Struck-By Flying Object: Nail Guns

Nail guns are popular for a reason. They get the job done fast. But rapid-fire action is also dangerous. In a split second, a nail can enter your finger, your hand, or worse. Nail gun injuries are more common than people think. Most injuries involve puncture wounds to hands or fingers, but serious, even fatal, injuries also occur.

Most nail gun injuries happen in the following ways:

• Accidental or unintended firing, often associated with recoil of the tool after firing
• Ricocheting nails
• A nail going through a work surface
• Airborne nails
• A bypassed safety feature
• Unsafe work practices
• Holding a finger on the contact trigger

Types of Nail Guns

Although there are many types of nail guns (such as framing, finishing, flooring), there are two common triggers. Confusing the two can lead to injuries.

• Contact trip triggers fire when both the trigger and the nose of the gun (contact element) are depressed. The trigger can be held down to allow "bump" or bounce nailing.
• Sequential triggers require the nose of the gun to be depressed before the trigger is pulled, which avoids accidental firing of nails.

Dual triggers are new models that allow users to switch back and forth from contact trip to sequential triggers.

How to Prevent Nail Gun Injury

• Ask for a nail gun with a sequential trigger mechanism.
• Do not press the trigger unless the nose of the gun (contact element) is firmly pressed against the work material.
• Never walk around with your finger on the trigger.
• Never clean or clear jams or adjust a nail gun when it is connected to the air supply.
• Avoid nailing into knots and metal; nails are more likely to ricochet. Dense materials, like laminated beams, are also difficult to nail.
• Never remove or bypass safety devices, triggers, or contact springs.
• Never use a defective tool. If a tool is malfunctioning, it needs to be tagged and taken out of service.
• All triggers look alike. Test guns before using. If you can "bump nail" by holding the trigger down and bouncing the nose against a nailing surface, that is a contact trip trigger gun. Use extreme caution.

Nail Gun Injury Information

• Workers using the contact trip or "bump nailers" have double the rate of serious injury of workers using sequential trigger guns. Many worksites consequently no longer use bump nailers.
• Accidental firings are most common following recoil of tools with contact trip triggers.
• Workers suffer serious, sometimes fatal injuries, even when using nail guns as designed. Get training on nail guns, even if you are using a sequential trigger gun.
• Researchers found that 44% of apprentice carpenters in one program were injured by nail guns before they finished their training.
• A study measuring productivity found that most of the variability in speed had to do with the nail gun user rather than the type of trigger used. Another study found 12% of nail gun injuries happen to workers who are not even using a nail gun.

To learn more about Focus Four Safety visit our Construction Focus Four Safety Online Training web page.