A Two Minute Safety Tip

My safety tip is simply to remember that it is often the last or second-to-last board you are routing or cutting that will get you.

It is easy for your mind to turn to the next step in the process and lose focus from the current step - even if I am not in a rush I will often think ahead. Of course, when you lose focus on the task at hand you can easily slip up.

So every time I find myself cutting a bunch of boards to the same width or routing a bunch of boards with the same set-up I always try to remind myself that I need to focus on the last couple of boards and not get distracted with the next “step” in the process.

I find that I have gotten into the habit of thinking of this so often that I can focus on my work knowing that all it takes is for my mind to wander a little too far and things can get dangerous. As they say “this machine has no brain — you must think for yourself.”

Rick Sawyer
Blue Hill, Maine

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