Circular Saw Safety Warnings - Hitachi C 18DGL Instruction Manual

WARNING:
Some dust created by power sanding, sawing,
grinding, drilling, and other construction activities
contains chemicals known to the State of California to
cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Some examples of these chemicals are:
● Lead from lead-based paints,
● Crystalline silica from bricks and cement and other
masonry products, and
● Arsenic and chromium from chemically-treated
lumber.
Your risk from these exposures varies, depending on
how often you do this type of work. To reduce your
exposure to these chemicals: work in a well ventilated
area, and work with approved safety equipment, such
as those dust masks that are specially designed to
fi lter out microscopic particles.

CIRCULAR SAW SAFETY WARNINGS

Cutting procedures
a) DANGER: Keep hands away from cutting
area and the blade. Keep your second hand on
auxiliary handle, or motor housing.
If both hands are holding the saw, they cannot be cut
by the blade.
b) Do not reach underneath the workpiece.
The guard cannot protect you from the blade below the
workpiece.
c) Adjust the cutting depth to the thickness of the
workpiece.
Less than a full tooth of the blade teeth should be
visible below the workpiece.
d) Never hold piece being cut in your hands or
across your leg. Secure the workpiece to a stable
platform.
It is important to support the work properly to minimize
body exposure, blade binding, or loss of control.
e) Hold the power tool by insulated gripping surfaces
only, when performing an operation where the
cutting tool may contact hidden wiring.
Contact with a "live" wire will also make exposed
metal parts of the power tool "live" and could give the
operator an electric shock.
f) When ripping always use a rip fence or straight
edge guide.
This improves the accuracy of cut and reduces the
chance of blade binding.
g) Always use blades with correct size and shape
(diamond versus round) of arbour holes.
Blades that do not match the mounting hardware of the
saw will run eccentrically, causing loss of control.
h) Never use damaged or incorrect blade washers or
bolt.
The blade washers and bolt were specially designed
for your saw, for optimum performance and safety of
operation.
Kickback causes and related warnings
– kickback is a sudden reaction to a pinched, bound or
misaligned saw blade, causing an uncontrolled saw to lift
up and out of the workpiece toward the operator;
– when the blade is pinched or bound tightly by the kerf
closing down, the blade stalls and the motor reaction
drives the unit rapidly back toward the operator;
– if the blade becomes twisted or misaligned in the cut, the
teeth at the back edge of the blade can dig into the top
surface of the wood causing the blade to climb out of the
kerf and jump back toward the operator.
Kickback is the result of saw misuse and/or incorrect
operating procedures or conditions and can be avoided by
taking proper precautions as given below.
a) Maintain a fi rm grip with both hands on the saw
and position your arms to resist kickback forces.
Position your body to either side of the blade, but
not in line with the blade.
Kickback could cause the saw to jump backwards, but
kickback forces can be controlled by the operator, if
proper precautions are taken.
b) When blade is binding, or when interrupting a
cut for any reason, release the trigger and hold
the saw motionless in the material until the blade
comes to a complete stop.
Never attempt to remove the saw from the work or
pull the saw backward while the blade is in motion
or kickback may occur.
Investigate and take corrective actions to eliminate the
cause of blade binding.
c) When restarting a saw in the workpiece, centre
the saw blade in the kerf and check that saw teeth
are not engaged into the material.
If saw blade is binding, it may walk up or kickback from
the workpiece as the saw is restarted.
d) Support large panels to minimise the risk of blade
pinching and kickback.
Large panels tend to sag under their own weight.
Supports must be placed under the panel on both
sides, near the line of cut and near the edge of the
panel.
e) Do not use dull or damaged blades.
Unsharpened or improperly set blades produce
narrow kerf causing excessive friction, blade binding
and kickback.
f) Blade depth and bevel adjusting locking levers
must be tight and secure before making cut.
If blade adjustment shifts while cutting, it may cause
binding and kickback.
g) Use extra caution when sawing into existing walls
or other blind areas.
The protruding blade may cut objects that can cause
kickback.
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