We handled a incident (reported missing person) with a guy that was killed in an wood cutting accident with an Stihl 028. It kicked back and hit him in the forehead killing him. not a big saw but, it did the Job! DRT. I have heard that next to firearms, chainsaws have the second highest product liability of anything that can be purchased by consumers.
Not an absolute, but for me,
small saws scare me.
Was running Mac 700's and 800's at 12, moved into Pro Huskys,
And thats been almost all my experience. Anytime I run a small saw,
usually with pro chain, I find them awful "kicky".
A big saw definitely will kick, but a longer bar usually has to go farther,
there is more weight in your favor,
And the handles give you better control.
As someone else said, it's usually from the knee up to the upper thigh.
With more experienced guys and big saws.
Sometimes it's kick, or a sprung branch,
other times it's the workingmans worst enemy.
Complacency!
Ever hear of a carpenter cutting his thigh with a circular saw.
Quick cut something, hold it on the leg......OH, FUDGE!!!
Only he didn't say fudge!
Not judging this guy or anyone that gets cut.
Complacency is a killer though.
One that worries me, personally.
Often times in dangerous work,
As knowledge and experience accumulate, caution decreases.
I worked at a huge trucking company known for training new drivers.
With over14k trucks running truckload freight, they could accumulate some interesting data.
New/inexperienced drivers had the majority of accidents.
Broken mirrors, trailer doors ripped off. Clipping another truck in a truck stop.
Small damage, few injuries.
Drivers with 3+ years under their belt had way fewer incidents.
But were the vast majority in fatal accidents.
