Guard Against Machine Accidents

According to OSHA’s machine guarding standards (29 CFR 1910.211-219), machine guards must meet six requirements. They must:

• Prevent contact of hands, arms, or any other part of a worker’s body with dangerous moving parts on the machine.
• Be secured to the machine so that they can’t be easily removed or tampered with.
• Protect from falling objects. For example, a small tool dropped into a cycling machine could easily become a projectile that could strike and injure the machine operator or another employee working nearby.
• Create no new hazards, such as sheer points, jagged edges, or unfinished surfaces, that could cut workers.
• Let employees perform the work comfortably and efficiently, without interference.
• Allow safe lubrication without removing the guard, if possible.

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Types of Guards

Typically, three types of guards are used on machinery to protect operators.

Fixed guards are a permanent part of the machine, and they don’t depend on moving parts to function. They’re usually constructed of sheet metal, screen, wire cloth, bars, or some other material substantial enough to withstand the impact of operation. Fixed guards are often used because they are secure, simple, and effective.

Interlocked guards function with the machine cycle. When this type of guard is opened or removed, a tripping mechanism is disengaged or the power is automatically shut off, stopping the machine. The machine can’t be restarted until the guard is back in place. Interlocked systems are commonly used for removable guards.

Adjustable guards are generally used when flexibility is required to accommodate various sizes of stock. For example, with self-adjusting guards, the opening of the barrier is determined by the movement of the stock. As the operator moves the stock into the danger area, the guard is pushed away, providing an opening that is only large enough to admit the stock, not fingers or hands. After the stock is removed, the guard returns to the closed position.

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Safety Devices

A variety of safety devices also help protect machine operators. For example:

• Photoelectric and radio frequency devices, which use light and sound to stop a machine if a hand or other body part is accidentally placed in the danger zone
• Electromechanical devices, which have a probe or contact bar that descends a predetermined distance when the operator starts the machine cycle and won’t allow the machine to start up if an object such as a hand prevents the device from fully descending
• Pullback and restraint devices, which withdraw or hold back an operator’s hands from the danger zone during the machine cycle
• Safety-trip controls, which provide a quick way to stop a machine in an emergency—for example, a pressure-sensitive body bar, which when depressed, deactivates the machine
• Two-hand controls, which require the operator to keep both hands on the machine controls in order to keep the machine running, thus keeping hands and body out of the danger zone
• Two-hand trips, which require the operator to press control buttons with both hands at the same time to activate the machine cycle
• Gates, which provide a barrier that is synchronized with the operating cycle of the machine in order to prevent entry into the danger zone during the hazardous part of the cycle

More on machine safety tomorrow as well as information about a training tool that can help you ensure that employees are always safe when operating dangerous equipment.

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