By Mark van der Feyst
Whenever two tools are used in combination to strike each other, there is a good chance that a person’s hand may be caught in a pinch point or be caught in the striking zone. This type of injury can be prevented by marking out the safety zones on the striking tool.
Whether you are using a flat-head ax or a maul, the handle can be taped to identify where not to place hands when using it as a striking tool. Try using two pieces of red tape near the head of the ax. The distance between the head and the handle is about the space of one firefighter’s hand.
This area is now identified as the crush zone. If the ax were to miss the halligan when striking, the hand placed below the tape will not come into contact with the halligen.