The Case of the Inadequate Machine Guard

Machine guards are critical to the safety not only of machine operators but also of employees who work around machines. Here's a case in point. 

An employee was sweeping the floor around a machine in operation.

Please note that written work rules did not specifically address an acceptable method of cleaning around machinery in operation. Nor was there any guarding around this machine's belt and pulley assembly. 
The employee reached under a belt and pulley guard with a hand brush in her left hand. Her glove was caught by the in-running portion of the notched flat belt, which was approximately 16 inches from the floor. Her left hand was pulled into motor pulley, causing two compound fractures to her left arm and damage to the hand, including the complete loss of the middle and index fingers.

What Went Wrong

• By reaching under the guard and under the machine, the employee put herself in danger. 
• The employee did not inspect the machine's guard to ensure it was adequate such that it would prevent her from touching or being caught in the machine's motion. She didn't know she was supposed to. 
• The guard did not completely cover the hazard. According to OSHA's inspection, there was a 4-inch gap between the guard and the machine body, which means a worker could have reached into the gap from the top or the sides. Also, the bottom of the belt and pulley, which was 16 inches from the floor, was not guarded at all. 
• The employee attempted to clean under the machine while it was still in operation. If the employee had waited for the machine to stop operation, then applied lockout and tagout to the machine before cleaning under it, she would not have been injured. 
• According to the OSHA inspection, there appeared to be a lack of written work rules regarding cleaning around machinery—especially when it is in operation. 
• There also appeared to be a lack of training because the worker did seem to be aware of machine hazards, the importance of guard inspections, or lockout and tagout practices. 

Training Implications 

• Train employees to stay away from any machinery unless they are properly trained on the machine's hazards, guarding requirements, and how to safely work on or near the machine. 
• Teach employees who work around machinery to identify machine hazards (e.g., cutting action, punching action, shearing action, and nip points) and the location of those hazards. 
• Instruct machine operators to make sure all machines are properly safeguarded and that machine guards are in place and operating properly before operation. 
• Teach employees about OSHA's guarding requirements—for example, that guards must prevent bodily contact with the danger zone, be secured to the machine, prevent objects from entering the danger zone, and so on. 
• Tell workers who to contact if a guard is missing, damaged, or inadequate, and instruct them not operate the machine until the guard is fixed.

by Chris Kilbourne