I think there's a better argument for it, because there's some power asymmetry at play between the employees and the employer. It's harder to say "no" if you need this job to pay your bills. I still wish we had clear limits and tests for this, though. Instead, we have bureaucracies that keep expanding even after they tackle the most pressing issues.
For hobby work, the government is protecting me from me, and there are no winners in that game. I'm not imagining some hypothetical dystopia. The hobby landscape in Europe is already far more constrained than it is in the US.
The setting. There are countless safety regulations that apply only to workplaces. This isn't OSHA regulation. This is coming from the consumer protection agency.
The hobby table saw is the one I have in my basement that I use by my own choice, on my own time. The professional one is the one somebody else pays me to use everyday. They might be identical, that doesn't matter.
I'm going to be the guy that buys for cheap the "professional table saw" that got liquidated in the event that some new safety tech is legally mandated. 100% if I choose to buy it for my personal use, the government doesn't get to say I can't because I might hurt myself.
That said, I've never liked the table saw very much as a tool. The use-case is narrow, and yeah, you have to pay attention and be careful.
I think there's a better argument for it, because there's some power asymmetry at play between the employees and the employer. It's harder to say "no" if you need this job to pay your bills. I still wish we had clear limits and tests for this, though. Instead, we have bureaucracies that keep expanding even after they tackle the most pressing issues.
For hobby work, the government is protecting me from me, and there are no winners in that game. I'm not imagining some hypothetical dystopia. The hobby landscape in Europe is already far more constrained than it is in the US.
What's the difference between a hobby table saw and a "professional" one?
The setting. There are countless safety regulations that apply only to workplaces. This isn't OSHA regulation. This is coming from the consumer protection agency.
The hobby table saw is the one I have in my basement that I use by my own choice, on my own time. The professional one is the one somebody else pays me to use everyday. They might be identical, that doesn't matter.
I'm going to be the guy that buys for cheap the "professional table saw" that got liquidated in the event that some new safety tech is legally mandated. 100% if I choose to buy it for my personal use, the government doesn't get to say I can't because I might hurt myself.
That said, I've never liked the table saw very much as a tool. The use-case is narrow, and yeah, you have to pay attention and be careful.
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