: My eight grade shop teacher put some wisdom on me, he said the tool
: operator is the most dangerous tool in the shop.

Shop accidents can almost always be tied back to some sort of operator error. If we always always do everything perfectly, exactly the way they should be done, we can be sure we will never have an accident. But, for better or worse, humans are not very good robots.

A few years back I was studying boating safety statistics in relation to some proposed legislation. I got a hold of some statistics relating occurrences of accidents relative to hours of boating experience. The data was quite interesting. For boating the first 100 hours of experience are the most dangerous. After that the rates of accidents dropped significantly. Boaters who got through their first 100 hours of experience accident free would probably be pretty safe. Where this broke down is when the boaters got very experienced. With years of experience the rates of accidents started to climb again.

I believe the reason for this increase in accidents with experienced boaters is related to complacency. After years of experience people get confident in their abilities, they become less focused on safety and come to perceive that their experience of not having accidents in the past means they won't have an accident in the future. You end up with a response like my 80 year old mother-in-law's after a fender-bender in her car: "I'm a safe driver. I've been driving for 60 years without an accident."

The same applies to woodworking tools. If you don't have a lot of experience with a table saw, it is more likely you will do something stupid, so you should be extra careful. As you get experience you learn how to do things safely and you will likely pay attention and continue to be safe. However, if you think you are good, WATCH OUT. If you are very confident in your abilities to work safely, it may be time to step back and reevaluate, you may be ripe to make a stupid mistake. If you are absolutely sure you don't need any extra safety gear, it may be appropriate to take a look at what the latest safety systems and techniques and see if there is not a way to incorporate good ideas into your work habits. I've seen a lot of old woodworkers with truncated fingers, they all had the accidents late in their career, they all knew better.

It is a mistake to rely on gear to keep you safe, but it also a mistake to assume that past safety implies future safety. It is good to always look at how you do something and try to see if there is a way to be safer and do it better.