Safety Articles

Stop-Time Measurements Keep Safeguarding Equipment in Peak Performance We’ve all heard the phrase “what a difference a day makes,” yet when it comes to industrial safeguarding, the concern isn’t days, hours or even minutes. It is the milliseconds it takes for a machine operation to stop. That fraction of a second can make the difference…

I, COBOT: The Rise of Industrial Robotics and the Need for Employee Safeguarding In general, OSHA’s view on robot safety is that if the employer is meeting the requirements of ANSI/RIA R15.06, the manufacturer has no issues. Tech executive and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk recently took to Twitter calling for the regulation of robots and…

Including In-Depth Analysis of Light Curtains vs. Laser AOPD Press brakes are unforgiving machines and a common source of workplace amputations of hands, fingers and arms. United States Department of Labor statistics indicate an average of 368 instances of amputations annually from press brake accidents. And these are only the reported accidents. WHY ARE PRESS…

Detect-A-Finger® Prevents Welding and Riveting Injuries Preventing hand and finger injuries on manufacturing equipment is a top priority for safety and compliance professionals. Detect-A-Finger is a drop-probe presence-sensing safety device for spot welders and riveters, designed to stop a machine’s cycle if a finger or hand is detected in the danger zone. By halting the…

On the surface, at least, machine lockout/tagout (LOTO) appears simple: Identify and isolate energy sources, lock and tag, and perform the procedure that needs to get done. Simple, right? Wrong. When energy is required to complete machine diagnostics or set-up work, or when a minor maintenance job is going to throw production hours behind schedule,…

Press Brakes are currently a hot topic in the “Machine Safeguarding” arena. OSHA regulations consider press brakes to be a 1910.212 machine, saying to the employer; “one or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point…

Point-of-operation barrier guards are essential safeguarding equipment for hazardous industrial processes and machinery such as presses, pumps, motors and drills. When properly installed the barriers prevent a person from placing any part of their body into the point of operation by reaching through, over, under or around the guards to access a hazard. However, because…

Lathes are often overlooked when Risk Assessments are conducted to determine appropriate “Machine Safeguarding.” OSHA regulations consider lathes to be a 1910.212 machine, saying to the employer, “One or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by…

Mechanical power presses (a.k.a. punch presses, stamping presses, flywheel presses) have existed in the U.S. since 1857. They were originally designed as either full-revolution, or part- revolution, both of which still exist, although the latter currently represents an estimated 90 percent of the roughly 300,000 mechanical power presses being used in the United States today….

In the United States, workers operating or maintaining industrial machinery suffer more than 18,000 amputations, crushed fingers and other traumatic injuries each year. While these injuries vary greatly, the majority of cases do have one thing in common: the injury was largely preventable if machine safeguarding equipment had been in-place, or would have been far…

Safeguarding Standards for Bench and Pedestal Grinders Grinders are one of the most frequently cited machines during OSHA machine-safety inspections. This is frequently due to improperly adjusted work-rests and tongue-guards on bench/pedestal grinders, as well as a lack of ring-testing for the grinding wheels. OSHA 29 CFR SubPart O 1910.215 is a “machine specific” (vertical)…

Every year around this time, the awards season kicks off with the Emmys, Golden Globes and the grand daddy of them all, the Oscars, eagerly announcing their lists of nominations. At the same time — and on a far more somber note — another roll call is issued, this one from the Occupational Safety &…

The terms guard and shield are often used interchangeably when referring to safeguarding cutting and turning machines. However, there is a significant difference between the two words. Guards OSHA 29 CFR 1910.217 defines a guard as an enclosure that prevents anyone from reaching over, under, around, or through the guard even if they really tried….

OSHA’s Code of Federal Regulations 1910.212 General Requirements For All Machines states that “Point of operation is the area of a machine where work is actually performed upon the material being processed. The point of operation of machines whose operation exposes an employee to injury, shall be guarded.” There are five basic requirements to consider…

The following is an excerpt taken from OSHA Fact Sheet DEP FS-3783. OSHA inspectors are experienced, well-trained industrial hygienists and safety professionals whose goal is to assure compliance with OSHA requirements and help employers and workers reduce on-the-job hazards and prevent injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the workplace. Since OSHA cannot inspect all 7 million…

Although OSHA’s Code of Federal Regulations does not have a machine-specific regulation for metal cutting saws, 1910.212 General Requirements For All Machines says that one or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip…