Guarding Human Lives: Machine Safeguards Prevent Injuries

Beds, chairs, dressers and old-fashioned children toys are some of the things that The Joinery does best. As passionate as they are about furniture, it's also about the safety of working with some intense machines. Working with a wood is often dangerous because you have to reform solid wood, and those types of machines also tend to be dangerous for the human body. However, machine guarding prevents much of these dangers. With a machine guard, any hazardous event that cannot be eliminated requires safety devices.

The Code of Federal regulations (CFR) § 1910.211 suggests that machine guarding be used as a way to prevent entry of the operator's limbs, including hands and fingers, into a point of operation. Rotating machines are especially hazardous because even when something is a as smooth as a rotating shaft, it can still latch onto clothing or hair, entangling a worker and leading to an injury or death. Power take off units are the source of many injures, but these can be avoided with the right machine guard. Rotating motion machines also have things called nip points which latch onto a bit of clothing and pull workers into a machine until a machine breaks. That's another hazard and waste that can be prevented using a guard.

Gary Michael of The Joinery explains, "All saws, jointers and milling machines need machine guards. We post shop safety policies on the machine guards, using brightly coloured signs and labels." All workers should be as fortunate as those with employers who recognize the need for such safety devices.

Equipment manufacturers like Conveyor Systems often install equipment guarding along with the machine, but in many cases, employers have to update or install these devices on their own. It's essential to also use preventive signs and warnings that remind workers of the dangers when around these types of machines and to emphasize how machine guarding can prevent unnecessary accidents. With the right signage and labels, any employer can increase the knowledge of their workers. It's important that these signs stand out and show at least a small depiction of what can happen around these machines. These visible reminders are a way to add more protection in addition to a great machine guard.

There are some important things to remember when creating the right signs. For example, "Do Not Remove Machine Guard. Protect Your Fingers." This is a sample of what you might see near a rotating motion machine. Responsible machine guarding manufacturers also have to take these dangers to heart. Conveyor Systems installs guards on the bottom of conveys so that there's no danger of getting caught up in a conveyor as the belt travels towards you.

                                   

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If you can understand the basic ways that a machine guard works, it also reduces the amount of accidents that are caused by people not paying attention to warning signs. Guards are used for specific purposes.

• Guards are designed to prevent contact with machines, and they should not be easily removed or that would defeat the purpose of a safeguard.
• Machine guards are also made to protect from falling objects.

In addition, safeguards should not be used when it would create another hazard.

• There should also be no interference with someone's job by placing a guard on a machine, which would likely lead to another accident.
• Maintenance and adjustment are key to keeping a machine guard updated and safe to be around.

Usually, there are three locations to place a machine guard. One is the point of operation. For example, The Joinery works with cutting machines, so a safeguard may be placed on the action of the machine to prevent a limb from being cut. Secondly, it is placed on power transmission devices that transmit power from one location to another through a belt, pulley, chain, sprocket or shaft. Lastly, safeguards are placed on other moving parts of machines, such as the feeding mechanism. A different type of guard is used for each location and type of hazard prevention. For example, a point of operation guard may need to move and open depending on the type of machine and what's involved in the action occurring. Every day, another hazard could have been prevented with safe guarding practices. In fact, 8 out of 10 deaths and 1 out of 4 workplace injuries are caused by mechanical equipment. However, almost all workplace injuries are preventable. Just as a warning, think of people like Kina.

Kina worked on a clean-up crew at a fishing cannery in Alaska as a young woman. However, when her boss ordered her to clean up underneath a conveyor belt, she realized that she had a made a mistake that could have been fatal. Her arm was caught as the machine turned on and broke below the shoulder before being ripped away from her body. While Kina has become a black belt and chalked up this event as a way to grow stronger, not everyone's path is so bright after a workplace accident like this. If there had been a proper workplace safe guard warning, the accident probably never would have occurred. Of course, in situations like these, it's also best to use your judgment. Employees should never be ordered into a situation likely to cause injury or death. It is always better to prevent such things from happening and take precautions. Those who work around machines should always look for the machine guard signs and play it safe.