Safety Doesn't Sell

This is an astounding story. It's just a little thing in a big world, but it's is just SO arch-typical.

The story aired on npr today. The story was about a safety device that stops a table saw blade dead cold the instant it comes in contact with human flesh, preventing someone from sawing off their fingers, hands, etc. The demo video (done using an uncooked turkey sausage – apparently the same conductivity as your finger) is one of the most amazing video’s I’ve seen. Click on the link below to go to the npr story page to watch the video, then come back here.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182602

Isn’t that just freakin’ fantastic? Now I don’t know if you use power tools or not, but everything except drills scare the crap out of me. I have a vivid imagination, and I too easily picture my circular saw taking a screaming whack out of my thigh if I get distracted at the wrong instant… And I have several friends who have lost body parts to table and radial arm saws. This is a big, BIG deal. This is the airbag of power tools (as someone stated in the story). As soon as they make a circular saw with this; I’m buying one. These guys are going to be rich, skeptics in the story not withstanding. They have something I’d KILL to have thought of.

But that’s not why they are in my blog. It’s because of what happened after they invented their device, before they decided to make their own saws. They spent YEARS trying to get just ONE of the existing power tool manufacturer’s to license their device for incorporation into their products. Years, and not even a nibble. Why? We all know the reason – it’s always the reason… stupidity. The official reasons, as best as anybody can tell are the usual fossilized group-think schlock:
(1) There might be a false trigger,
(2) They’d have to spend money to re-tool their production lines,
(3) If they put it on some models, people who cut their limbs off using the other models would sue,
(4) People won’t want to pay extra for the safety feature,
(5) Safety doesn’t sell.

They are all basically #5. Safety doesn’t sell. Un-fucking-believable. On second thought; no it’s not. It’s completely believable. Is anybody out there old enough to remember when automotive airbags were new? Remember the FIGHT to get those into cars? Now how many of you would buy a car without (multiple!) airbags. Car companies stick airbags everywhere in their scramble to out-safety each other. Safety doesn’t just sell; people demand it, and will pay a premium for it (Michelin doesn’t spend all that money on those slick “baby” ads for nothing).

Think about this the next time you cavalierly fire up some power tool. Think about what they were thinking about when they designed that tool you are holding: “safety doesn’t sell”.

I hope the Saw Stop guys CRUSH their competition.