BASIC MACHINE GUARDING SAFETY

 

BASIC MACHINE GUARDING SAFETY

HSE Interview Questions & Answers

Machine Guarding involves protecting ourselves from machines and equipment in our work environment.

Machine guarding is very important and it is a safety feature on or around manufacturing or other engineering equipment consisting of a shield or device covering hazardous areas of a machine to prevent contact with body parts or to control hazards like chips or sparks from exiting the machine. Machine guarding provides a means to protect humans from injury while working nearby or while operating equipment. It is often the first line of defense to protect operators from injury while working on or around industrial machinery during normal operations.

Parts of the Machine Requiring Guarding:

Point of Operation: Area where machine performs work on material

Power Transmission Equipment’s/Parts: Belts, gears, flywheels, chains, pulleys, spindles, couplings,

cams, machine components that transmit energy.

Other Moving Parts: Reciprocating, rotating, traversing motions, auxiliary machine parts.

 INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS INVESTIGATION /

 CASE STUDY

Confined Space Entry Safety Procedure

Types of Mechanical Motion that must be Guarded:

Pinch Points: Points at which it is possible to be caught between moving parts, or between moving and stationary parts of a piece of equipment

Rotating Parts: Circular motion of shafts with a protrusion sticking out can grip clothing or pull body part into point of operation

Reciprocating: Back and forth or Up and Down motion that may trap/strike an employee between the moving object and a fixed object

Traversing: Movement in straight, continuous line that may strike or catch an employee in a pinch or shear point between a moving and fixed object

Cutting: Action of sawing, boring, drilling, milling, slicing

Punching: Action resulting when a machine moves a slide ( to stamp a sheet of metal or other material.

Shearing: Movement of a powered slide or knife during metal trimming or paper cutting

Bending: action occurring when power is applied to a slide to draw or form metal or other materials.

 

TRENCHES & EXCAVATIONS SAFETY

Common Machines That Require Machine Guards:

Circular Saw

Reciprocating Saw

Band Saw

Jointer

Power Feed Planer

Shaper

Lathe

Sander

Drill Press

Grinding Wheels

Mechanical Power Press

Mortising Machine

 

Key Discussion Topics with the Shopfloor Employees:

Have you identified the machines in your shop or that you use that require machine guarding.

How could someone be injured by using these machines? How can this be prevented?

Inspect your machines to ensure the guards are correctly positioned, intact and in place. 

Scaffold : Over Head Hazard