I'd put a panel handler at the top of my list because it is a device that limits your risks. A table saw isn't a panel saw. It can't cut a square panel.

A table saw can't cut square parts from a panel? That's demonstrably false nonsense.

Technically, Larry is right. A stock table saw can't cut a base cabinet end panel square unless the panel is already square cut from the sheet goods factory. The stock miter gage will not reach far enough to true the factory edge. You have to make a sled or add an accessory.

Tell your potential employee that the interview is not complete until the "Feats of "Strength", and that, in fact, the "Feats of Strength" are the final tradition on Festivus, err, the interview.

On a more serious note, try to hire a guy that has table saw experience if that's what you want him to do. I have tried many guys on the saw and I was always much more comfortable with the ones that had prior experience. The physical strength required is only one part of the problem.

Technically, Larry was making a statement that was completely irrelevant and useless to the topic being discussed.

No one mentioned anything at all about using a table saw to square up full, 4x8 sheets of material.

Larry,
To each their own. Your panel handler looks like not only more work but more risk to me. I would not have one in my shop. rotatating/twisting the panels onto it is far more dangerous on a back than just standing up a sheet and grabbing it. If you can't easily move 4x8 sheets then it shouldn't be your job to use the tablesaw. Only exception would be an owner that doesn't have another option but you need to find another option if you can't either A) drive the forklift right to the saw and feed off the top or B) lift that sheet and go

Lifting and twisting awkward loads is the number one cause of back injuries in the shop. Getting sheets of MDF to a ripsaw is a textbook example of how to cause back injuries. I did mine 30 yrs ago and still regret it. These injuries do not go away, and your WC insurance will go thru the roof, forever.

As a result, we have always had a shop rule that two people handle full sheets at the saw, never one. We don't handle a lot of ply, but do make large and heavy assemblies. We just are very careful. All machines, benches, moveable stands and horses are exactly the same height. One small tool cart is taller - from before I knew better.

O P. Never had any strength tests. If a new hire could not keep up, we would gladly give them a positive referral and help them out the door.

I know for me personally as I get older (50 last year) anything other than a sheet of 1/2" pre-fin ply feels like a lead boat anchor to me. When we run melamine jobs I find myself dreaming of a vacuum lift on a gantry with a load balancer. If I were alone in the shop that would be the one thing I would buy straight away. We recently did a 5x10 melamine job and it was miserable with two guys. Before that was a job with 1 1/8 MDF. It was a money maker but two struggled with those beasts.

I always remember stories from older mentors when I was younger. One guy threw his back out and wound up in the hospital for a few days in traction. It happened one morning when he was getting ready for work and he sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over to pull his underwear on, and POW. Down for the count.

Another was working in a cab shop and reached over a stack of cabs to grab a tiny little lightweight W1530 in the stack behind to scoot it closer to lift it and blew a disk.

For me it can happen when Im carrying pencil and paper and twisting just right gives you the warning.

For those reasons Im in the David camp. I dont care if your a power lifter in your private life. My comp rates are whats in jeopardy. No macho man randy savage action. Work smarter not harder.

Agreed with all above....Work smarter, not harder.

Here's another potential option:

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/crazy
-horse-dolly-handles-panels-shop?utm_source=Real_Magnet&utm_medium=Email&
utm_term=gbalcom@atlantacabinet.com&utm_content=DAILY%20BRIEF&utm_campaig
n=Anti-gravity%20dolly%20simplifies%20panel%20handling

Opps, that link went crazy...

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/craz
y-horse-dolly-handles-panels-shop

Being 6'2" 280 and resembling an offensive lineman may be skewing my perspective a little. But my thought has always been if you train your muscles to do what needs to be done and you do it literally hundreds of times a week you are in a better position than most. You guys seem to look at it like a liability. I look at it as I get to skip the gym and the gym payment and get to pocket the difference of 2 men vs 1 and the machinery to get there. On a level floor, not a delivery with stairs and obstacles, I've always counted the lifting as a gain in both efficiency, longevity and health while exploiting a lower cost to do the same work versus my competitors.

Well, since this thread has gone off on a tangent, I'll put my .02 cents in as well.

I never knew one guy lifting sheets of plywood and turning them onto the table saw was so controversial! I’ve never done it any other way unless I had to help someone else who didn’t have the strength. It doesn't have to be awkward or unsafe either. I’ve always thought it was a pretty easy maneuver, done properly and by someone with enough strength to handle (not wrestle with) the sheet. I would even argue, from my experience, that it's safer than two people; especially knowing that one guy can't always anticipate what the other is going to do or how they'll react if there is a problem.

And I would also point out that if you or your employees are going to be lifting heavy loads, installing cabinets, working with sheet goods, etc. then you should have them observe safety rules and procedures just like they would doing anything else in the shop. Specifically, taking 15-20 minutes before a shift to warm up and do some stretching to limber up the entire body, train them how to lift properly (many bodybuilders do this into their 50's and 60's with a lot more weight than a sheet of plywood), and have them wear a lifting belt if you really need some extra insurance.

I’m probably biased too though since I was an athlete when I was younger and learned how to stretch, warm up, and lift properly

We invested in lift tables, money well spent. Before that we did it like Family man does, Forklift next to the saw.
I get what your saying about physically being able to do it but there is easier ways.. We have a rolling lift table that holds 1100 lbs, can move 10 sheets around shop and up the saw or CNC height with minimal effort.

In lean manufacturing every activity is considered to either add value or add waste. It can only be one or the other.

Waste is further divided into necessary waste and un-necessary waste. Waste is generally considered to be divided into 7 categories, one of which is called "excessive motion". To this I would add an 8th category of waste called : "excessive E-motion"

There is a lot of E-motion in this industry. Some of it is testosterone based and some of it just pride. This particular E-motion is the kind that sneak up on you when you thought you were bulletproof.

I had a shop for many years that simply did not have capacity for a forklift. Everything was a hand off-load. When the truck came to the shop everybody would turn out and carry the sheet goods into the shop. We had special racks designed to collect the material but it was still a hand off-load.

The truck driver for the lumber company was a real manly guy. A natural athlete. Built like an Adonis. I insisted that every sheet be pulled off the truck with two men. I did not matter to me whether it was 1 inch MDF or 1/4 inch plywood. One sheet: Two men.

Mr. Testosterone didn't need no stinkin help. He carried his sheets all by himself.
About five years into his career he was on another stop. He lifted a piece of 1/2 inch plywood off the truck right when a gust of wind came through. The wind caught his plywood like a parasail and twisted his athletic back. He was off work on medical leave for 8 months until he finally just retired.

Here was a guy who was basically trained to drive a truck and unload plywood and now he can't unload plywood and sitting for long periods of time hurts too much.

A lot of success is mental but sometimes mental is really just mind-forged manacles.

Loved the anecdote with the not so lightly veiled contempt for the "bullet proof" "Adonis" "need no stinkin' help" "Mr. Testosterone" who happened to have a freak accident. "Didn't do things my way so it serves him right! but gave me a great anecdote to support my position." And the lean manufacturing info. just gave it that much more cred., lol.

If two men were carrying a sheet a strong gust of wind could just as easily knock them off balance and they fall and crack their head open. Moral of the story: don't carry sheet goods outside during a hurricane or tornado.

Steven,

In your anecdote the hurricane is rhetorical.

In mine the protagonist actually was a physically fit man who made his living wrangling plywood for a living.

If your career path requires that you have a healthy back you should protect it.

or they could use this:http://www.lowesinnovationlabs.com/exosuits

The smaller a company is the more drastic a WC claim is to future premiums.

1 back injury claim premium increase will pay for all the material handling equipment you need for moving and loading panels (automatic scissor lift or vacuum panel lifter).

It will also make the person handling the panels more efficient as the day moves on.

If you aren't aware you need to learn to how to monitor and close WC claim as soon as possible, the longer they are open, the longer they affect future premiums.

We have 4 hydraulic work benches and a lift at the panel saw, worth every penny. Each cheaper than one injury.

The hydraulic work benches are a plus. We have three though I think we would actually be more efficient with just one.

Two of these benches have two identical drawers on each side. Screws on the left - hand tools on the right. No matter which side of the bench you approach your hand tools and screws will always be in the same location.

The tool drawers have colored faces and the hand tools are color coded per drawer. Red hammers go in red drawer box etc.

Somebody objected to a work lift that costs $1200.

It only costs $1200 once.

The second time you use it the cost is only $600 per project and so on & son on.

I've used one of those panel carts for years and would not handle sheets by hand without one if I could help it. We mostly use it for scraps now that we are in a shop with a forklift and a vacuum lift but in our previous space it was a huge back and labor saver. I would much prefer to roll 10 sheets of melamine across the shop than carry them one at a time. Use it properly and it eliminates most lifting and twisting.

The only machine I ever paid for but regret is the one I didn't buy,

If you need it you have already paid for it.

Are you guys talking about a manual pump hyd. lift table or screw jack style for 1200?

I've been following here with some interest; 63 and not retiring anytime soon, the issue of an employee being physically able- or more importantly, willing- to lift a certain amount of weight is a subject that can stymie any hiring.
As said, there is nothing that will protect you from the liability of injury and you have to be very careful to watch out for compensation experts. I've had a couple come through over the years and they were walking lawsuits waiting to happen. And getting rid of them was tough too- they know the system.......
Best bet is to be set up to a point of never having to lift full sheets alone through a series of carts, horses, deadmen etc.. Make sure that perspectives understand the materials and and the weights you expect them to work with and have them sign a statement saying they understand. This alone may weed out a few. And then there's handling 8/4 oak, sapele, maple... Sigh- used to be if someone balked at lifting what was being worked with, without a valid physical reason, they were gone, find someone new.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned vertical panel saws- they are a real back and space saver and very safe for a newbie or regular laborer. Holzher, Safety Speedcut, Striebig are a few that I'd look into (not the skillsaw on rails models) if I were doing any amount of sheet goods processing. While it takes a little logistical planning,once setup the full sheets take little lifting .

We had a custom shop in our town in the 1990's that was positioned to be the big dog. They had a ton of equipment and 80 guys. They primarily handled a lot of high rise build outs but also had a division that sold and fabricated high end kitchens.

It was pure chaos over there. Eventually they crashed. I ended up hiring two of their last ten guys. One came from the office and one from the shop. My reasoning was that if they were last man standing they must be smart. I should have instead realized they were amongst the group that wasn't ambitious enough or smart enough to jump ship while there were still jobs to be had elsewhere. But that is a different story.

What I found most unusual (and have had this happen more than once) was that they did not know what a "butt" rest was for a sliding table saw. This is the little appendage that slides up and down the beam to give you a brake when pushing wood through the blade. You push with your arms and check with your hip.

The butt rest gives you a tool to walk the beam backwards while you are managing stock. It also provides a method for loading sheetgoods onto the slider.

I bring this up because of all the time I have had "experienced" craftsmen give me a look like a deer staring into headlites when I ask them why they aren't using it.
An 80 man shop somehow never got this tool into the shop lexicon.

I even once had a man tell me why it wasn't necessary. I told him that thepeople who designed Altendorf table sliding table saws were the same people that designed German U-boats. Was a safe bet to believe that if they included it there was a reason.

There is a lot of dumbass in this industry. A lot of very hard headed people.

A good rule of thumb for loading sheetgoods onto a sliding table saw is that if you ever have to lift the entire weight of any sheet you are doing it wrong. There is a proper way to roll sheetgoods onto a sliding table saw. The operative word is "roll" not "lift".

The attached video shows the proper way to flip a sheetgood on a Streibig panel. I shudder to think how many million man hours have been (and are still being) invested in flipping panels on a Streibig.

How to flip panels on Streibig