Product Safety Alert: Angle Grinder Toothed Saw Blade Attachments (PSA5)
Product Safety Alert for angle grinder toothed saw blade attachments presenting a risk of serious injury or fatality. Consumers, local authority trading standards and businesses are asked to take specific action to cease use or remove them from the market.
Angle grinder toothed saw blade attachments
This Product Safety Alert notifies consumers and businesses of unsafe toothed saw blade attachments for angle grinders currently being sold, which present a risk of serious injury or fatality. This alert follows a previous Product Safety Alert from 2021 focusing on chainsaw disc attachments.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards has identified that toothed saw blade attachments, available for sale for use with angle grinders, are unsafe. These attachments increase the risk of kick back and loss of control of the angle grinder when in use, which could lead to serious injury or fatality. Kick back is caused when the blade snags or strikes an object during operation causing the tool to be suddenly forced backwards towards the operator.
Under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, only safe machinery can be placed on the market. Angle grinders and all interchangeable equipment must comply with essential safety requirements. The relevant standard, BS EN 60745-2-3, requires product instructions to bear the following warning: ‘Do not attach a saw chain woodcarving blade or toothed saw blade. Such blades create frequent kickback and loss of control.’
Any attachments intended for use with angle grinders that increase the risk of kick back and loss of control are unable to meet the essential safety requirements and should not be used together.
Consumers and users should only use attachment types on angle grinders that are recommended by the angle grinder manufacturer, and should always follow the instructions provided.
Consumers, local authority trading standards services and businesses are asked to take specific action to cease use or remove products in scope of this alert from the market.
Risk summary
Angle grinders involve a risk of injury even where legally safe because they are a type of machine whereby the dangerous part must be presented to the workpiece, meaning that the dangerous part cannot be fully enclosed. However, the dangers are well known and well understood and are generally mitigated by correct and appropriate use of the machine, suitable design of the machine which guards the dangerous part to the greatest extent practicable and by using appropriate PPE.
The use of a chainsaw disc accessory or toothed saw blade on an angle grinder increases the risks above those considered tolerable because:
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Angle grinder safety features are not designed to safeguard against the increased risks associated with chainsaw attachments and toothed saw blades.
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The versatility of chain saw attachments may encourage operators to use angle grinders in ways not intended, such as making risky cuts into material rather than the traditional straight cuts made by angle grinders and chainsaws e.g., wood sculpting
In summary, use of angle grinder accessories that significantly increase the likelihood of kick back such as chain saw accessories and toothed saw blades pose an increased and intolerable risk both in terms of probability of injury and severity of injury, resulting in a serious risk where major injuries could foreseeably occur to operators and bystanders.
Advised action
Consumers
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Ensure you only use attachment types designed for use with angle grinders as recommended by the angle grinder manufacturer, and purchase from a reputable business.
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Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.
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Ensure you wear the recommended Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when using angle grinders.
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If you possess a toothed saw blade in scope of this alert, stop using it and dispose of it safely. Images of toothed saw blades are included in the Consumer Safety Poster, linked below.
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If an attachment in scope of this alert was marketed as compatible for use with an angle grinder, you may be entitled to redress under consumer protection regulations and you should contact the business that supplied the product.
Businesses
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Must comply with their obligations under product safety law.
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Must remove from the market attachments sold for use with angle grinders which do not comply with the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, including toothed saw blades.
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Should warn people having purchased non-compliant attachments of the risk of serious injury or fatality presented by the product when used with an angle grinder.
Local Authority Trading Standards and Environmental Health in Northern Ireland
- Should identify and take appropriate action against businesses that sell attachments for angle grinders that do not comply with the essential safety requirements set down in the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008.
Additional information and resources