Latest Safety Content Feed

Machine without e-stops, interlocks injures worker

Jared Rader — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:02:59 -0500

A worker at a poultry plant was injured when she got too close to a mechanism for stapling turkey bags. There were no interlocked safety gates or emergency-stop (e-stop) buttons on the machine when the accident happened.

Serious vibration and missing guard factors in hay-grinder accident

Jared Rader — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:39:19 -0500

From the safety files of Lanny Berke: A man was injured when part of the hay grinder he was operating broke free and struck him in the chest. The grinder was running without a drivetrain guard at the time of the accident.

From the Safety Files: Student burned by inadequate safety instruction

Jared Rader — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:12:17 -0500

A 10th-grade student was badly burned while grinding metal in his school’s metal shop when sparks ignited his clothing. He was unsupervised when the accident happened and was wearing minimal protective equipment.

Beware of unsafe guards

Jared Rader — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 16:25:27 -0500

One of the basic concepts of machine guarding is that a guard must not become a hazard or contribute to hazards. Thorough hazard analyses easily identify hazardous guards. Ideally, preliminary hazard analyses at the equipment manufacturer will identify and resolve guarding problems before they affect users.

Lathe operator killed when guarding system fails

Jared Rader — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:38:40 -0500

A lathe operator was fatally injured when the bar stock he was machining came loose and struck him. The bar was guided and guarded by a pneumatic bar feeder which had not been properly secured.

Prosthetics technologies become safer and more reliable

Jared Rader — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 09:06:26 -0500

When accidents result in serious injury, amputations are not uncommon. My columns usually focus on factors that lead to injuries with little mention of an injured person’s recovery.

From the Safety Files: Lack of training leads to molten-zinc burns

Jared Rader — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:13:22 -0500

A worker from an outside company was severely burned after he stepped into molten zinc while installing an exhaust duct. Inadequate instruction about the hazards of the equipment and a lack of safety warnings and devices contributed to the accident.

Building Safety into Machine Guarding Equipment

andrew.davidson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:45:15 -0500

Editor: Jessica Shapiro

A worker was reaching into the operating area of a press brake to clean the die when he depressed the foot pedal that cycled the machine. The ram descended, crushing four of his fingers.

Too little training and the wrong tools led to dough-machine injury

Jared Rader — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:46:00 -0500

Edited by Jessica Shapiro

A bakery worker’s hand was injured in the piston of a dough cutter. The worker was cleaning stray dough from the walls of the machine’s hopper at the end of a batch. To do this, he had to reach over the rim of the hopper with a small scraper.