Thought Leader in Machine Safety

 The safety team's job is to identify and control workplace hazards. Yet, safety personnel are often viewed as a safety hazard themselves.

Despite many attempts to overcome it, there continues to be animosity between the safety team, maintenance workers, and machine operators. Spend some time in a manufacturing facility and you're likely to notice that an "us vs. them" mentality has taken hold.

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Electronic machine safety provides the highest level of protection to workers against exposure to workplace hazards but comes with many challenges.  Overcoming these challenges can be a grueling process and potentially catastrophic without the proper education and support from the expertise of specialists in this field.

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For centuries machines have been operated unsafely in an unregulated market. It was not until that in 1970, just 50 years ago, OSHA was formed as a reaction to the public outcry of industrial accidents. Originally called “the safety bill of rights”, it was a regulation created to improve workplace safety for employees. Unfortunately, companies do not follow these regulations, which result in accidents continuing to happen daily. These are the same companies that commonly preach Safety 1st. 

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Building the right safety team can be challenging because it takes people with great core values, knowledge of the regulations and standards, critical thinking skills, common sense, and an open mind.  Safety is measured by statistics, but just because people aren’t getting hurt doesn’t mean the facility is safe. 

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 One of the most common phrases is “safety is everyone’s responsibility”. This certainly is true, but safety needs to start with machine guarding. Just like anything else, people need to be set up for success by providing them with the proper tools. People want to do the right thing, they want to be safe, they want others to be safe, but they don’t know what they don’t know.

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Overcoming workplace safety attitudes must start with understanding of why the attitude exists at all. Workplace safety attitudes refers to how employees react to safety goals, policies & procedures, or new ideas & plans for accident prevention. The flip from positive to negative can happen in an instant due to the emotional connection workers typically have with their jobs and the ownership they take with their machines. This is influenced by adversity they’re faced with, incentive programs offered, and how empowered they feel. Negative employees can increase turnover rates reducing safety, creating hostile work environments, deteriorating quality, and a decline in the bottom line. It is imperative the workers stay positive to help ensure an accident free workplace, which helps improve productivity, enhance quality, and reduce costs due to refined process efficiencies creating a more profitable company.

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Machine guarding is a safety feature consisting of barriers or electronic devices used to bridge the gap between centuries of machines and the hazardous conditions they present to workers. Machines have traditionally been built for the purpose of producing, assembling, or packaging a product. Safety was either an afterthought or minimal focus by protecting against only the “highest” risk. Over the years, these machines have been modified for faster production rates or ease of routine maintenance by minimizing or removing the machine guards. This has created unsafe conditions for workers presenting such hazards as crush points, pinch points, shear points, and thrown objects resulting in injury or death.

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Several technologies ensure that automated machines meet ANSI, ISO, ISA and OSHA safety standards

 Keeping workers safe is a daily challenge for every manufacturer, particularly those that operate one or more automated assembly lines. To achieve this goal, many companies make sure their machines are equipped with sensor-based safety components that meet ANSI, ISO, ISA and OSHA standards. These include light curtains, laser scanners, and safety controllers, encoders and interlock switches. 

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