Personal Injury Law

Nail Guns: Tools of the Trade

By Megan Roth

     Like my friend and hard working weekend construction warrior who is a personal injury lawyer from Austin, Texas, Brooks Schuelke; I too worked construction summers while going to law school. It was long enough ago that we didn't have the luxury of nail guns. We used the old leather belt, hand and hammer method. And yes I had plenty of sore fingers the first few days of every summer. Brooks' post about nail gun safety is right on the money. He even included YouTube videos with testimonials about nail gun injury incidents. I'll like my Austin colleague's use of the videos. If you haven't visited Brooks InjuryBoard or the Perlmutter & Schuelke law firm posts about nail-gun injuries you should.

     Now, we know just how dangerous automatic nail guns can be; yet, they're used in worksites around the world on a daily basis.  Nail guns make both industrial construction and home improvement projects faster and less labor-intensive.  Obviously using the automatic nail feature enables a worker to move at a much quicker pace than he'd be able to if he were tackling the same job with a hammer and nail.  But what, exactly, are the other benefits of using an automatic nail gun?  Do those benefits outweigh the dangers?

    There are a variety of nail guns on the market, many of which are configured to take on different tasks.  Two popular designs are the pneumatic nail gun and the cordless nail gun; both designs come with a variety of options, which allow the worker to use the same tool for different projects.

    One option - also referred to as single-shot mode - releases nails individually; the worker must hold down the trigger and tap the tool on the desired area in order to release a nail.  Some devices require the user to pull a trigger after contact has been made in order to release a nail, while others have employed a new safety device and even require that users pull two triggers and press the gun head to a hard surface in order to release a nail.  The second trigger is intended as a safety catch device and addresses the problem of nails accidentally being fired into the air by requiring pressure on the gun's head before firing can occur.

    Modern nail guns also allow for multiple trigger settings which allow the user to choose the firing style most appropriate for the specific task at hand.  The trigger selector enables a user to move quickly between a single shot or automatic mode by simply sliding a selector sleeve relative to the trigger.

    Once the trigger has been depressed in automatic mode, the nail gun will fire anytime the muzzle contacts a surface - regardless of what that surface may be.  The primary problem with this mode is that workers often carry the gun by its trigger (near the gun's center of gravity), which leaves the gun ready to fire anytime it comes in contact with another surface, even if that contact is merely an accidental tap against your leg.

    The simplicity of the device is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness.  The light weight of the automatic tool is said to reduce operator fatigue and makes it much easier for the worker using the device to move around.  Convenient, right?  Just remember: convenience often comes at a price.

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).