Machine Guarding

Simply put, “lockout/tagout is a safety procedure used to make sure equipment and machines are properly shut off and not able to start during maintenance or repair work,” the Texas Department of Insurance says. “This is known as controlling hazardous energy.”

Nearly half of all work-related injuries involving mechanical power presses result in amputation, statistics compiled by OSHA show. Around 60% of amputations involve a worker’s fingers or arm getting caught or compressed by a press or other machinery such as a conveyer, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Cave-ins during excavation work, body parts being pulled into unguarded machinery, standing within the swing radius of cranes and other equipment, and being caught between a piece of equipment and a fixed object – all of these are examples of caught-in or caught-between incidents that can occur at work.

We need to upgrade our machine guarding. Where do we start?

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration describes a pinch point as any point where it is possible for part of a worker’s body to be caught between moving parts of a machine, between stationary and moving parts, or between material and any part of the machine.

In woodworking, potential contact with a saw blade presents a very serious hazard. Even though guards offer protection, it is important to remember they alone cannot prevent an injury from happening.

For best safety practices, machines must be prevented from automatically or unintentionally restarting when a power interruption occurs.

The OSHA lockout/tagout standard outlines practices and procedures required to prevent the flow of dangerous energy while employees are servicing equipment. This includes all sources of energy, including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical and thermal.

One of the worst injuries a worker can sustain is an amputation. OSHA reports that thousands of workers every year lose body parts – most often a fingertip – as a result of on-the-job accidents