Nail Guns Responsible for Thousands of Injuries

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April 15th, 2008

"40,000 Yearly Injuries due to Nail Guns"

A popular tool in construction work — the air-powered nail gun — is the source of over 40,000 injuries every year in the United States, according to a national estimate.

The guns are made by different manufacturers, but all use compressed air to fire as many as 30 nails per minute. The nails travel at a speed of up to 490 feet per second.

Countless Warnings, High Costs

Over the years, medical experts and researchers have warned of the dangers of nail guns, particularly when used in automatic, or “contact trip,” mode. In this mode, the nails are fired whenever the muzzle of the gun makes contact with a surface, including body surfaces.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the cost of treating nail gun injuries totals $383 million a year in medical care and rehabilitation as well as workers’ compensation.

Lawsuits

Victims of nail gun injuries accuse manufacturers of sacrificing safety to sales. In December, $3.4 million was awarded to a man left partially paralyzed after a nail fired by a contact trip gun bounced off a piece of metal and hit him in the head.

Last July, the widow of a construction worker who died after accidentally shooting himself with a nail gun filed a lawsuit in a California court. Injuries in California have been on the rise since 2000 during a building boom.

The guns are frequently used by construction workers, carpenters, journeymen, and do-it-yourselfers. Inexperienced users face the greatest risk of injury.

(Source: Sacramento Bee)

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