Safety Requirements to Consider When Building Your Machine Guard Fencing
Just like with any aspect of a workplace, there are certain rules and standards you have to adhere to to maintain the highest level of safety when building your machine guard fencing. Wherever there are moving parts, there is a potential for accidents. Machine guarding is designed to protect employees from machine related injuries.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set forth a list of general requirements for all machines, including for machine guarding. It is important to identify all the potential hazards in your workplace that require a machine guarding system and ensure they adhere to OSHA regulations.
Safety Dedication
WireCrafters is dedicated to your safety in every aspect of our work. To help you stay up to code and keep your employees safe, here are some of the top safety requirements you should keep in mind when adding guard fencing to your facility’s machines.
- Machine guarding should be provided to protect employees from hazards such as those at the point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks. Guarding methods include barrier guards, two-hand tripping devices, electronic safety devices, etc.
- Guards need to be connected to the machine wherever possible. They need to be secured elsewhere when attachment to the machine is not possible. The machine guards need to be installed in a way that they do not present an additional hazard.
- The point of operation of any machine that exposes a person to injury needs to be guarded in a way that keeps the operator out of the danger zone and prevents the operator from being injured.
- Operators should not put their hands into the danger zone and special hand tools should instead be used for placing and removing materials. These tools should be used to supplement, not replace, other guarding measures.
- Machines designed for a fixed location should be securely anchored to them from moving accidentally.
WireCrafters has you covered whenever you’re unsure about what you need to do to ensure safety in your facility. No matter what your needs are. We can help you find the best solutions to maintain safety in the workplace. You can find a full list of regulations on the OSHA website, and if you have any questions about machine guard safety, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
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