MEMIC Safety Experts Podcast

Episode #13 | Published March 2, 2020

Machine Guarding ranks number 9 out of OSHA’s Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards, with 1,743 violations in 2019. According to OSHA’s Machine guarding eTool, there are over 18,000 injuries and 800 deaths each year attributed to worker exposure to unguarded or inadequately guarded machines. Does your workplace have presses, shears, gears, rollers, conveyors, or shafts? How about mixers, jointers, portable power tools, or power saws?  What do they have in common? Their moving parts can cause a multitude of serious or life changing injuries like amputations, crushed limbs or digits, and blindness. And all may fall under the machine guarding standard.

In this episode, Peter speaks with Hartley Webb, MEMIC’s expert on machine guarding, about what machine guarding is, hazards of unguarded machines, and common strategies to control worker exposure.  Listen in as they discuss different types of guards from fixed to interlocking and self-adjusting, as well as devices like light curtains and two hand controls/trips that protect the worker from moving parts.