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611 Nail Gun Safety
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Nail Ricochet

When a nail hits a hard surface, it has to change direction and it can bounce off the surface, become a projectile and cause a struck-by-flying-object accident. These types of accidents can happen with all nail gun types.

Positive placement nailer attaching metal brackets.

Wood knots and metal framing hardware are common causes of ricochets. Problems have also been noted with ricochets when nailing into dense, laminated beams. Ricochet nails can strike the worker or a co-worker to cause an injury.

Missing Work Piece

Injuries may also occur when the tip of the nail gun does not make full contact with the work piece and the discharged nail becomes airborne. This can occur when nailing near the edge of a work piece, such as a plate. Sometimes the fired nail completely misses the lumber. Injuries may also occur when a nail shoots through plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing, misses a stud and becomes airborne.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

3-4. Nailing into metal and wood knots commonly cause _____.