Amputations are among the most severe and disabling workplace injuries, and amputation risks are widespread in industry.
The risk of amputations is unfortunately widespread in industry and involves a variety of activities and equipment. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from a few years back indicate that there were some 8,400 non-fatal amputation cases in private industry that year. There were also some fatal incidents. All together, this works out to something over 700 amputations a month, or about 23 a day.
OSHA reports that approximately 44 percent of all workplace amputations occur in the manufacturing sector, and the rest occur in construction, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and service industries.
These horrible injuries result from the use and care of machines such as saws, presses, conveyors, and bending, rolling or shaping machines as well as from powered and non-powered hand tools, forklifts, doors, and trash compactors. Amputations also occur during materials handling activities.
To prevent employee amputations, OSHA says that you and your employees must first recognize contributing factors—for example, the hazardous energy associated with machinery and the specific employee activities performed with the mechanical operation.
Understanding the mechanical components of machinery, the hazardous mechanical motion that occurs at or near these components, and specific employee activities performed in conjunction with machinery operation will help your workers avoid injury.
Checklists keep your workplace and your workers safe. See how with the award-winning Safety Audit Checklists program from BLR. Try it at no cost and no risk. Get the full story.
Hazardous Mechanical Components
Three types of mechanical components present amputation hazards:
Point of operation is the area of the machine where the machine performs work (i.e., mechanical actions that occur at the point of operation, such as cutting, shaping, boring, and forming).
Power-transmission apparatus includes all components of the mechanical system that transmit energy, such as flywheels, pulleys, belts, chains, couplings, connecting rods, spindles, cams, and gears.
Other moving parts that move while the machine is operating, such as reciprocating, rotating, and transverse moving parts as well as lead mechanisms and auxiliary parts of the machine can also be dangerous.
Hazardous Mechanical Motions
A wide variety of mechanical motion is potentially hazardous. For example:
Rotating—Circular motion such as action generated by rotating collars, couplings, cams, clutches, flywheels, shaft ends, and spindles may grip clothing or otherwise force a body part into a dangerous location. Even smooth surfaced rotating machine parts can be hazardous. Projections such as screws or burrs on the rotating part increase the hazard potential.
Reciprocating—Back-and-forth or up-and-down motion may strike or entrap an employee between a moving part and a fixed object.
Transversing—Motion in a straight, continuous line may strike or catch an employee in a pinch or shear point created by the moving part and a fixed object.
Cutting—The action that cuts material and the associated machine motion may be rotating, reciprocating, or transverse.
Punching—This action begins when power causes the machine to hit a slide (ram) to stamp or blank metal or other material. The hazard occurs at the point of operation where the employee typically inserts, holds, or withdraws the stock by hand.
Shearing—This action involves applying power to a slide or knife in order to trim or shear metal or other materials. The hazard occurs at the point of operation where the employee typically inserts, holds, or withdraws the stock by hand.
Bending—With this action, power is applied to a slide to draw or stamp metal or other materials in a bending motion. The hazard occurs at the point of operation where the employee typically inserts, holds, or withdraws the stock by hand.
In-running nip points (also known as “pinch points”)—These hazards develop when two parts move together and at least one moves in rotary or circular motion. In-running nip points occur whenever machine parts move toward each other or when one part moves past a stationary object. Typical nip points include gears, rollers, belt drives, and pulleys.
Examine the best-selling Safety Audit Checklists program for 30 days at no cost … not even for return shipping. Get the details.
Hazardous Activities
Employees operating and caring for machinery perform various activities that present potential amputation hazards. For example:
- Machine set-up/threading/preparation
- Machine inspection
- Normal production operations
- Clearing jams
- Machine adjustments
- Cleaning of machine
- Lubricating of machine parts
- Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance
Note that most of these activities involve servicing and/or maintenance, which is when so many amputations occur.
Tomorrow, more about machine safety and some important information about machine safeguards.
PingBack from http://topsy.com/safetydailyadvisor.blr.com/archive/2010/09/29/injuries_illness_amputations_machine_hazards.aspx?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2