Machine Guarding – Welcome to 2023

Welcome to the year 2023. I hope your holidays were happy, but also safe. This year I started my business, year by received three different requests to review some newly installed machines. I have inspected these machines, and guess what? they were not properly guarded. Remember that the word “Guard” means that you can not be able to reach over, under, around, or through to reach a danger point on a machine. The following items are not machine guards:

■ Photoelectric light curtains
■ Pressure-sensitive mats
■ Laser sensors
■ Radiofrequency devices
■ Chip shields

Machinery-related injuries are some of the worst in the industry today. Workers get caught in machines and suffer severe injuries such as crushed arms, legs, severed fingers, or blindness, and some are even killed. Can these injuries and deaths be prevented? Of course, they can, with the proper use of machine guards.

Mechanical Hazards Occur in the Following Areas

■ Point of Operation – the 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 can include reciprocating, rotating, and transverse moving parts, as well as feed mechanisms and auxiliary parts of the machine.

To prevent injury from any of these hazards, guards must be in place and never removed while work is in progress. Knowing how a safeguard protects workers is just as important as having the machine guard itself in place. The machine guard protects the worker from harm by:

■ Preventing contact: the guard must prevent any part of a worker’s body or clothing from making contact with dangerous moving parts.
■ Securing: All machine guards must be securely affixed to the machine to prevent tampering or removal.
■ Protecting from falling objects: a machine guard ensures that no objects can fall into moving parts and thus become deadly projectiles.
■ Creating no new hazards: an additional hazard, such as having a jagged edge or shear point, must not be created by the guard itself.
■ Creating no interference: machine guards must not impede workers in the performance of their jobs. A machine guard provides safety and enhances efficiency.

Training and Employer Responsibilities

Following the manufacturer's instruction manuals, warning labels, and hands-on training for machine operators should be required:

■ Description and identification of hazards associated with particular machines should be performed, and a job safety activity analysis or an activity hazard analysis should be performed before a worker is assigned to the job.
■ The employers’ supervisors and employees should be taught how to use machine guards to protect themselves from the hazards involved.
■ The employers, supervisors, and employees should be taught how to adjust and why machine guards are used.
■ Everyone should be made aware of under what circumstances, and by whom, machine guards can be removed.
■ Everyone should be trained and held accountable for what to do if a machine guard is missing, damaged, or does not provide adequate protection. The bottom line is, if a machine has been designed with a guard in place, do not tamper with or remove it!

Remember, practice safety, don’t learn it by accident. Annually review your lockout / tag out program with authorized and affected employees.

This is only January, and machine guarding injuries are still on the rise. According to OSHA statistics for calendar year 2022: Avoiding OSHA violations is the best way to protect your workers and your bottom line. Training is an easy and affordable way to help you prevent some of the most common OSHA violations.

OSHA Statistics – Calendar Year 2022

■ Fall Protection (General) – 5,260
■ Hazard Communication – 2,424
■ Respiratory Protection – 2,185
■ Ladders – 2,143
■ Scaffolding – 2,058
■ Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) – 1,977
■ Powered Industrial Trucks – 1,749
■ Fall Protection (Training) – 1,556
■ Personal Protective Equipment – 1,401
■ Machine Guarding – 1,370

Should you have any questions, as always, I am available to help you. Our information is listed in the magazine. Feel free to reach out to me or visit the IASHEP website for training.
podojilconsulting.com

John (Jack) Podojil
CSHET®, CEHSP®, IASHEP-CI®, CSHCO®, CCSHCO®