Machine Guarding – An Insight

Of the different type of workplace injury, some of the injuries occur when machine operators suffer from de – gloving, amputations, lacerations and other serious injuries while operating the machinery that is not appropriately guarded.

There is high possibility that moving machine parts may lead to severe injuries. It is important that all workplaces should have machine guards in order to protect the workers from workplace injuries. Whenever the operation of a machine injures the operator or other people, it becomes essential to eliminate the hazard out of a product.

If, in any case it is not possible to eliminate the hazard then it is advisable to guard it and issue a warning letter to avoid that hazard. Professionals often refer it as the “Engineering Hierarchy”: guard against, design out and warn.

Industries have used many guarding principle for over a period of hundred years now. For example, in 1899, first patent for an interlocking guard was rewarded to a power press. However, for decades now, guarding technology has been available but many manufacturers failed to avail the benefits of basic safety engineering that could not only prevent many tragedies and sufferings but could also save many lives.

There are different types of guards for different type of products depending upon the requirement of product. Few examples of guards include sensors that helps in detecting the of hand or operator’s finger, light guards and fixed barrier guards, barrier guards and movable interlocking guards.

Machine guarding cases that involves serious injuries due to inappropriate guarding often leads to situation where a poorly designed product is removed exposing the worker or operator to a serious machine injury.