Grizzly Table Saw Recall Issued Due to Risk of Blade Teeth Breaking Off

Hundreds of Grizzly table saws are being recalled following reports that suggest the blade teeth may be knocked off, causing them to become projectiles that pose a serious injury risk for users or bystanders.

The Grizzly 10-inch hybrid table saw recall was announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on August 19, after the manufacturer received at least two reports of incidents. In one case, a 46-year-old man suffered a broken nose and lacerations when the table saw blade shattered and shot out metal fragments.

The CPSC indicates that the motor pulley may come loose and hit the table saw blade, causing the blade to break and sending blade teeth flying outward. Operators and those nearby are at risk of laceration or impact injury from the flying metal fragments.

The recall affects about 1,240 Grizzly 10-inch hybrid table saws with model number G0771. The affected saw blades have a serial number between TA2014060001 and TS2014111244 or a date code between 06/2014 and 11/2014. The model number, serial number and date code, as well as the Grizzly logo are printed on the side of the table saw, which is enclosed in a white metal base. Grizzly.com is printed on a green band that goes around the bottom of the base.

The table saws were manufactured by Grizzly Industrial Inc., of Bellingham, Washington. They were sold in Grizzly showrooms, online at www.grizzly.com, and through Grizzly’s catalog and through woodworking trade magazines for about $625 from January 2015 through May 2015.

The CPSC recommends that consumers immediately stop using the table saws and return them for either a full refund, a free repair, or a free motor pulley that can be installed by the consumer. The company is contacting owners who purchased the table saws. Consumers with questions can contact Grizzly by calling 800-523-4777 or by visiting www.grizzly.com and clicking on Customer Service at the bottom of the page, and then Product Support and Recent Recalls.

Table Saw Injury Concerns

The recall comes amid increasing concerns about the preventability of table saw injuries, and question about a lack of safety features on many models sold in recent years.

According to a 2014 survey analysis (PDF) by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), there are about 76,100 table saw injuries annually, based on 2007 and 2008 numbers. The injuries cost a total of about $2.36 billion per year, and leave about 3,000 people a year have with an amputated finger.

The CPSC has been investigating the possibility of new table saw regulations and voted unanimously in 2011 to look at potential new safety requirements. The 2011 survey and the 2014 analysis of the survey’s results were the latest steps toward new regulations.

Many say that the amputation and many of the laceration injuries could have ben avoided if the 20 year-old SawStop technology or similar flesh-sensing technology had been adopted by the industry. The safety feature is designed to immediately stop the saw as soon as it contacts flesh, often resulting in consumers only suffering a minor cut, instead of severe nerve damage or amputations. However, many manufacturers have refused to install SawStop or another similar protection.

In recent years, a growing number of table saw lawsuits have been filed by individuals who allege that manufacturers sold defective and unreasonably dangerous tools by failing to include the available safety feature or warn about the lack of flesh-sensing technology.