MACHINE SAFEGUARDING

ATLANTIC SAFETY CONSULTANCY, INC.

 Overview
 Basics of Machine Safeguarding
 Where Mechanical Hazards Occur
 Hazardous Mechanical Motions and Actions
 Requirements For Safeguarding
 Methods of Safeguarding
 Non Mechanical Hazards
 Training Requirements
 Protective Clothing and Personal Protective
Equipment
 Basics of Machine
Safeguarding
Crushed hands and arms, severed
fingers, blindness - the list of possible
machinery-related accidents is as long as
it is horrifying.
 Basics of Machine
Safeguarding
SAFEGUARDS are essential for
protecting workers from needless and
preventable injuries.
 RULE OF THUMB

Any machine part, function, or process

which may cause injury must be
safeguarded.
 Where Mechanical Hazards
Occur
 Pointof operation
 Power transmission apparatus
 Other moving parts
 POINT OF OPERATION

The point in the machine where work is

performed on the material.

Examples: Cutting, shaping, boring or

forming stock.
 POWER TRANSMISSION
APPARATUS
All components of the mechanical system
which transmit energy to the part of the
machine performing the work.

Examples: Flywheels, pulleys, belts,

couplings, gears.
 OTHER MOVING PARTS

All parts of the machine which move while

the machine is working.

Examples: Reciprocating, rotating, and

transverse moving parts.
Hazardous Mechanical Motions
and Actions
 Motions  Actions
 Rotating (including  Cutting
in-running nip points)  Punching
 Reciprocating  Shearing
 Tranversing  Bending
 Rotating Motions
Rotating motion can be dangerous:
 smooth, slowly rotating shafts can grip
clothing
 mere skin contact can force an arm or
hand into the dangerous position

Examples: Collars, couplings, shaft ends.

 3 Types of In-Running Nips
 Type 1 - Parts rotate in opposite direction
while axis are parallel to each other.

 Type 2 - Between rotating and tangentially

moving parts.

 Type 3 - Between rotating and fixed parts

which create a shearing, crushing or
abrading action.
 Reciprocating Motions

 Back-and-forth motion or Up-and-

down motion.
 Danger: Struck by or caught between
a moving and a stationary part.
 Transverse Motion

 Movement in a straight continuous line.

 Danger: Struck by or caught in a pinch

or shear points.
Hazardous Mechanical Motions

 Rotating
(including in-running nip points)
 Reciprocating
 Transversing
Hazardous Mechanical Actions
 Cutting
 Punching
 Shearing
 Bending
 Cutting Actions

 Involve rotating, reciprocating, or

transverse motion.
 Dangers: Direct contact, flying chips or
scrap materials.
 Examples: Band saws, circular saws,
boring or drilling machines
 Punching Actions
 Result when power is applied to a slide
(ram) for the purpose of blanking, drawing,
stamping metal or other materials.
 Dangers: Point of operation, where stock
is inserted, held and withdrawn by hands.
 Example: Power presses
 Shearing Actions

 Involves applying power to a slide or knife

in order to trim or shear metal or other
materials.
 Dangers: Point of operation, where stock
is inserted, held and withdrawn by hands.
 Examples: Mechanically, hydraulically, or
pneumatically powered shears.
 Bending Actions

 Power is applied to a slide in order to

draw or stamp metal or other materials.
 Dangers: Point of operation, where stock
is inserted, held and withdrawn by hands.
 Examples: Power presses, press brakes,
and tubing benders.
5 GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
OF SAFEGUARDS
 Guards
 Devices
 Location/Distance
 Feeding & Ejecting Method
 Miscellaneous Aids
 GUARDS
Fixed Guards
Permanent part of the machine and not
dependent upon moving parts to perform
its intended function.
 GUARDS
Interlocked
When the guard is opened or removed,
the tripping mechanisms and/or power
shuts off or disengages and the machine
cannot cycle or be started until the guard
is back in place.
 DEVICES
Presence Sensing
 Uses systems of light.
 Principle of operation: When the light
beam is broken, machine will not start
to cycle or stopping mechanism will be
activated.
 DEVICES

Two Hand Control

Requires constant, concurrent pressure
by the operator to activate the machine.
 LOCATION/DISTANCE

 Dangerous parts located high enough

to be out of the normal reach of any
worker.
 Operator location at safe distance from
the hazardous parts of machine.
 FEEDING & INJECTING
METHOD
Automatic Feed
 Stock fed by chutes, hoppers or
conveyors, movable dies.
 Enclosure will not admit any part of the
body.
 FEEDING & INJECTING
METHOD
Automatic Ejection
 Work pieces are ejected by air or other
mechanical means.
 Enclosure will not admit any part of the
body.
 MISCELLANEOUS AIDS

 Supplement to the protection that other

safeguards provide.
 Use of push stick or block when feeding
stock.
Minimum General Requirements
For SAFEGUARDS
 Prevent contact
 Secure
 Protect from falling objects
 Create no new hazards
 Create no interference
 Allow safe lubrication
NON MECHANICAL HAZARDS

 Not grounded properly (electrical)

 Failure of high pressure system
(pneumatic)
 Noise (unwanted sound)
 Potentially harmful substances (cutting
fluids, coolants)
 OPERATOR TRAINING

 A description of hazards associated

with particular machine.
 The safeguards themselves, how they
provide protection, and the hazards for
which they are intended.
 How to use the safeguards and why.
 OPERATOR TRAINING

 How and under what circumstances

safeguards may be removed and by
whom.
 What to do if safeguards is damaged,
missing, or unable to provide adequate
protection.
 REVIEW
 Basics of Machine Safeguarding
 Where Mechanical Hazards Occur
 Hazardous Mechanical Motions and Actions
 Requirements For Safeguarding
 Methods of Safeguarding
 Non Mechanical Hazards
 Training Requirements
 Protective Clothing and Personal Protective
Equipment