SAFETY SOLUTIONS: Machine Safety

Irecently attended the AWSF woodworking Expo in Las Vegas. It was a pleasure to finally meet many of the machine manufactures like SCM Group, Thermwood, MultiCam, Stiles and many other wonderful suppliers of plastic products and cutting tools who advertise in Plastics Distributor® & Fabricator Magazine. Thank you for the time and courtesy that you extended to me during your busiest time to discuss your product and show me your safety and machine guarding efforts.

I was impressed with the efforts that these and other manufacturers have achieved in guarding their CNC routers and machines to meet the current OSHA and State OSHA standards. This is an important factor since injuries resulting from inadequate machine guarding are of concern due to their potential severity. Plastics processing machines are complex pieces of equipment that require guards to protect employees from nip points, numerous moving parts, and exposure to high voltage and high temperature. Serious injuries including fatalities, amputations, avulsions, burns, cuts, and bruises can occur during operation. Such injuries may result from guards that are improperly designed, missing, improperly installed, removed, or bypassed. The machine manufactures that I visited, all had the proper guarding on their machinery. Many used fencing and electronic photocells to protect the point of operation and their machine guards were built with interlocks that prevented the worker from by-passing the interlock. As for meeting OSHA lockout and tagout requirements, all of the machines that I looked at met the standard.

Remember when you are designing and building guards for machines that the guard or guarding device must withstand the impact of the cutter coming loose or breaking or the part breaking and striking the guard. I must also be honest that when I did ask that very important question of whether the clear plastic shield could hold the cutter if it broke or if the guarding device was made of plexiglass or polycarbonae most of the sales force could not answer my question. This is not good or bad but it is my message back to those who I visited to ensure that your sales force can answer the OSHA questions that would be asked if they visited the buyers place of employment. We offer certified machine guarding training and this training can be conducted at your location and it can increase your sales if your sales professionals understand these very important safety standards.

Thanks for reading our magazine articles, as Safety, Health and Environmental Professionals the safety of our workers should always be at the top of our list. Never use a machine for anything other than what it was built to do and please ensure that your machines are built to the ANSI or CSA or other standards for that type of machine.

Machine safeguarding and lockout and tagout is extremely important, have you heard about the Bumble Bee Tuna accident? Well the State of California CAL/OSHA is prosecuting the General Manager and their Safety Manager http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bumble-bee-foods- 2-managers-charged-death-man-cooked-tuna-n349641 could this accident have been prevented? Yes it could have. How do I know? Ask me and I will tell you. In this case the machine manufacturer is being sued for not properly guarding their machine. Lets take safety seriously.

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