HealthandSafety

Executive

Safeuseofhandfedplaningmachines

HSEinformationsheet

WoodworkingInformationSheetNo17

Accidenthistory
InanHSEsurveyof1000woodworkingmachinery
accidents,20%occurredonhandfedsurfaceplaning
machines.Ofthese,80%occurredduringedgingor
flatting,ratherthanthespecialisedoperationssuchas
rebating,mouldingorchamferingwhichaccountedfor
some10%ofthetotal.Althoughabridgeguardwas
providedinmostcases,accidentsweremainlycaused
bythefailuretoadjusttheguardproperly.
A twoknifecutterblockmakesapproximately10000
cutsperminuteandifamachinists fingersarein
contactforonlyatenthofasecond,16sliceswillbe
removed.

Safeguardingofhandfedplaning
machines
Figure1 Basicsafeguardingrequirements

Before consideringanyparticularoperationindetail,
lookfirstatthebasicguardingrequirements(see
Figure1).

Introduction
Thisinformationsheetisoneofaseriesproducedby
HSEs ManufacturingSector. Itspurposeistogive
guidanceonsafemethodsofworkforthemost
commonjobsonhandfedsurfaceplaners.Themain
legalrequirementscoveringtheuseofthesemachines
areintheProvisionandUseofWorkEquipment
Regulations1998(PUWER98)andthesupporting
ApprovedCodeofPractice(ACOP)Safeuseof
woodworkingmachinery.1,2

Thebridgeguard shouldbe:
strongandrigid(tosupportheavytimbers)and

Itisvitalthatmachineoperatorsare properlytrainedto
carryouttheworktheyareexpectedtodo.2 Only
operatorswhohavebeenauthorised,ideallyinwriting,
asproperlytrainedandcompetentshouldbeallowed
tooperatemachines.Adequateinstructionand
supervisionarealsoimportant.

Whenpurchasinganewsurfaceplaningmachine,it
shouldbesuppliedwithadeclarationofconformity
andhaveaCEmark.3 Asaminimum,itshouldbe
designedandconstructedtomeetBSEN859(under
review).4 NewtoolingshouldmeetBSEN8471.5

madefromamaterialsuchaswoodoraluminium,
sothatintheeventofcontactwiththecutter
block,neithertheguardnorthecutterblockwill
disintegrate;
constructedsothatitisnoteasilydeflected,which
wouldexposethecutterblock;
longenoughtocoverthetablegapwiththefence
atmaximumadjustment.Forlargemachines
telescopicguardsareavailable;
wideenough(atleastequaltothecutterblock
diameter);and
easilyadjustablehorizontallyandverticallywithout
theuseofatool.

To reducetheriskofcontactwiththecutterblock
duringrundown,machinesshouldbefittedwitha
brakingdevicethatbringstheblocktorestwithin10
seconds.Allunbrakedmachinesshouldnowhave
beenfittedwithabrake,unlesstherundowntimeis
lessthan10seconds.2,6

HealthandSafety
Executive

Toolingandtablesetting
Settingthetablesandthecutterblocksiscrucialnot
onlytothequalityofthework,butalsotothesafetyof
theoperationtobecarriedout.
Onlycylindrical(orroundform)cutterblocksshould
beusedonhandfedplaningmachines.Keepknife
projectionstoaminimumonnewmachines(iepost
1995)themaximumcutterprojectionshouldbe1.1mm
(seeBSEN8471).5
Followthetoolingmanufacturersrecommendations
forbalancingthecutterblockassembly,minimum
clampinglengthofknivesandtorque(forscrew
fixings).Theknivesshouldbesharpenedatregular
intervalstoreducetheriskofsnatchingandkickback,
andresultinginjury.

Figure2 Tableheightandgap

Theclearancedistancebetweenthecuttingcircleand
thelipsoftheinfeedandoutfeedtablesshouldbeas
smallaspracticable,generally3mm 2mm(see
Figure 2).Theoutfeedtableheightshouldneverbe
belowthecuttingcirclediameter.

Figure3 AdjustmentofthebridgeguardFlatting

Allguardsshouldbeinpositionbeforetrialcutsare
made.

Usingthehandfedplaningmachine
Failure toadjustthebridgeguard togivetheoptimum
degreeofprotectionhasbeenthecauseofmany
seriousinjuries(seeFigures37).
Itisimportanttopositionyourhandscorrectlyonthe
workpiecewhenmachining.Whenflatting,the
workpieceshouldbefedbypressurewiththeright
hand,thelefthandholdingitdowninitiallyonthein
feedtable.Assoonasthereisenoughtimberonthe
outfeedtable,thelefthandcanpasssafelyoverthe
bridgeguardtoapplypressureontheoutfeedtable
andwillbefollowedbytherighthandtocompletethe
feedingoperation.Itisnotnecessarytoexertfeeding
pressuredirectlyoverthecutterblock.

Figure 4 Edging

Whenedging,yourhandsshouldnotpassoverthe
cutterwhiletheyareincontactwiththetimber.Their
mainfunctionistoexerthorizontalpressureonthe
workpiecetomaintainitsquaretothefence.

Figure5 Flattingandedgingrectangularstock

Figure6 Flattingandedgingsmallsquarestock

Figure7 Flattingandedginglargesquarestock
2

HealthandSafety
Executive

Safetydevices
Useapushblockwhenplaningshortpieces.Itshould
havewelldesignedhandlestogivethemachinista
firmgrip(seeFigure8).Thiswillreducetheriskofa
shortworkpiecedippingasitpassesthelipofthe
infeedtable,whichresultsinabruptcontactwiththe
cuttersandcancausekickbackoftheworkpiece.

Rebatingandbevelling
PUWER98requiresthatthemostsuitable(ielowest
risk)machineavailableisselectedforeverymachining
operation.Forexample,cuttingarebateonaproperly
guardedverticalspindlemouldingmachineislower
riskthanasurfaceplaningmachine.2
Stoppedworkshouldneverbedoneonahandfed
planingmachineegonlyusethemachineforjobs
involvingthefulllengthoftheworkpiece.

Figure9Rebatingusingarebatingtable,Shawguardsand
pushstick

Angledcuts(iebevels)needadequateworkpiece
support.Asforrebating,Shawguardscanbeusedto
makeatunnelguardthroughwhichtheworkcanbe
fed(seeFigure10).

New(CEmarked)planingmachinesshouldbe
designedsothatitisnotpossibletocarryoutrebating
usingtheendofthecutterblock.4 Onold(egpre
1995)machines,rebatingusingtheendoftheblock
canbedoneprovidedamoresuitablemachineisnot
availableandthat:

theworkpieceisproperlysupported(seeFigure9);
a tunnelguardisformed,egbymeansofShaw
guards,whichpreventstheoperatorshandsfrom
reachingthecutterblock;
thetablegapisguardedonbothsidesofthe
fence;
correctlygroundcuttersareusedtoreducethe
riskofworkpiecekickback.

Note:TheextendedpadsontheShawguards(Figure
9)effectivelypreventaccesstothecutterblockeven
whenthereisnoworkpiece.
Figure 10 BevellingusingatiltedfenceandShawguards

Powerfeed
Considerusingademountablepowerfeeddevice,as
onotherhandfedmachines,asitremovestheneed
fortheoperatortoapproachtooclosetothecutter
block.Apowerfeeddevicecanalsoovercomethe
riskofkickback.However, usingpowerfeeddoesnot
removetheneedforguarding,particularlyasthefeed
unitneedstobemountedontheoutfeedtablefor
surfacing.

Figure 8 Pushblocksforusewithshortpiecesoftimber

HealthandSafety
Executive

Maintenance

Furtherinformation

Machines,particularlysafetydevicesandguards,must
beadequatelymaintainedtoensuresafety.Unlessa
bridgeguardmovesfreely(bothverticallyand
horizontally)itisunlikelytobekeptadjusted.

HSEpricedandfreepublicationsareavailableby
mailorderfromHSEBooks,POBox1999,Sudbury,
SuffolkCO102WATel:01787881165
Fax:01787313995Website:www.hsebooks.co.uk
(HSEpricedpublicationsarealsoavailablefrom
bookshopsandfreeleafletscanbedownloadedfrom
HSEswebsite:www.hse.gov.uk.)

Lubricatemachinesregularly.
Makesureanydamageisreportedandreplace

partsasrequired.
ChangethepadsonShawguardsregularlytosuit

thesizeoftheworkpiece.Thefixingscrewsneed
tobeingoodcondition;keepsparesavailableand
havetherighttoolstohand.
Inspectandreplacethehandlesonpushblocks
regularlytheyshouldbesecure.

Referencesandfurtherreading
1 Safeuseofworkequipment.ProvisionandUseof
WorkEquipmentRegulations1998.ApprovedCodeof
Practiceandguidance L22HSEBooks1998
ISBN0717616266
2 Safeuseofwoodworkingmachinery.Provision
andUseofWorkEquipmentRegulations1998as
appliedtowoodworkingmachinery.ApprovedCodeof
Practiceandguidance L114HSEBooks1998
ISBN0717616304

BritishStandardsareavailablefromBSICustomer
Services,389ChiswickHighRoad,LondonW44AL
Tel:02089969001Fax:02089967001
email:cservices@bsiglobal.com
Website:www.bsiglobal.com
Forinformationabouthealthandsafetyring
HSEsInfolineTel:08453450055
Fax:08454089566Textphone:08454089577
email:hse.infoline@natbrit.comorwritetoHSE
InformationServices,CaerphillyBusinessPark,
CaerphillyCF833GG.
Thisdocumentcontainsnotesongoodpractice
whicharenotcompulsorybutwhichyoumayfind
helpfulinconsideringwhatyouneedtodo.
Crowncopyright Thispublicationmaybefreely
reproduced,exceptforadvertising,endorsementor
commercialpurposes.Firstpublished10/00.Please
acknowledgethesourceasHSE.

3 Buyingnewmachinery.Ashortguidetothelaw
andsomeinformationonwhattodoforanyone
buyingnewmachinery foruseatwork INDG271
HSEBooks1998
4 BSEN859:1998Safetyofwoodworking
machines.Handfedsurfaceplaningmachines (under
review)
5 BSEN8471:2005Toolsforwoodworking.Safety
requirements.Millingtools,circularsawblades
6 PUWER98:Retrofittingofbrakingtowoodworking
machines WIS38HSEBooks1998
7 Safeuseofverticalspindlemouldingmachines
WIS18(rev1)HSEBooks2001
8 Packof6woodworkingpostersHSE Books1999
ISBN0717624331

PrintedandpublishedbytheHealthandSafetyExecutive

WIS17(rev1)

Reprintedandredesigned06/06

C20