Safety Toolbox Talks-Machines Guarding
Instructions for the Site Supervisor/Project Engineer
To make your employees or workforce or technical staff safe and secure from any ill-health or critical injuries due to fatal incidents always use occupational health and safety toolbox training and or induction/orientations to strengthen safety reviews during weekly and monthly meetings with the workforce. The project responsible supervisor should maintain the employee’s sign-in register in their Health and Safety department’s training record keeping.
Most of the serious and dangerous occurrence happen with operators while working with machines. If there is no machine guards exist or have accidentally malfunctioned, then there is a high possibility of human physical injuries that could lead to death. Sometimes, the operators or employees who work with such safety guard-oriented machines, they don’t like it but through proper health and safety training, they should be motivated that such safety initiatives are all for their safety.
The Functions of the Machine Guards
Most of the serious and dangerous occurrence happen with operators while working with machines. If there is no machine guards exist or have accidentally malfunctioned, then there is a high possibility of human physical injuries that could lead to death. Sometimes, the operators or employees who work with such safety guard-oriented machines, they don’t like it but through proper health and safety training, they should be motivated that such safety initiatives are all for their safety.
The Functions of the Machine Guards
The machine guarding system protects the machine operator and another workforce in the worksite area from severe and dangerous hazards generated by bits, rotating parts, flying objects & flickers. Such safety guards also prevent and secure machine operators in case of a malfunction e.g., mechanical or electrical failure. The employees or operators who are working with or around machinery must know and acknowledged or properly inducted about the following machine operating safety rules:
- Prior machinery operation start, always ensures that the appropriate safety guards are installed and are free of any malfunction and are in good condition.
- Always be active, careful around meshing gears, in- running rollers, swinging parts, gearwheel, belts, pulleys, flywheels, cutting surfaces, conveyor equipment, rotating shafts, and hot or overheated parts of the machines.
- Never operate any machine without guard installation if you are an operator and don’t permit or allow any operator if you are a supervisor or responsible person.
- In case of defective or missing guards, immediately report this unsafe condition to your shift supervisor.
- If you are operator and your shift is over and you have detected any malfunction in the machine or guarding system, inform your shift supervisor, tag it or inform the operator who is taking over that machine. Such initiatives safe and secure you and your colleagues from a dangerous situation.
- Only competent and specialist personnel should make guard adjustments, alignments or installation.
- In case of the machine, guards are removed for repair, adjustments or replacements, the main power switch for the machine should be locked in the off position. Apply always LOTO system, and when the maintenance service job is over, make sure the machine guard is replaced securely, safely, and is working appropriately.
The Types of Machine Guarding System
The Interlocked Guards
When the interlocked machine or equipment guards are opened or removed, the tripping and power mechanism will automatically shut off and the rotating or moving parts of the machine are stopped, and the machine cannot be resumed to its normal function or operation until the guard is back in its place. The interlocked guard mechanism or system may use electrical, mechanical, hydraulic power or any combination of all of these. To be effective such a machine guard mechanism, all adjustable guards must be interlocked to prevent occupational health and safety hazards.
The Self-Adjusting Guards
The Self-adjusting guards’ mechanism provides barriers that adjust automatically to the size of the stock entering the red zone hazardous area. The question that how such guarding system work, As soon as the operator of the machine moves the stock, the machine guard opens only ample to admit it and then returns to its original position. In such type of guard mechanism, the restricted visibility is a man problem and the operators may require to be reminded steadily that they are not allowed or permitted to remove them.
The Fixed Guards
Like my name, the fixed machine guards are physical barriers permanently attached to machines that secure and protect the operators from reaching over hazardous areas. Such guards’ mechanism is simple, reliable and effective. But one of the shortcomings of such a guard mechanism system is that they restrict visibility and they have to be removed for machine adjustments and repairs. The operators to such guarding system must figure out that fixed machine guards can be removed only by competent persons in the maintenance of the equipment.
The Adjustable Guards
The Adjustable machine guards provide an obstacle that can be manually adjusted or fixed by the operator of the machine to fit the size of the stock being processed. The machine has to be stopped if the adjustable safety guard needs readjustment during a run. Such adjustable guards’ mechanism system does not generally protect fixed and interlocking guards.
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