California Code of Regulations
Title 8 - Industrial Relations
Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations
Chapter 4 - Division of Industrial Safety
Subchapter 7 - General Industry Safety Orders
Group 8 - Points of Operation and Other Hazardous Parts of Machinery
Article 59 - Woodworking Machines and Equipment
Section 4296 - General

(a) Combs (featherboards) or suitable jigs shall be provided at the workplace for use when a standard guard cannot be used, as in dadoing, grooving, jointing, moulding, and rabbeting.

(b) An automatic cut-off saw which strokes continuously shall not be used if the operator is exposed to the hazards of the saw and is not able to control each stroke.

(c) Arbors and mandrels shall be constructed so as to have firm and secure bearing and be free from play.

(d) Sharpening or tensioning of saw blades or cutters shall be done only by persons with experience and skill in this kind of work.

(e) Saw frames or tables shall be constructed with lugs cast on the frame or with an equivalent means to limit the size of the saw blade that can be mounted, so as to avoid overspeed caused by mounting a saw blade larger than intended.

(f) Circular saw fences shall be so constructed than they can be firmly secured to the table or table assembly without changing their alignment with the saw. For saws with tilting tables or tilting arbors the fence shall be so constructed that it will remain in a line parallel with the saw blade, regardless of the angle of the saw blade with the table.

(g) Circular saw gauges shall be so constructed as to slide in grooves or tracks that are accurately machined, to insure exact alignment with the saw blade for all positions of the guide.

(h) Hinged saw tables shall be so constructed that the table can be firmly secured in any position and in true alignment with the saw blade.

(i) Ripsaw spreaders shall be made of hard tempered steel, or its equivalent, and shall be thinner than the saw kerf. The spreader shall be of sufficient width to provide adequate stiffness or rigidity to resist any reasonable side thrust or blow tending to bend or throw it out of position.

(j) Ripsaw spreaders shall be attached so as to remain in true alignment with the saw blade even when either the blade or table is tilted, and shall be placed so that there is not more than 1/2 -inch space between the spreader and the back of the saw blade when the largest blade is mounted in the machine. The provision of a spreader in connection with grooving, dadoing, or rabbeting is not required. On the completion of such operations, the spreader shall be immediately replaced.

(k) The hood shall be made of adequate strength to resist blows and strains incidental to reasonable operation, adjusting, and handling, and shall be so designed as to protect the operator from flying splinters and broken saw teeth. It shall be made of material that is soft enough so that it will be unlikely to cause tooth breakage.

(l) The hood shall be so mounted as to insure that its operation will be positive, reliable, and in true alignment with the saw blade; and the mounting shall be adequate in strength to resist any reasonable side thrust or other force tending to throw it out of line.

(m) For all circular saws where conditions are such that there is a possibility of contact with the portion of the saw blade either beneath or behind the table, that portion of the blade shall be covered with an exhaust hood, or, if no exhaust system is required, with a guard that shall be so arranged as to prevent accidental contact with the saw blade.

(n) Revolving double arbor saw blades shall be fully guarded in accordance with all the requirements for circular crosscut saws or with all the requirements for circular ripsaws, according to the kind of saws mounted on the arbors.

(o) No saw blade, cutter head, or tool collar shall be placed or mounted on a machine arbor unless the tool as been accurately machined to size and shape to fit the arbor.

(p) Each machine shall be designed, constructed and mounted in a manner that will eliminate hazardous vibration at any operating speed while using any tool designed for the machine.

(q) On machinery and equipment where injury might result if motors were to automatically restart after power failures, provision shall be made to prevent machines and equipment from automatically starting upon restoration of power.

EXCEPTION: Portable power tools intended to be handheld during use.

NOTE: For the purpose of subsection (q), the term "provision" means electrical or mechanical device, or administrative procedures.