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Lower blade guards on radial arm saws

Summary A saw manufacturer asked whether its lower blade guard met OSHA's radial arm saw rule. OSHA said the photographed guard appeared to meet the rule's intent and pointed to an earlier enforcement directive on alternative guarding methods. It had no immediate rulemaking plan but forwarded the request for future consideration. OSHA now archives the letter as potentially outdated.

Document

Federal opinion letter

Agency

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Document number

1990-03-13-1

Date issued

March 13, 1990

Status

Archived by the agency

OSHA archives this letter and says it may no longer represent OSHA policy.

Status last verified October 9, 2026

Topics

Workplace Safety OSHA 1910 Machine Guarding Saws

Source

View the official document

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About this page: The full text below is the official document from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.

NOTICE: This is an OSHA Archive Document, and may no longer represent OSHA Policy. It is presented here as historical content, for research and review purposes only.

MAR 13 1990

Mr. Robert Carson
Delta International Machinery Corporation
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Carson:

This is in response to your letter of August 29, 1989, in which you requested the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) interpretation of the specification for lower blade guards for radial arm saws, as found at 29 CFR 1910.213(h)(1) of the standard. Please excuse the delay in our response to your request.

OSHA provided guidance to Regional Administrators on the application of 1910.213(h)(1) in its OSHA Instruction Memorandum of October 30, 1978, STD 1-12.18 (enclosed). The directive was developed to inform enforcement personnel of alternate methods of specifically meeting the intent of 1910.213(h)(1), as it pertained to guarding the sides of the lower portion of radial saw blades.

The Agency reviewed the photograph that accompanied your letter, and feels that the lower portion of the blade, as it is shown, does meet the intent of the standard as found at 1910.213(h)(1).

In regard to the modification of OSHA's 1910.213(h)(1) to reflect the latest changes of Paragraph 6.1.9.1, of ANSI O1.1 (1975), OSHA does not have this issue currently on its regulatory agenda. We will consider your letter a written request to place this issue on our future standards development/modification agenda. A copy of your letter has been provided to the Office of Safety Standards Programs for their consideration.

I appreciate your interest and effort in bringing this matter to our attention. Our Regional Offices will be reminded of the instructional memorandum addressing this matter by copy of this letter. Please feel free to contact us if you have additional concerns.

Sincerely,

Patricia K. Clark Director Designate Directorate of Compliance Programs

[Enclosed 1978 OSHA program directive and requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]

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Lower blade guards on radial arm saws

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