstable and positively dangerous to use but I expect I am in the minority with that view though Jeremy Scmidt of YT fame certainly agrees with me and is very vocal on it in one of his videos.

It appears they don't log kickbacks because most of them are unreported. You only have to peruse fora such as this to see that kickbacks far outweigh finger and hand injuries. As you say some finger and hand injuries can be caused by kickback, I wonder how many hand injuries are caused by push sticks contacting the blade, they are an unstable and positively dangerous to use but I expect I am in the minority with that view though Jeremy Scmidt of YT fame certainly agrees with me and is very vocal on it in one of his videos.

The OSHA database includes kickback incidents if they result in an injury. If a kickback doesn't result in any injury that requires a trip to the hospital, obviously it doesn't get reported/recorded. You can browse the OSHA records one by one if you're interested in knowing how often it is mentioned as a cause for injuries (say, to the hand, eye, face, etc.). Same for the use of the push stick incorrectly.

The #1 reason for injuries (based on the first few pages of entries I've read) seems to be using the saw without the guard.

Forum discussions are NOT a reliable or valid source as a basis to say kickbacks happen more than finger and hand injuries. We should rely on official statistics collected or documented by hospitals or entities such as the OSHA.

Based on the info. collected by the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, about 10 table saw amputations happen every day in the States. Let's not downplay the role of finger-saving technology such as the SawStop and those advanced detection technology features on the sliding saws when we discuss table saw safety.

(One can find many examples of table saw injuries to the hand or fingers on the SawStop site. One can assume that most, if not all, of them (in the thousands according to SawStop) didn't require a treatment at a hospital, and hence don't get into any gov't injury data collection system.)

Speaking of kickback, one time a knotty piece of 2x2, which I probably shouldn't have been ripping anyway, shot past me and lodged in the bathroom door at our shop about 18ft away, exactly at the level where it would've impaled anyone using the toilet at that moment. As a reminder, we haven't repaired the door.

Speaking of kickback, one time a knotty piece of 2x2, which I probably shouldn't have been ripping anyway, shot past me and lodged in the bathroom door at our shop about 18ft away, exactly at the level where it would've impaled anyone using the toilet at that moment. As a reminder, we haven't repaired the door.

I have a few of those reminders from various incidents through the years.

The one that comes quickest to mind is the piece of scrap/pig iron that narrowly missed my helmet and hit me in the shoulder traveling down the interstate on my motorcycle.  I was wearing a protective jacket at the time, and the piece of metal landed in my lap after bouncing off my shoulder and then the tank.

To increase the size of the top, I knew a woodworker who used a method similar to this (but he didn't bolt the extension to the saw permanently; he used some kind of clamping elements, if I remember correctly):



Sometimes, even a cabinet saw may benefit from an extension at the front:

One can learn a lot by studying the OSHA entries. As Mini Me pointed out, the push sticks, used incorrectly, can cause kickbacks. There's an entry on that. I use a push stick only with the JessEm clear stock guides in place; I go for the push shoe otherwise. 

Another learning point is that don't wear gloves when working with the table saw, drill press, etc., another kind of injury-causing entry that you can find on the OSHA link. This YouTuber, based on one or two of his videos I came across, has a few habits that could get him into trouble, including wearing gloves when using the table saw (he should get a SawStop to protect himself. His purchase should be tax-deductible as a depreciation charge):



If I were a school shop teacher, I'd put the OSHA injury reports (classified under different machines such as miter saws, circular saws, etc.) on the Course Reading List.