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Saw-safety invention, SawStop, pits Oregon firm against giant manufacturers

Last week, a Boston jury agreed in a landmark trial, awarding a Massachusetts man $1.5 million for mangling his hand on a table saw made by Ryobi, one of the world’s largest saw makers.

Now, 60 similar cases nationwide claim that the standard design of table saws, unchanged for decades, is defective. In addition, they claim manufacturers are negligent in failing to adopt a flesh-detecting technology like SawStop’s, which has been on the market since 2004.

Ryobi, Black & Decker and the Power Tool Institute, an industry group, declined to comment for this story, citing the litigation.

For SawStop http://sawstop.com/, the cases — along with renewed interest from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission — represent a major score in the long fight for acceptance, which could lead to big dividends for the Tualatin-based company.

"There was definitely a feeling of vindication," Gass said. "We’ve been continuously attacked. There was a lot of personal satisfaction when the verdict came out."

The issue of table-saw safety stokes debate over manufacturer liability in a product that is inherently dangerous. An estimated 700,000 table saws are in use across the U.S.

By Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/03/sawstop_saw_brake_safety_devic.html

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