A tooth came off a small horizontal saw blade and hit the operator bruising his leg. He was standing about 4 metres from the machine at the time. Although this did not result in a lost time incident the outcome could have been a lot more serious.

The reporting Dimension Stone Group member considers this a very rare occurrence, having used these machines for well over 20 years, this was the first instance of a tooth coming off the blade.

• An adaption to the guard in stainless steel was manufactured and fitted – see image.


• This adaption is adjustable and, if a tooth should come off, it would hit the guard preventing the operator from being in the line of fire


• Risk changers – the company is looking at replacing the equipment with a fully enclosed machine, so the operator has no need to go into the sawing area when the blade is running.