An amputation is defined in the reporting and recording standards as “the traumatic loss of a limb or other external body part. Amputations include a part, such as a limb or appendage, that has been severed, cut off, amputated (either completely or partially); fingertip amputations with or without bone loss; medical amputations resulting from irreparable damage; amputations of body parts that have since been reattached.”
Safe Work Practices
- All equipment operators are to receive thorough instruction and hands-on training that includes equipment hazards, use of safeguards, and lockout/tagout procedures.
- Safe work procedures and practices should always be followed when working on and around machines.
- One or more methods of machine guarding must be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and sparks.
- Special hand tools may be used to place or remove stock, particularly from or into the point of operation of a machine.
- Good maintenance and repair procedures should be followed to ensure the safety of the maintenance crew as well as that of machine operators.
- Machines designed for a fixed location should be securely anchored to prevent walking or moving.
- Ensure lockout/tagout procedures are being followed during servicing and maintenance.
- Personal protective equipment should be worn by each employee when exposed to workplace hazards such as eye and face protection when exposed to flying particles.
- Stay focused on the tasks at hand but be alert to your surroundings.
Hazardous Motions and Actions
- Rotating motion - Collars, couplings, cams, clutches, flywheels, shaft ends, spindles, meshing gears, and horizontal or vertical shafting.
- In-running nip point motion - Intermeshing gears, rolling mills, and calenders.
- Reciprocating motion - Equipment that have a back-and-forth or up-and-down motion.
- Transverse motion - Equipment that moves in a straight and continuous line.
- Cutting action - Bandsaws, circular saws, boring and drilling machines, turning machines (lathes), or milling machines.
- Punching action - Power presses.
- Shearing action - Slide or knife that trims or shears metal or other materials.
- Bending action - Power presses, press brakes, and tubing benders.
Safeguards
Types of Machine Guarding
- Fixed guarding - Is a permanent part of the machine and is not dependent upon moving parts to function. It can be constructed of sheet metal, screen, bars, plastic, or other material that can withstand the impact it may receive.
- Interlocked guard - Shuts off or disengages power, stops the moving parts and prevents starting of the machine when the guard is open.
- Adjustable - Provides a barrier that can be adjusted to facilitate a production operations.
- Self-adjusting - Provides a barrier that moves according to the stock size entering the danger area.
Types of Safety Devices
- Photo-electric - Machine will not start cycling when the light field is interrupted. When light field is broken during cycling process, machine braking is activated.
- Radiofrequency - Machine cycling will not start when the capacitance field is interrupted. When the capacitance field is disturbed during the cycling process, machine breaking is activated.
- Electromechanical - A contact bar/probe travels a predetermined distance between the operator and the danger area. If this movement is interrupted, the starting of machine cycle is prevented.
- Pullback - When the machine begins to cycle, the operator's hands are pulled out of the danger area by a series of cables attached to the operator's hands.
- Restraint - Utilizes cables or straps that are attached to the operator's hands and a fixed point and prevents them from reaching into the danger area.
- Safety trip controls - Uses a pressure-sensitive body bar, that when tripped, stops the machine.
- Two-hand control - Requires a constant, concurrent pressure by the operator to activate the machine.
- Two-hand trip - Requires concurrent application of both the operator's control buttons to activate the machine cycle.
- Gate - Provides a barrier between danger area and operator or other personnel.