As a Safety Manager I figured out some time ago that what you guard on a machine is quite easy. As I looked at the problem of guarding a machine safety, I suddenly realized some people make Machine Guarding way to hard! Primarily, most machine guarding can be covered by concentrating on three types of hazards:
- Points of Operation are the places where work gets done on a machine. A good example of Point of Operation Guarding is where the cutting tool meets the stock on an engine lathe. Another is where a drill is drilling on a drill press.
- Rotating Shafts are rotating cylinders just around and around, for example a drill chuck on a drill press or a long piece of stock rotating in the chuck of a lathe. The rotating shaft can catch an employee’s sleeve, hair, or jewelry and pull an employee into the machine.
- Nip Points are similar to Point of Operation hazards because a part of an employee’s body can be caught in a machine. Examples are exposed double rollers, belts, or gears.
There is an exception to every rule, and Machine Guarding is no exception. There certainly are some other issues we need to be concerned about. As examples, heat, cold, dangerous chemicals, dropped objects (like tools), flying sparks, and falling from heights are issues too. However, most guarding issues are covered in the above Big Three.
As you can see, identifying machine guarding hazards is the easy part of protecting employees. However, all too often, the real challenge is to find the most effective way to guard the hazard. This can be very difficult. Some things are as easy as putting a fence around the machine. However often it is not as simple as that. There is always the old paradox that you must safeguard the machine, but the machine still needs to easily operate, and make money.
Another challenge you must consider is cost. Guarding can get very expensive very quickly. A simple light curtain guard may be several thousand dollars. In the same manner, effective door disconnects can cost almost as much. Compounding the problem of cost, is the fact that it is difficult to justify to the rate of return expectations of most machine guard to accountants and financial people. The hazards of machines and human behavior are almost impossible to calculate precisely along classic Return on Investment formulas. Therefore, safety investment is often a “Leap of Faith”, which many “money-people” are wary.
Another huge problem is getting employees to use Point of Operation Guarding. Now as a Safety Consultant, I always amazed at the number of times I see where a customer has bought such guarding, but then it is hardly ever used. This condition is easily seen by the filthy, and obviously unused, guards I see just shoved off to the sides of machines. It is great someone has recognized a hazard to employees. They have gone to all the time, money, and trouble, to buy and install these guards. However, then there is little done to have employees use these new guards.
The EHS Magazine article link on the bottom of this article describes some of the modern innovation and technology in Machine Guarding and its capabilities. However, remember, what you guard is still simple, most times look for the Big Three. The real challenge is how to safeguard employees with value effective guarding that employees will use! This is the real challenge of Machine Guarding!
If Safety Fitz LLC may be of assistance, feel free to contact us.
http://www.ehstoday.com/safety/five-key-machine-safeguarding-trends