Duncan should know, since he works with forest industry professionals who cut trees and are exposed to these dangers every day. "Homeowners who occasionally cut down trees in their yards or cut firewood just a few days a year don’t always know the techniques for safely bringing down a tree or cutting wood," he said. "And they usually don’t know about the personal protective equipment that is available to help prevent serious injury when doing these tasks."

Duncan recommends that anyone who uses a chain saw for cutting trees or firewood protect themselves from head to toe. "Chain saws can cause very serious injuries, so you should protect yourself by wearing a hard hat, eye and face protection, ear protection, gloves, cut-resistant pants or chaps, and cut-resistant footwear," he said. "Whenever I cut even one piece of wood, I put on everything I have because you can’t predict when an accident will occur. I figure if this equipment is good enough to protect the professional logger, it should be good enough to protect homeowners like me."

Personal protective gear is readily available to homeowners through most outdoor equipment and hardware stores that sell chain saws, according to Duncan.

Cuts and burns are the most frequent injuries caused by chain saws. "Kickback," which occurs when the moving chain or the tip of the saw hits a hard object, pushes the saw backwards and can cause serious injury to the face and upper body.

Lynn Day, a claims adjuster with Aegis Administrative Group, investigates on-the-job injuries among timber harvesting professionals. "Perhaps the worst kickback injury I investigated was several years ago when a worker nearly decapitated himself. When the saw kicked back, it caught him right underneath the neck, and he had a laceration from ear-to-ear."

Day has seen all types of chain saw accidents, from near amputations and skull fractures to lacerations. She’s also investigated deaths that occurred during tree felling operations.

While people who work with chain saws every day have more opportunities for injury, the seriousness of the injuries that occur are just as great for homeowners who work with chain saws just a few times a year, Day said.

She remembers that during the cleanup after Hurricane Fran in 1996 many homeowners were injured in chain saw-related accidents and several people died from cleanup accidents. "Chain saws and trees can be very unpredictable, so you have to plan what you’re doing and be very careful."

Duncan, who helps develop training for timber harvesting professionals, recommends that homeowners learn and use proper safety techniques even for cutting small trees. "We teach people to leave a ‘hinge’ at the base of the tree they’re cutting. The hinge helps control the tree as it falls. And we teach people to study the tree and its surroundings before cranking the chain saw. You need to have a plan for felling the tree." This can help you avoid having the tree fall on your house, power lines, a bystander or yourself, he added.

Duncan also offers these additional safety tips.