GP : Guard Against Amputations

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Chapter : Guarding Protection 

Guard Against Amputations

The purpose of machine guarding is to protect the machine operator and other employees in the work area from hazards created by:

• Ingoing nip points
• Rotating parts
• Cutting and shearing
• Punching and bending
• Reciprocating and traversing motions
• Flying chips and sparks

Examples of machine guards include:

• Barrier guards
• Light curtains
• Two-hand operating devices

The machines that expose employees to injury be guarded and the guarding device must conform to the appropriate standards. If specific standards aren't available, then the machine construction should prevent operators from having any part of their body in the danger zone during the operating cycle.

Special hand tools used for placing and removing material from point of operation areas must allow easy handling of the material without the operator placing a hand in the danger zone. Such tools must not replace guards.

Point of Operation Guarding

Machines that usually require point of operation guarding include:

• Guillotine cutters
• Shears
• Alligator shears
• Power presses
• Milling machines
• Power saws
• Jointers
• Portable power tools
• Forming rolls and calendar's

Revolving barrels, containers, and drums must be guarded by an enclosure interlocked with the drive mechanism, so that the barrel, drum, or container cannot revolve unless the guard enclosure is in place.

Exposure to blades is another situation that requires guarding. When the periphery of the blades of a fan is less than 7 feet above the floor or working level, the blades must be guarded. The guard must not have openings larger than ½ inch.

GP : Risk & Hazards at Unguarded Rotating Equipments

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Chapter : Guarding Protection 

Risk & Hazards at Unguarded Rotating Equipments 

Unguarded machines and equipment may cause severe cuts, amputations, or even death. Manager/Supervisor/Worker are responsible to take ownership and pride in making sure all equipment and machines are properly guarded and are working correctly.
 
Pre-Task Planning:

• Make sure that you are properly trained on the machine use and safety features.
• Pre-plan the job and set up the work environment correctly.
• Make sure all machine guards are in place before the machine is turned on.
• Do not hesitate to ask for help if the machine in not working properly or a guard is missing.

Hazards:

Mechanical movements are hazardous. Watch for

• The movement of rotating parts.
• Reciprocating arms.
• Moving belts, meshing gears, cutting teeth, moving parts, and points of rotation.

Safe procedures:

When working with machines:

• Do not remove guards.
• Remove your jewelry.
• Tie back long hair.
• Roll up long sleeves.
• Do not wear loose clothing.
• Maintain a clean working environment.
• Keep the area free of debris.
• Do not wear gloves around moving parts.

Be aware of safety devices and know how to properly use the following:

• Wire trips.
• Two button controls.
• Wrist restraints.
• Foot pedals.
• Light curtains.

Guards are to protect you, the equipment, and the product. Removing guards may cause serious damage to all three.

It is essential that the operator of the machine be properly trained to recognize hazards present during operation. Machines that are properly guarded may save your or a co-worker’s life, limb, or other serious injury.

GP :- Floors and Other Openings

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Chapter : Guarding Protection 

Floors and Other Openings

Injuries in the workplace because of holes in walking and working surfaces are common place.
Slips, trips and even falls from one level to the next can be as painful as a fall from a roof.

The following items should be considered when dealing with floors and other types of openings.

Hazard Identification: Floor Openings (2”x2” minimum at any depth)

• Temporary openings
• Plumbing
• Ventilation (Vault Ceilings?)
• Skylight wells
• Manholes
• Holes in Ground (Trenches and Excavations)
• Wall/Window Openings
• Temporary guardrail system

Fall Protection Standards

• Methods of Protection

• Use of standard guardrails
• Use of covers
• Able to support four times the intended load
• Nail down
• Mark with “Cover”

Protection at

• Floor Openings -Types in Need of Guarding
• Ladder way floor openings
• Hatchways and chutes

When you create a safety hazard, you need to protect others against the hazard. The easiest method is to fix the problem when you create the problem.

Guardrail systems must be able to withstand a 200 pound load applied horizontally and vertically. All floor covers must be able to support at least twice the intended load and installed to prevent accidental shifting. Floor coverings should be so marked in a bright colored paint to communicate the danger.

GP : Guardrails / Edge Protection

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Chapter : Guarding Protection 

Guardrails / Edge Protection 

Guardrails are designed to protect you from falling from one level to another. If the guardrail is defective or not there at all, then you are exposed to serious injury or even death.

One of the most common issue is improperly erected guardrails.

There are two basic types of guardrails:

• The perimeter guardrail (i.e., found on flat roofs, upper stories before framing walls) and floor opening guardrails. 
• Both are constructed the same way and are designed to provide the same type of protection. 

 The following items should be reviewed when discussing guardrails:

When are they required?
All open-sided floors or floor openings exposing workers to a fall of four feet or greater.

Standard Specifications

• -The top rail should be 42” high and constructed of 2”x4” stock wood.
• -The intermediate (or mid rail) should be 21” (also using 2”x4”).
• -The bottom rail or toeboard should be at least 4” in vertical height from the floor to the top of the toeboard.
• -Uprights will be 2”x4” at 8’ centers at a minimum.
• -All components must withstand a load test of 200 pounds at any point.

General Rules

• Install guardrails properly the first time and reduce the amount of maintenance.
• Install as you go—don’t wait and then have to catch up.
• Regularly inspect all rails.

Other area

• Window and Door Openings.
• Interior stairwells requiring hand rails.
• Anyone repairing a guardrail at elevated heights should be wearing their Personal Fall Arrest
• System (PFAS) and be tied off to an anchor point.
• Enforce replacement by subcontractors when they remove them.

GP : Machine Guarding

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Chapter : Guarding Protection 

Machine Guarding

Employee exposure to unguarded or inadequately guarded machines is prevalent in many workplaces. Consequently, workers who operate and maintain machinery suffer amputations, lacerations, crushing injuries, abrasions etc.. 

Proper use of machine guards can help protect employee hazards related to the point of operation, power transmission devices, and operating controls. 

Types of machine guards

Guards rank third in the risk reduction hierarchy, after inherently safe design and risk reduction. Guards must therefore be chosen only if the first two measures cannot reasonably be applied.

A guard must not create additional hazards (cutting, trapping, crushing, etc.) or cause the machine’s users to divert the guard from its use. The movable components of a guard must be designed so that their dimensions and their weight facilitate their manipulation.

A guard must be designed by taking into account all the environmental constraints or those operating constraints (possibilities of projections of solid or liquid matter) to which the guard is subjected during the machine’s entire service life. The guard must also be designed by taking into consideration, insofar as possible, all the intended uses and reasonably foreseeable incorrect uses of the machine and all the involuntary movements of the workers.

A guard must be designed and built in such as way as to offer good visibility of the process and the machine. This type of design limits the dismantling of the guard while allowing the machine to be checked for proper operation or a malfunction to be detected as soon as it appears. The guard can be made of a transparent, perforated or meshed material (see the permissible dimensions in point 5.3.1). It is suggested that the frame of the guard be painted a bright color, and the perforated or meshed part a color darker than the zone to be observed (flat black or charcoal grey).

There are two types of guards

Fixed guards:

• Fixed enclosing guard;
• Fixed distance guard;
• Fixed nip guard.

Movable guards:

• Iinterlocking guard;
• Interlocking guard with guard locking;
• Power-operated;
• Automatic closing

To ensure safety, it's important to use machine guards properly. Take these precautions:

• Do not attempt to by-pass machine guards in an effort to save time. Machine guards are there for your protection.
• Do not remove machine guards, except during repair or maintenance of the machine. Then, always use lockout/ tag out procedures to protect accidental startup.
• Replace machine guards after repair or maintenance.
• Wear eye protection when cutting, sawing, drilling or grinding.
• Avoid wearing loose clothing or jewelry when operating power equipment. These could get caught in machines and drag you or parts of your body into the machinery.

GP : GUARDRAILS

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Chapter : Guarding Protection.

GUARDRAILS 

Guardrails protect you from falls that can seriously injure or even kill. The amount of protection guardrails provide depends on how they are constructed and maintained. Most guardrails are built of strong materials and are usually solid when first put up. As time goes by, however, guardrails often are abused, weakened, broken, or moved and not replaced.

MISSING OR WEAKENED GUARDRAILS

Sometimes sections of guardrails must be taken down so that materials or equipment can be brought in. These sections often aren't replaced or if they are, they're hastily thrown back up. Weakened guardrails are sometimes more dangerous than no guardrails at all, because they give a false sense of security.

FOLLOW THESE RULES

We can help avoid guardrail accidents if we follow a few simple rules:

1. As you go about your job, get into the habit of checking guardrails. If you discover a weakened or a missing rail or section , correct the situation if you can. Otherwise, report it so that the hazard can be eliminated.

2. If you bump a rail with material or equipment, check it at once if you suspect you may have weakened it. If you discover you've broken a rail, upright, or toe board, repair it if you can. Otherwise, report it so that it can be repaired.

3. When repairing or replacing guardrails, remember you're exposed to the very danger that you are providing protection against. Perhaps you should be using a safety belt and lanyard.

KEEP YOUR GUARD (RAILS) UP

Different types of construction may require different types of guardrails. But the points we've covered today apply to all. If you have suggestions, make them known so that we can continue to keep our guardrails up and our accidents down.