BILL NUMBER: AB 2218 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Williams
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Allen, Butler, and Campos )
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Chapter 4.9 (commencing with Section 24540) to
Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to consumer
safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2218, as amended, Williams. Consumer safety: table saws.
Existing law prohibits the sale of various types of products that
are determined to be unsafe for the public, including, among others,
specified bunk beds, infant cribs, and toys. Existing state
regulations require certain types of table saws to be guarded by a
hood and to contain various safety features to prevent injury.
This bill would prohibit a seller, on or after January 1,
2015 2016 , from selling a new table saw in
this state unless that table saw is equipped with active
injury mitigation technology, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4.9 (commencing with Section 24540) is added to
Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4.9. TABLE SAW SAFETY ACT
24540. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Table
Saw Safety Act.
24541. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Active injury "Injury
mitigation technology" means technology to prevent or
detect contact with, or dangerous proximity between, a hand or finger
and the teeth of the blade above the table top of a table saw, and
to prevent the blade from cutting causing
severe injury to the hand or finger deeper than
one-eighth of an inch when the hand or finger approaches any portion
of the blade above the table top at a speed of one foot per second
from any direction and along any path. Notwithstanding the prior
sentence, active injury mitigation technology may be temporarily
deactivated by a person so that a saw can cut material which would
otherwise be detected as a person .
(b) "Seller" means any person who deals in or engages in the
business of selling table saws or any other person who sells table
saws in this state.
(c) "Table saw" means a saw that is designed primarily for cutting
wood with a generally planar, circular blade having teeth around its
periphery and having a nominal diameter of 12 inches or less, where
the table saw includes a table top for supporting a work piece, and
where at least a portion of the blade extends above the table top to
cut a work piece on the table top. Table saws vary in price, size,
weight, motors, drive systems, stands, housings, and other features.
Common names of various types of table saws include, but are not
limited to, bench saws, bench top saws, contractor saws, hybrid saws,
and cabinet saws.
24542. On or after January 1, 2015 2016
, a seller shall not sell any new table saw in this state
unless that table saw is equipped with active
injury mitigation technology.