In this study, we analyzed the mechanism and frequency of power tool-induced hand injuries, which frequently occur in Gangwon Province, Korea. Forestry jobs are common in the part of the province where our institution is located and, buoyed by the extensive presence of rural agricultural communities, many urban residents relocate to the province in search of a rural life. We confirmed that the incidence of hand and upper extremity injuries was higher in spring and fall than in summer and winter due to the relatively more comfortable working conditions in mild weather. The proportion of female patients was very low, since it is usually men who handle power tools. We also found that electric saws were the most frequent cause of injuries. Possible explanations may include the widespread use of these tools in home woodworking and gardening (pruning). Electric saws can also be used in various postures, making users more susceptible to mistakes. Prior to this study, we decided to make a distinction between occupational and non-occupational injuries according to the place where the injury occurred on account of our impression that many emergency-room patients present with injuries from woodworking at home as a non-occupational pastime activity or a retirement hobby. For a comparative analysis, we hypothesized that the non-occupational group would suffer more severe injuries than the occupational group, since non-occupational users of power tools are less likely to have received systematic training and, partly for this reason, pay less attention to the proper use of protective equipment than the occupational group. Extant research findings seem to provide some support to this hypothesis. A previous study listed three major causes of serious injuries from a power tool: (1) inattention through repetition; (2) an unanticipated event; and (3) inexperience or overconfidence [
12]. Other risk factors include bad judgment brought on by fatigue, postprandial somnolence, amateur status, improper use of equipment, and kickback [
13]. Although hand injuries are often caused by non-compliance with the standard principles of work safety, human error causes up to 90% of minor hand injuries [
14]. To some extent, hand injuries can be prevented by proper and consistent safety training, using proper safety equipment, and installing proper safety protections [
5,
9,
15,
16]. However, our comparison of the occupational and non-occupational groups did not reveal any statistically significant difference in combined injuries or amputations. This finding contradicts our hypothesis and suggests that, as far as injuries are concerned, there may be no difference between more sophisticated, difficult work over long hours performed by the occupational group and the relatively simpler work conducted by the non-occupational group. This difference, or the lack thereof, should be further explored in future studies. As discussed above, we noticed a continued upward trend in hand injuries caused by power tools over the 4-year period of this study, partially influenced by the increasing popularity of do-it-yourself projects in woodworking and interior design in recent years. Our findings that most injuries were caused by direct blade contact and that extensor injuries were more frequent than flexor tendon injuries enable us to assume that the injuries often arose from minor mistakes, such as putting a hand in a wrong place when grabbing a material or allowing a blade to contact a body part while trying to drive it into the material at hand. We thus anticipate that basic training on the use of power tools could prevent most hand injuries, including the recommendation that users set an appropriate limit to their work hours to enhance concentration and maintain a stable posture while handling the tools to prevent their arms from becoming shaky. We believe that our study represents a good starting point for future studies on power tool-induced hand injuries in Korea. Furthermore, although we failed to identify a statistically significant difference between the occupational and non-occupational groups, we look forward to more accurate information about this issue through future research endeavors, for which we propose the collection of history and data on emergency room treatment in further depth, including the type of work involved in injuries. Gangwon Province, the geographical scope of our study, is characterized by frequent use of power tools in both occupational and non-occupational settings. We thus believe that research in this region will contribute to the analysis of power tool-induced hand injuries across the country. In our study, the incidence rate of hand injuries demonstrated seasonal variation, with significantly more injuries occurring in spring (April and May) and autumn (October) than in other seasons. This may be attributable to the mild weather that provides suitable conditions for activities including woodworking. Due to the nature of power tools, which require a certain amount of physical force to operate and thus involve risks of injury, a large number of patients seemed to be middle-aged male (mean age, 53.2 years; n=261, 97%). Of the types of power tools, electric saws were the most common cause of power tool injuries (112 cases, 41.8%) to the hand and upper extremity. Circular saws, a type of electric saw that can be bought in the form of smaller and cheaper “consumer models,” are frequently sold due to the increasing popularity of do-it-yourself recreational activities. Therefore, hand injuries due to these power tools are a common reason for patients to seek medical care in emergency departments [
17]. To prevent the hand and upper extremity injuries by power tools it needed consistent safety training using proper safety equipment and installing proper safety protections.