Where Mechanical Hazards Occur

Dangerous moving parts in three basic areas require safeguarding:

• The point of operation: that point where work is performed on the material, such as cutting, shaping, boring, or forming of stock.
• Power transmission apparatus: all components of the mechanical system that transmit energy to the part of the machine performing the work. These components include flywheels, pulleys, belts, connecting rods, couplings, cams, spindles, chains, cranks, and gears.
• Other moving parts: all parts of the machine that move while the machine is working. These may include reciprocating, rotating, and transverse moving parts, as well as feed mechanisms and auxiliary parts of the machine.

Hazardous Mechanical Motions and Actions

The basic types of hazardous mechanical motions and actions are:

Motions

• rotating (including in-running nip points)
• reciprocating
• transversing

Actions

• cutting
• punching
• shearing
• bending

Requirements for Safeguards

Safeguards must meet these minimum general requirements:

Prevent contact: The safeguard must prevent hands, arms, and any other part of a operator's body from making contact with dangerous moving parts. A good safeguarding system eliminates the possibility of the operator or another worker placing parts of their bodies near hazardous moving parts.

Secure: Operators should not be able to easily remove or tamper with the safeguard, because a safeguard that can easily be made ineffective is no safeguard at all. Guards and safety devices should be made of durable material that will withstand the conditions of normal use. They must be firmly secured to the machine.

Protect from falling objects: The safeguard should ensure that no objects can fall into moving parts. A small tool dropped into a cycling machine could easily become a projectile that could strike and injure someone.

Create no new hazards: A safeguard defeats its own purpose if it creates a hazard such as a shear point, a jagged edge, or an unfinished surface that could cause a laceration. The edges of guards, for instance, should be rolled or bolted in such a way to eliminate sharp edges.

Create no interference: Any safeguard that impedes an operator from performing the job quickly and comfortably might soon be overridden or disregarded. Proper safeguarding may actually enhance efficiency since it relieves the operator's apprehensions about injury.

Allow safe lubrication: If possible, workers should be able to lubricate the machine without removing the safeguards. Locating oil reservoirs outside the guard, with a line leading to the lubrication point, will reduce the need for the operator or maintenance operator to enter the hazardous area.

Types of Machine Guards

Fixed Guards

As its name implies, fixed guard is a permanent part of the machine.

It is not dependent upon moving parts to perform its intended function do not move and prevent contact with the hazardous part of the machine.

These guards protect the operator from the turning wheels and moving saw blade. Normally, the only time for the guards to be opened or removed would be for a blade change or maintenance.

Point-of-Operation Guards

The openings of these barriers are 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 which is only large enough to admit the stock.

After the stock is removed, the guard returns to the rest position. This guard protects the operator by placing a barrier between the danger area and the operator.

The guards may be constructed of plastic, metal, or other substantial material. Self-adjusting guards offer different degrees of protection.

Protective Clothing and Personal Protective Equipment

Engineering controls that eliminate the hazard at the source and do not rely on the operator's behavior for their effectiveness offer the best and most reliable means of safeguarding. Therefore, engineering controls are the first choice for eliminating machine hazards.

But whenever engineering controls are not available or are not fully capable of protecting the operator, operators must wear protective clothing or personal protective equipment.

To provide adequate protection, the protective clothing and equipmentmust always be:

• appropriate for the particular hazards
• maintained in good condition
• properly stored when not in use, to prevent damage or loss
• kept clean, fully functional, and sanitary.

Protective clothing is, of course, available for different parts of the body.

• Head: Hard hats offer protection from the impact ofbumps and falling objects. when the operator is handling stock;caps and hair nets may be used to keep the operator's hair from being caught in machinery.
• Eyes & Ears: Face shields, safety goggles,glasses, or similar kinds of protection might be necessary if machine coolants could splash or particles could fly into the operator's eyes or face, then . Hearing protection may be needed when operators operate noisy machines.
• Body: Protective coveralls, jackets, vests,aprons, and full-body suits to guard the trunk of the body from cuts or impacts from heavy or rough-edged stock, there are . Operators may protect their hands and arms from the same kinds of injury with special sleeves and gloves.
• Feet: Safety shoes and boots, or other acceptable foot guards, shield the feet against injury in case the operator must handle heavy stock that could drop.

It is important to note that protective clothing and equipment may create hazards. A glove that could become caught between rotating parts, or a respirator face piece that hinders the wearer's vision, for example, require alertness and continued attentiveness whenever they are used.

Other parts of the operator's clothing may present additional safety hazards such as loose-fitting shirts might possibly become entangled in rotating spindles or other kinds of moving machinery. Jewelry, such as bracelets and rings, may catch on machine parts or stock and lead to serious injury by pulling a hand into the danger area.

Training

Even the most elaborate safeguarding system cannot offer effective protection unless the operator knows how to use it and why. Specific and detailed training is therefore a crucial part of any effort to provide safeguarding against machine-related hazards. Thorough operator training should involve instruction or hands-on training in the following:

• a description and identification of the hazards associated with particular machines
• the safeguards themselves, how they provide protection, and the hazards for which they are intended
• how to use the safeguards and why
• how and under what circumstances safeguards can be removed, and by whom (in most cases, repair or maintenance personnel only)
• what to do (e.g., contact the supervisor) if a safeguard is damaged, missing, or unable to provide adequate protection.