Hour after hour, in businesses of all sizes, machinery pounds, cuts, crushes, welds, stitches or whatever other task they were designed for, to fashion the products that will be marketed to hungry consumers. 

But there is a fearful downside to this scenario: the machine cannot distinguish between a piece of wood, steel or fabric and the operator’s body. It does not know that the dust, splinters, sparks or metal chips that are an offshoot of its work may fly into the operator’s eyes, face and lungs with devastating effect.

Instead, it is the workers and their managers and supervisors who must recognize these dangers and act to guard against them. 

How do they go about this? 

Employers must take the following precautions.

Know and comply with the regulations 
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established in Subpart O of 29 CFR 1910.211-219 a section called Machinery and Machine Guarding. 

This subpart deals with a whole spectrum of machines and the various types of available guarding devices that can prevent the injuries, and even deaths, that can otherwise result when moving machine parts and body parts meet.

Ensure that all potentially dangerous machinery is equipped with the appropriate type of guarding and that machines and guards are properly maintained. 

Provide and require the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) – whether it be face shields, safety glasses, gloves, aprons or the like.

Establish safe work practices for machinery operation, and provide operators with thorough training in these practices.

Maintain supervisory oversight of operations to see that safe work practices are followed, including correction and discipline when necessary. 

Assure that machine maintenance and repair are conducted only after lock-out-tag-out procedures have been followed. 

General machinery rules
Employers and their workers must understand and follow the prescribed work practices for machine operation in general.

Some good rules of thumb include:
• Never start a guarded machine without the guard in place.
• Never remove or bypass the guard. If a guard must be removed for servicing or adjustment, lock-out procedures must be followed.
• Never leave machine tools running unattended. Wear the proper PPE for the particular job, such as eye protection, safety shoes, safety caps to completely cover long hair.

Do not wear neckties, jewelry, or loose-fitting clothing (especially loose sleeves and cuffs of shirts or jackets. Immediately report to the supervisor any equipment with a missing or defective guard – or other unsafe condition you may notice – whether it is in your own work area or elsewhere. 

Also remember to practice good housekeeping. Keep your work area free of debris, spare parts or hand tools, and spills.

When employers make sure that their machines and their machine operators work safely, the benefits are many: fewer injuries, less material waste and the reduced cost resulting from both.

TrainingOnline is a full-service learning content provider that specializes in Web-based training courses for the environmental, health, safety and human resources markets. Read more about safety training at www.trainingonline.com.

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