Hi Robert

Nothing is 100% safe.

Part of the blade will necessarily be unprotected. So you look at the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and apply exactly the same sort of principles as you would to a cross-cutting wood saw.

There should be water splashing around to suppress the emission of silica dust (however brickies cut bricks!!), but they should be wearing goggles anyway to protect them against slivers of brick flying around.

In a utopian world the designers would highlight how many odd shaped bricks are going to be needed and these could be manufactured in a much more controlled factory environment.

What I do find encouraging is that your site manager wants to own health and safety and not leave you to ponder on the issues alone.

Not seen these in use so was interested to find a prom video of one. To me it looked similar to a woodworking circular saw bench. I have to say im a little surprised why they don’t put some type of retracting blade guard on them – like a wood saw, and was not keen on where the guy had his hands – would take more than a pair of safety gloves to stop that blade.  Personally I would like to have seen some kind of jig or push stick type arrangement in use. But there did not appear to be an issue with the water

But PUWER says a blasé should be guarded so far as is reasonably practicable. There may be a perfectly good reason why the blade guard is only over the top of the blade.

What alternative does the site manager suggest? Have to say I think its much safer than some of the hand held says I have seen builders using, where their foot is a few cm away from the blade.

If it has not been modified the process of cutting should involve both of the operators hands being on control handles and away from the blade.

Then you enter the reality that the brickies want to work fast and start trying to circumvent controls they perceive slow the task.

We bought one for brick trimming at our factory saw what the operators started to do when not being watched and promptly sent it back.

Thanks Roundtuit

My issue is not wether they are using safely or not, my question is are they ok to have onsite if they are used correctly?

The fact that they were not using it correctly as Im tolfd the brbckie had his hands close to the blade as he was holding the brick (you are not supposed to do this for obvious reasons) is somthing else I will have to address in this matter but wasnt sure wether we should be banninig the saw first

Im looking for opions on this, it would appear that I am right that the saw is perfectly legal to have onsite but ONLY if the user has been trained and is operating it properly

I know when I look inot it further the brickie involved wont have been trained in its use (as its likely that no formal training course is available) and i will come up against the old addage of "we have been using these for years and never had a problem" from the bricklaying manager

thak you all for your input so far

That was exactly what we saw happen.

Rather than using the manufacturer fitted material clamp they started holding the bricks against the back stop as they discovered it "was quicker".

Thanks AcornsConsult

Im not sure if you mean a debate between myself and the site manager? there is no debate as such, I am not going to over rule the site manager a (they have taken the saw away) I simply needed to know that the saw is a valid peice of equipment when used correctly and can be used on other projects where the site manager may not be so proactive

I just know that next week I will be asked by a director from both companies what my thoughts are and what our offical line is going to be - are we going to outright ban this type of equipment or are we going to allow it to be used if opertators are trained and do so safely

So you see there is no debate on wetehr its right or wrong but simply a questions as to whats right / wrong - is the saw legal to use?

I look forward to your update AcornsConsult

Apparently the material clamp is an additional extra cost rather than standard supply - this is the item our operators decided to stop using for the sake of speed.

To compare this to a conventional woodworking circular saw bench is inappropriate as the movement of the saw blade is controlled with a handle that (assuming one person operation) itself removes one of the operator's hands from the danger area.

Which is why I made the comparison with a woodworking cross-cut saw.

Even were an operative to hold the brick with the other hand (and I don't doubt this may happen), the potential severity of injury is LIKELY to be less than with a conventional saw bench, for the simple reason that as soon as the blade touches a hand the operator will let go of the handle and the blade should move upwards away from the danger area [These things are, as I recall, usually spring loaded so that the operative has to overcome the spring to lower the blade and associated partial top guard]. So, the probability of amputation would be lower than on a saw bench, and even lower than the situation where the bench may traverse in relation to the blade (or vice versa) which happens in e.g. sawmills.

There is perhaps an argument for a self-adjusting section of the top guard to provide better enclosure, but it is possible that such solution has been tried, tested and found to be impractical. 

I still think that it is positive that the site manager is concerned and looking for a safer solution - but that means considering the balance of risks between this and some other means of cutting bricks to size.

...the standard statements apply to answer you question...the machinery complies with the relevant product safety legislation....the human using it isn't certified by anyone so could be defective...your risk assessment and training are a step toward making sure the human risk is minimised...