Machine guarding is a precautionary safety feature on manufacturing or other engineering equipment. Specifically, it is a shield or device covering hazardous areas of a machine to prevent contact with body parts or to control hazards like chips and noise from exiting the machine.
Machine guarding provides a means to protect humans from injury while working nearby or while operating equipment. Machine guarding is often the first line of defence to protect operators from injury while working on or around industrial machinery during normal operations.
When equipment maintenance is required, machine guarding in the form of electronic interlocks, light curtains, and/or physical barriers can provide a level of protection that is adequate and compliant with health and safety regulations in many cases. When servicing or maintenance requires the operator or maintenance employee to place their body in harm’s way of the moving parts where unexpected restart or re-energisation could cause injury or death, then a full system shutdown is required by utilising a method called lockout-tagout. Globally, this term is more often called, hazardous energy control.
The link between machine guarding and hazardous energy control is very strong. If the machine guarding is optimally engineered and utilised, then lockout-tagout will only be needed in less frequent instances of installation/removal or major maintenance. Conversely, if the machine guarding solution and machine control options are poorly engineered, then lockout-tagout procedures will be required to be utilised more regularly in order to ensure the safety of the worker.
All workplace equipment must be guarded. Guarding and safety regulations cover all moving parts on equipment and power tools. There are various types of guarding available to protect employees from harm while operating equipment. While the following are common types of guarding, you should consult the standard that is applicable to the specific machinery in your workplace for more detailed requirements:
When deciding on a guard or device, you must first ask what machinery is in need of guarding. Then, do a risk assessment on the machine and implement engineering controls to reduce employee exposure to the hazard. Lastly, find out the probability of occurrence. This includes the frequency of exposure, the probability of injury and how serious an injury would be. Once this is complete, you must decide whether to use a guard or device.
Guards prevent access to the point of operation and include die enclosures and fixed, interlocked and adjustable guards. These are all items that become part of the equipment and are not to be removed from it once placed there.
Devices control access to the point of operation hazards by controlling the operator, machine or both. Devices include presence sensing devices, pullbacks, restraints, gates, two-hand controls and two-hand trip controls. One primary point of operation safeguarding method, guard or device meets OSHA requirements. Having more than one guarding option gives greater flexibility for multiple setups and human elements. Secondary safeguarding methods may also be required to keep other employees out of an area where hazardous operations take place.
- Control Reliability
Control reliability is a way to ensure the integrity of the performance of guards, devices or control systems. Typically, operations cease and machinery shuts down when controls sense a body part in harm’s way or when an employee opens a door to machinery while it is operating (interlock system).
All new equipment is required to have lockable disconnects. This allows the machinery to be locked or tagged out easily.
All start buttons should have a ring guard around them to protect from accidental start-up. Accidental start-ups can potentially cause injury to operator and others.
All moving belts, gears, fans, chains and pulleys should be guarded up to 2 m from the working platform level.
Nusaf Dynamic Technologies (Pty) Ltd is dedicated to the manufacture and supply of the highest quality products and service to the food, beverage, packaging, labelling and machine manufacturing industries. Nusaf Dynamic Technologies strive to meet and exceed the most stringent quality standards. We stock the following products:
- Conveyor Components
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- Modular Chains
- Transmission Sprockets
- Timing Pulleys
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- Transmission Chains
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- Articulated Feet
- Plastic Sprockets
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- Machine Guard Systems
- Crate Conveyor Chains
- Worm Gearboxes
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