After 18 people sustained injuries from malfunctioning nail guns, the Hitachi Coil Nailer was recalled. Injuries were sustained by 15 Americans and three Canadian consumers. The recall was announced on March 11 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada. The model in question has a faulty feeder mechanism that occasionally ejects nails sideways out of the gun. According to CPSC and Health Canada, the nail gun is a serious hazard to users and bystanders.
Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd. has received reports of 37 instances of nails being ejected sideways from the gun in the U.S. The CPSC announced that of the 15 injured Americans, the most frequent injury was to the eyes. Several of the eye related injuries resulted in partial blindness. Canada reported one instance of partial blindness out of the three individuals who sustained injuries.
The Hitachi Coil Nailer is designed to fire nails into drywall, wood, and other surfaces. The coil style nail guns are loaded with nail strips that are flexible and carry a larger number of nails than traditional stick style nail guns.
The recall will affect around 65,000 nail guns. This includes 50,000 guns in the U.S. and 15,000 in Canada. The recall affects nail guns that have the model number NV83A2 that were manufactured between October 2002 and September 2005. The model number can be located on the body of the nail gun and the manufacture date can be found on the handle. The first digit of the manufacture date represents the month and the second represents the year. October, November and December are represented with the first letter of the word, but the other months are represented with numbers one through nine. The last digit of the date is the last digit of the year it was manufactured.
The nail guns cost around $400 and were available at major home improvement stores including Home Depot and Lowe’s. It was also available online at www.Amazon.com.
Consumers are advised to refrain from using the nail guns and to contact Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd. for a free repair at the company’s Web site, www.hitachipowertools.com.
If you or a loved one has experienced injuries while using the Hitachi Nail Coiler or other similar power tools, contact Newsome Law Firm and fill out a case evaluation form today. Our team of attorneys has experience specific to complications associated with defective power tools. Not only can they give you the legal guidance you need, they can help you get the compensation you deserve.