Chainsaw chaps and PPE

Updated 2026-08-24 · Read this page as Markdown

The personal protective equipment worn for chainsaw work: cut-resistant leg protection (chaps or trousers), a helmet with face screen and ear defenders, gloves and steel-toed boots. Cut-resistant garments contain long loose fibres that pull out, jam the drive sprocket and stall the chain on contact.

Leg protection matters most because the great majority of chainsaw injuries are to the legs and left hand. Cut-resistant clothing is rated by the chain speed it is tested against, and it is single-use protection: once a garment has been cut, the fibre pack is spent and it must be replaced, not patched. Chaps must cover the full front of both legs down to the boot, and they do nothing if worn loose or slipped round. Do not wash cut-resistant garments in ways the label forbids, and keep them free of oil, which mats the fibres and reduces their ability to bunch and jam the sprocket.

Related terms

Anti-vibration system The set of rubber buffers or steel springs that separate the engine unit from the handles, reducing the vibration transmitted to the operator's hands. Its effectiveness is what the declared front and rear handle vibration figures measure. Chain brake A safety device that stops the chain almost instantly by clamping a steel band around the clutch drum. It is triggered either by pushing the front hand guard forward or, on inertia-activated saws, automatically by the sudden rotation of a kickback. Kickback The violent upward and backward rotation of the guide bar towards the operator, caused when the upper quadrant of the bar nose — the kickback zone — contacts wood, or when the chain is pinched in the top of the cut. It is the leading cause of serious chainsaw injuries. Sound Power Level The total acoustic energy the machine radiates in all directions, in dB(A), independent of where the listener stands. In the EU the guaranteed sound power level is the value that must appear on the machine's noise label. Sound Pressure Level The A-weighted noise level measured at the operator's ear position, in dB(A). It is the figure that describes what the person holding the saw is actually exposed to. Vibration Front Handle The vibration transmitted to the operator's hand at the front handle, expressed as an acceleration in m/s². It is one of the two figures used to estimate daily hand-arm vibration exposure.

Chainsaw chaps and PPE

Related terms

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