Case Study 2 – Machine Guarding

Student name: ______Aswin Varghese (8817384)

Student name: _______________________________

Incident synopsis:
A worker was operating a cold pad machine, which is a machine designed
to evenly apply glue to planks of wood.
Wooden plank is passed through two rollers to spread glue that drips from
horizontal supply pipe placed in front of the rollers
At the end of the day rollers must be washed and scrubbed of excess glue
to prevent hardening and therefore damage to the machine.
Rollers are washed by hose and scrubbed by hand brush and sponge
pads. The common practice was to clean rollers with the machine running.
The worker was scrubbing the front of the machine with a brush and
sponge while it was running.
Worker’s hand was pulled in between the rollers. The worker suffered
multiple fractures to his arm.
(See video below)

Your task:
1. Identify the basic machine motion and machine hazard.
2. Decide on the most effective measure from the hierarchy of controls.
3. Propose the most effective control to prevent incident
4. Explain the root cause of incident and what measures should you put in
place to prevent reoccurrence. How would you prevent the incident?
 Answers

1A machine's basic motion is circular motion, and its associated machine

hazard is a drawing-in hazard.

2] Administrative controls are the most useful measure in the hierarchy of

controls because they ensure the safety of operational procedures. While
operating on the equipment, the worker should receive proper training,
including instruction on lockout procedures. In addition, manual cleaning
should be performed after turning off the machine completely, or automatic
cleaning tools can be used.

3] many adequate controls can be implemented to prevent an incident;

employers must give employees personal protection equipment (PPE) such
as safety eyewear, goggles, nonslip shoes, and safety boots to protect
them from harm. During maintenance, proper lockout and warning signs
must be introduced to enhance the safety aspects. Also, pull-back restraint
systems can be used as they can physically prevent the operator from
reaching the dangerous area of a machine.

4] We can tell from this video that the incident's root cause is the slippery
floor, which drives the person to draw in a situation, so his hand got caught
in the roller. Another reason is the need for more usage of PPEs. Some
methodologies we can use to reduce the impact in such a situation include
placing signs or warning signals to indicate wet floors while mopping during
the cleaning process, doing a machine lockout in case of maintenance, and
giving proper training to the workers. Emergency stop systems can also be
implemented in machines to safeguard the operator’s life.