F024: Machine Guarding

Designed for the manufacturing facility safety manager, this presentation will discuss the 4 steps to successfully mitigate machine guarding hazards. The discussion will focus on how best to use the ANSI standards as the pathway to successful machine guarding. Beginning with the overarching plantwide machine guarding survey, through machine specific risk assessment, machine guarding design, and seamless integration, real-world examples and case studies will be used to show the importance of each step. As a Bonus we will also discuss what to do when OSHA visits.

Press brakes are inherently dangerous machines, and traditional guarding systems protect only against accidents occurring below the tooling. New technologies now available are reshaping how press brakes are guarded, providing full protection for operators—not only in the tooling area, but also against finger-crushing hazards caused against the ram of the press.

Safer and faster bending is now possible, with no interference from the guarding system during the bending process.