Staple Gun Accidents-Even With Safety Devices

Staple Gun Accidents

Every staple gun has a movable safety bar that depresses as you are applying pressure on to the material that is being worked with. The tool will not respond to the pulling of the trigger and drive the staple into the material without the bar being depressed. Accidents occur when the device designed to protect is deliberately removed or the gun slips off the board just as the trigger is being pulled. In such a case, the trigger locking mechanism, designed to stop the gun from firing, does not have time to retract before the gun releases the fastener.


The most common staple gun accident that I have witnessed on several occasions is where the operator is trying to staple something close to the edge of the material. What happens in this type of a situation is that when pressure is applied to depress the safety on the gun, the gun slips off of the edge of the material just as the operator is pulling the trigger. The result is a staple gets driven into the worker’s hand or finger because he is holding the two small pieces that are supposed to be being connected together with the fastener. Hopefully if this happens there are no tendons that get hit when the staple gets lodged in the hand or finger.

Once a staple is buried inside the flesh of a man or woman, it is going to require a trip to the emergency room to have it removed. There really is no way around this because the pain is so intense whenever someone tries to pull the lodged fastener out of the finger or hand.

The best way to protect yourself and others from having accidents with these air powered tools is to not get in a hurry when working with them. Treat your staple guns with the proper amount of respect and the safety devices will always work in your favor.