On a busy jobsite, the tools never stop: circular saws, grinders, nail guns, chop saws, rotary hammers. Most days they work exactly as designed. But when one goes wrong, the injuries are some of the worst I see: amputated fingers, crushed hands, deep lacerations, eye injuries, a nail through a knee or a skull.
And the first question families ask me is usually the same: isn't this just a workers' comp case? Sometimes. But often, it isn't only that.
What the safety rules say about tools
OSHA's general construction rule for tools, 29 CFR 1926.300, is short and blunt:
- Tools must be kept safe. All hand and power tools, whether the employer furnished them or the worker brought them, must be maintained in a safe condition.
- If it's built for a guard, the guard goes on. When power tools are designed to accommodate guards, they must be equipped with those guards when in use.
- Moving parts get covered. Belts, gears, shafts, pulleys, chains and other moving parts exposed to contact must be guarded.
Everyone who has worked construction has seen the shortcuts anyway: a blade guard wedged open with a wood shim, a grinder with the guard taken off because it "gets in the way," a nail gun modified to fire faster. Those shortcuts don't usually come from the worker who gets hurt. They come from a culture on the job that values speed.
The tool-specific rules
The same subpart of OSHA's construction standards gets more specific for the tools that hurt people most often:
- Circular saws. Under 29 CFR 1926.304(d), every portable power-driven circular saw needs guards above and below the base plate. And when the saw comes out of the cut, the lower guard "shall automatically and instantly return to the covering position." A lower guard that hangs up, drags, or has been tied back fails that test.
- Grinders. 29 CFR 1926.303(b) says grinding machines "shall be equipped with safety guards," and the guard must cover the spindle end, nut, and flange projections.
- Nail guns. Under 29 CFR 1926.302(b)(3), pneumatic nailers and staplers with automatic feed that run above 100 p.s.i. at the tool must have a safety device on the muzzle so the tool won't eject fasteners "unless the muzzle is in contact with the work surface."
- Switches. 29 CFR 1926.300(d)(3) requires hand-held circular saws and chain saws to have a constant pressure switch "that will shut off the power when the pressure is released." A trigger that's been taped or zip-tied down defeats that.
None of these rules is a lawsuit by itself. What they do is tell us what the tool was supposed to look like the moment it hurt you, and that comparison is often where the case starts.
Who may share responsibility
Workers' compensation is usually where an injured worker starts with their own employer. But a jobsite is full of other companies, and the law can reach them too. Depending on the facts:
- The tool manufacturer may be responsible if the tool was designed or built in a way that made the injury more likely: a guard that sticks, a trigger that fires unexpectedly, a missing safety feature that competitors already used, or warnings that didn't warn.
- The general contractor that controlled the site may be responsible if it tolerated unguarded tools or pushed a pace that made shortcuts routine.
- A rental company or another subcontractor may be responsible if it handed over a tool that was already damaged or had its guard removed.
Those are separate claims from comp, and they matter because comp doesn't pay for pain and suffering or the full impact on your life. I explain how the two fit together in my post on third-party claims after a work injury, and my page on commercial construction site injuries covers how responsibility gets divided on bigger projects.
Was it the tool, or what somebody did to it?
Every tool case eventually turns on one question: did the injury come from the way the tool was made, or from something that happened to it after it left the factory?
If the guard was designed so it binds on common cuts, or the nailer fires a second nail on recoil, that points back at the manufacturer. If the guard was fine when new but someone on the crew pinned it open, that points at whoever allowed the tool onto the site that way. If a rental yard sent it out with a cracked guard or a worn trigger, that points at the rental company.
Often it's more than one. A guard that's awkward enough that crews routinely defeat it can be a design problem and a supervision problem at the same time.
Two jobsites, two different cases
These are hypotheticals, not real cases, but they show how the same injury can lead in different directions.
Hypothetical one: the framing nailer. A carpenter on a residential job is carrying a nailer down a ladder with a finger on the trigger. The nose bumps his thigh and a nail fires into his leg. The questions are about the trigger design, what warnings came with the tool, whether a safer trigger option was available, and whether the contractor trained the crew on it. Whether there's also a product claim depends on what the investigation finds about the tool.
Hypothetical two: the rented cutoff saw. A laborer working for a concrete sub rents a cutoff saw for a day. The guard is cracked and loose when it's picked up, and the blade shatters mid-cut. Here the rental company's inspection and check-out records become central. So does the general contractor's role, if it saw the saw in use and said nothing.
Keep the tool
This is the single most important thing I tell anyone after a tool injury: the tool is the evidence. If it gets thrown in a dumpster, repaired, or sent back to the rental yard, the product claim may go with it.
- Ask that the tool, blade, and any guard or accessory be set aside and not repaired.
- Photograph the tool, the work area, and any modifications.
- Write down the make, model, and serial number if you can.
- Get the names of coworkers who saw it, and who used the tool before you.
Who has the tool matters
After an injury, the tool usually isn't in your hands. It's with your employer, the general contractor, or a rental yard, and each has its own reasons to clean it up, fix it, or put it back into service.
That's why I move quickly to send written preservation requests to everyone who may have it. The request asks them to hold the tool exactly as it is: no repairs, no testing, no swapping parts.
The paper trail matters too
Beyond the tool itself, these records can make or break a case:
- The purchase or rental agreement, and any check-out or return inspection sheet
- Maintenance and repair logs for the tool
- The owner's manual and the warning labels that were on the tool that day
- The employer's incident report and any safety meeting sign-in sheets
- Photos or video on coworkers' phones
- Any OSHA inspection file, if OSHA came out
How the claims fit together
I won't repeat my whole explanation of comp versus third-party claims here; my third-party claims post covers it. One point matters for tool cases in particular: Nebraska's comp statute, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 48-118, says that when a third person is liable for a worker's injury, "the employer shall be subrogated to the right of the employee" against that third person.
In plain terms, the comp carrier that paid your benefits will want to be repaid out of any recovery from the manufacturer, rental company or contractor. That repayment has to be handled as part of the case, not as an afterthought. My guide on liens and subrogation in Nebraska settlements explains how that works.
What the other side will say
Expect to hear some version of these:
- "The worker removed the guard." Sometimes true. But who removed it, when, and whether the employer or GC knew is a separate question. And if crews keep removing a guard because it doesn't work on ordinary cuts, that tells you something about the design.
- "The tool was misused." The answer depends on whether the use was one the manufacturer should have expected. Tools get carried, dropped, and used in awkward positions every day on a jobsite.
- "The warnings covered it." A warning buried in a manual nobody on the crew ever saw isn't the same as a warning on the tool where the hazard is.
- "OSHA rules are the employer's problem." OSHA rules don't create a lawsuit on their own, but a contractor that let unguarded tools run on its site has a hard time saying it ran a safe job.
The clock on a tool claim
Product claims in Nebraska have their own deadlines. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-224, a product liability action generally must be filed "within four years next after the date on which the death, injury, or damage complained of occurs."
There is also an outer limit tied to the tool's age. For a product made in Nebraska, the suit must be filed within ten years after the product "was first sold or leased for use or consumption." For a product made elsewhere, the statute borrows the repose period of the state or country where it was manufactured, "but in no event less than ten years." Older tools stay in service on jobsites for a long time, so the purchase date can matter as much as the injury date.
Claims against a contractor or rental company may follow different rules, and the comp claim has its own timeline. My page on Nebraska's statute of limitations has more on the general deadlines.
Mistakes that hurt tool cases
- Letting the tool go back into service. Once it's repaired or swapped, the best evidence is gone.
- Giving a recorded statement too soon. Adjusters often ask how you were holding the tool. Read my post on recorded statements to the comp adjuster first.
- Waiting. Crews scatter and rental tools go out to the next customer.
When the injury is permanent
An amputation or a crushed hand changes what kind of work someone can do for the rest of their life. Those cases need to be valued that way. My page on catastrophic injuries explains how I approach life-changing losses.
On the comp side, finger, hand and eye losses are paid under Nebraska's schedule of injuries, and exactly where an amputation falls can change the benefit. My scheduled injury chart walks through that. A third-party claim is measured differently, by the full harm to your life rather than a chart, which is one more reason it matters.
Why injured tradespeople call me
I know jobsites, I know how comp interacts with third-party claims, and I know how to make a manufacturer or general contractor answer for what it did. My clients have recovered more than $23 million, including a $5.4 million result, and their many five-star reviews speak to how I fight for them. My firm was voted Best of Omaha for personal injury law in 2025 and 2026, and I prepare every case as if it's going to trial.
If a saw, grinder, nail gun or other tool injured you or someone you love on a Nebraska jobsite, talk to an Omaha work injury lawyer who looks past the employer. Call (402) 378-9208 or contact me here. Your consultation is free, and there is no fee unless I win.
Frequently asked questions
- What does OSHA require for guards on power tools?
- Under OSHA's general construction rule for tools, 29 CFR 1926.300, all hand and power tools, whether the employer furnished them or the worker brought them, must be maintained in a safe condition. When power tools are designed to accommodate guards, they must be equipped with those guards when in use.
- Is a jobsite power tool injury only a workers' comp case?
- Workers' compensation is usually where an injured worker starts with their own employer. But a jobsite is full of other companies, and the law can reach them too. Depending on the facts, the tool manufacturer, the general contractor, or a rental company or another subcontractor may share responsibility.
- Why should the tool be kept after a jobsite injury?
- This is the single most important thing I tell anyone after a tool injury: the tool is the evidence. If it gets thrown in a dumpster, repaired, or sent back to the rental yard, the product claim may go with it.
- How long do you have to file a product liability claim for a tool injury in Nebraska?
- Product claims in Nebraska have their own deadlines. Under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-224, a product liability action generally must be filed "within four years next after the date on which the death, injury, or damage complained of occurs."
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Frank Younes
Every page on this site is written by Frank Younes, a Nebraska trial attorney with a published record of verdicts and settlements, selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100, and a practice that covers every county in Nebraska and Iowa. No case is handed to an associate — the lawyer you read here is the lawyer who works your case.
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