Machine Accidents? Don’t Blame the Machine!

The list of possible machinery-related injuries is long and bloody. It includes severed fingers, crushed hands, amputated arms, severe cuts, and other damage too horrible to mention. Sometimes workers are even killed by machines.

But it’s no use blaming machines for accidents!

The responsibility for preventing machine accidents and injuries lies with workers who don’t recognize the hazards, who take risks, or who are simply careless, and with management if it doesn’t train machine operators properly, strictly enforce machine safety rules, and maintain machinery in good, safe condition.

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Whatever safety meeting you need, chances are you’ll find it prewritten and ready to use in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library on CD. Try it at no cost or risk. Here’s how.

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Simple Rules Prevent Accidents

Make sure your machine operators always follow these basic safety rules:

• Check that guards are in place at all points where you could contact moving parts before turning the machine on. Never use a machine with missing or  malfunctioning guards.


• Be aware of how to turn power on and off if you should have to do so quickly.
• Read the manufacturer’s instructions on how to operate the machine safely and correctly—and follow those instructions.
• Pay attention to training on how to use machines properly and use them according to what you’re taught.
• Feed material into the machine with push sticks, not your hands.
• Find a comfortable working position to minimize fatigue.
• Take it easy. Rushing through a job is one of the major causes of accidents.
• Pay attention. Machines are very powerful and they’ll run away from you if you’re not alert.
• Check machines before use. If anything seems to be missing or not working properly, report it.
• Make sure maintenance is performed when required. If you think your equipment might have missed its scheduled maintenance, let your supervisor know.
• Use lockout/tagout procedures when a machine needs repair or maintenance. Turn the machine off and lock out the power so that no one can start it up until the lock is removed.
• Check machines after repair or maintenance to be sure that guards are in place.

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We challenge you to NOT find a safety meeting you need, already prewritten, in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library. Take up our challenge at no cost or risk. Get the details.

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Ready-to-Train Materials

BLR’s Safety Meetings Library provides a wide variety of superb training materials for conducting frequent and engaging training on just about any safety and health topic you might need, including machine safety and machine guards. This cost-effective resource provides complete training outlines as well as supporting handouts, quizzes, posters, and safety slogans.

All told, the CD provides you with more than 400 ready-to-train meetings on more than 100 key safety topics—a shrewd investment in this time of tight safety budgets. In addition to the meetings’ supplemental quizzes and handouts, you also get relevant regulations (OSHA’s CFR 29), a listing of the most common safety violations cited by OSHA, and case studies of actual OSHA cases and their outcomes.

Safety Meetings Library lets you choose from a variety of training approaches, including:

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• Mandatory—Sessions that are OSHA-required
• Comprehensive—Sessions with broadest coverage of a topic
• 7-Minute—Short, simple, targeted sessions to fit tight schedules
• Initial—A session used as introductory training on a topic
• Refresher—Sessions that follow up on or reinforce previous training
• Tool Box Talk—More informal reinforcement of a topic
• PowerPoint®—Graphic presentations for comprehensive initial or refresher training
• Hands-on—A session in which there are training activities
• Spanish—Includes Spanish-language handouts and quizzes coordinated with English sessions

You can get a preview of the program by using the links below. But for the best look, we suggest a no-cost, no-obligation trial. Just let us know and we’ll arrange it for you.

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