Well said Nick (from someone probably on the rising part of the accident curve :) ) By the way, I believe that you would find the same sort of accident curve among helicopter pilots. The principle seems to be a general one.

AE

: 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.