Basic Installation and Uses of Machinery Guards


Machines account for hundreds of injuries in the workplace every year. For this reason, employees must secure machines to prevent them from causing injuries and fatalities. No I’m not talking about using tagout, lockout, and blockout procedures here. Instead, I’d like to discuss the importance of machine guarding safety in the workplace. While tagout, lockout, and blockout procedures are needed for disabled or unused equipment, machinery guards guards save as your protection for equipment while they’re in use.

Basics of Machinery Guards
So what are machine guards? What are they made of? How do they protect employees from getting hit, cut, burned, or crushed by machines? Machine guards are tangible materials used to keep employees from having direct contact with a machine’s moving parts. Some guards help protect you from kickbacks, flying chips and splashing liquids.

Guards can come in the form of sheet, woven or expanded mesh steel. Some machine guards are made of wood. This is usually the case in chemical or wood manufacturing industries, or operations that involve chemicals that might corrode metal.

The following are some examples of equipment or machines that require the use of guards: chains, gears, pulleys, cranks, sprockets, and connecting rods, rope, belt and chain drives, projecting shaft ends, transmission shaft, flywheels, portable saws, belt tighteners, portable belt sanders, portable grinders, pneumatic tools, powder actuated tools, and openings for frequent oiling

Types of Machine Guards
These are the two types of guards that protect machine operators from injuries:
Fixed guards, protect you from hazardous parts of machines at ALL times. Only authorized personnel may adjust fixed guards. Interlocking guards, used only if using a fixed guard is not practical or feasible. Guard hazards parts before use.

General machine safety measures include to secure all guards to the machine. Keep guards away from pinch points. Fasteners used to secure guards to a machine must require the use of tools for their removal. Brace all guards every 3 ft., or less, to a fixed part of a structure or machine. Guardrails must be at least 42 in. high with a clearance of at least 15 in., but not more than 20 in. from the machine. Toeboards must be at least 4 in. in height.

Remember, with a combination of the use of machine guards, tagout, blockout, and lockout procedures, along with the right PPE and proper training of employees in machine operations, you don’t have to worry about machine-related accidents in your workplace. The purpose of machineryguards are to protect the machine operator and other employees in the work area from hazards created during the machine's normal operation. This would include hazards of concern such as: ingoing nip points, rotating parts, reciprocating, transversing, and/or flying chips & sparks.

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