labor lawAdivision of labor law center

You may want to know why the Florida OSHA office issued a warning recently on two brands of chainsaw that are widely used in industry.  It has been reported that chainsaws have spun out of control in the hands of many workers. In some cases, the workers were injured with severe cuts and bruises, whereas in other cases, they received burns to the fingers from the hot muffler.  The plastic front handle is possibly to blame.

In the wake of these reports, the Florida worker safety alert requires every employer to be aware of the new recall which has affected the safety of U.S. workers. The major chainsaw brands which are popular in many major industries have been recalled by the manufacturers. 

The Florida worker safety agency has identified the Troy-Built and the Craftsman brand Chainsaws as the most affected chainsaws in the recall. These chainsaws are powered by a two-cycle gasoline engine with size between 46cc and 55cc and are accompanied by blades of size between 18 inch and 20 inch. In Troy-Built brand, four models of chainsaw are affected apart from the Incredi-Pull model of the Craftsman brand.

There is a strong urge to the employers to protect the workers’ health by replacing the unsafe chainsaws with properly equipped ones with safety measures. The use of safety kit along with the chainsaw avoids the risk in the use of the chainsaws. It is strongly recommended that the workers stop working on unsafe chainsaws immediately.

The manufacturers have withdrawn both the chainsaws voluntarily in order to co-operate with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the OSHA. For instructions on the installation of the replacement handle with free safety kit, the employers can contact the manufacturer or the OSHA.

Under the jurisdiction of CPSC, there are over 15,000 types of such consumer products causing damage to property and life with an estimation of cost to the nation being more than $700 billions per annum.

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