Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/332591
46 • JULY 2014 • WORLD FENCE NEWS COURTESY CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION Nail guns are used every day on many construction jobs—especially in residential construction. They boost productivity but also cause tens of thousands of painful injuries each year. Nail gun injuries are common—one study found that 2 out of 5 residential carpenter apprentices experienced a nail gun injury over a four-year period. When they do occur, these injuries are often not reported or given any med- ical treatment. Research has identified the risk factors that make nail gun injuries more likely to occur. The type of trig- ger system and the extent of training are important factors. The risk of a nail gun injury is twice as high when using a multi-shot contact trigger as when using a single- shot sequential trigger nailer. This guidance is for residential home builders and construction con- tractors, subcontractors, and supervi- sors. NIOSH and OSHA developed this publication to give construction employers the information they need to prevent nail gun injuries. 1. Use the full sequential trigger The full sequential trigger is al- ways the safest trigger mechanism for the job. It reduces the risk of uninten- tional nail discharge and double fires—including injuries from bump- ing into co-workers. • At a minimum, provide full se- quential trigger nailers for placement work where the lumber needs to be held in place by hand. Examples in- clude building walls and nailing block- ing, fastening studs to plates and blocks to studs, and installing trusses. Unintended nail discharge is more likely to lead to a hand or arm injury for placement work compared to flat work, where the lumber does not need to be held in place by hand. Examples of flat work include roofing, sheath- ing, and subflooring. • Consider restricting inexperi- enced employees to full sequential trigger nail guns starting out. Some contractors using more than one type of trigger on their jobs color-code the nail guns so that the type of trigger can be readily identified by workers and supervisors. • Some contractors have been re- luctant to use full sequential triggers fearing a loss of productivity. How do the different types of triggers com- pare? The one available study had 10 experienced framers stick-build two identical small (8 ft. x 10 ft.) wood structures—one using a sequential trigger nail gun and one using a con- tact trigger nail gun. Small structures were built in this study so that there would be time for each carpenter to complete two sheds. Average nailing time using the contact trigger was 10% faster, which accounted for less than 1% of the total building time when cutting and layout was included. However, in this study the trigger type was less important to overall pro- ductivity than who was using the tool; this suggests productivity concerns should focus on the skill of the carpen- ter rather than on the trigger. Although the study did not evalu- ate framing a residence or light com- mercial building, it shows that