How to Prevent Amputation Hazards
Why should I worry about amputations?· A National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study showed that there were 10,850 amputations in 1997.
· The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that in 1999, workplace amputations recorded the highest numbers of median days away from work among major disabling injuries and illnesses.
What industries commonly have amputations?
· Metal Fabrication Shops
· Wood working facilities
· Injection molding operations
· Meat processing facilities
· Saw and planning mills
· Machining or welding shops
· Commercial printing operations
Why do amputations occur?
· Unguarded machinery
· Lack of adequate training
· Lack of a Lockout/Tagout program
· Human error
Common causes of amputations (4S’s and a P)
· Saws
· Shears
· Slicers
· Slitters-
· Power-presses and Press Brakes / What are some high hazard operations that I should be concerned with?
· Point of operations hazards- the point where work is performed on the material, such as cutting, shearing, shaping, boring, or forming stock.
· Power transmission apparatus- All components of the mechanical system which transmits energy to components. Types of energy transmission include flywheels, pulleys, belts, connecting rods, couplings, cams, spindles, chains, cranks, and gears.
· Other moving parts- All parts of the machine which move while the machine is working. These can include reciprocating, rotating, and transverse moving parts, as well as feed mechanisms and auxiliary parts of the machine.
Common means to protect workers from amputations.
· Guards-Fixed, interlocked, adjustable, or self-adjusting
· Devices-presence sensing, pullbacks, restraints, safety controls, or gates
· Location or Distance- OSHA 0-10 table
· Feeding devices-Automatic and semiautomatic feeding or ejecting and robots.
· Miscellaneous Aids- awareness barriers, protective shields, or *hand feeding tools (*only to be used with another guard listed above)
REFERENCES
Georgia Tech’s Preventing Amputation Information @ http://www.oshainfo.gatech.edu/amputations.html
Georgia Tech’s Bench Grinder Technical Guide @ http://www.oshainfo.gatech.edu/pdf/grinder.pdf
Georgia Tech’s Machine Guarding Powerpoint @ http://www.oshainfo.gatech.edu/mg/index-mg.htm
Rockford Systems Website - Machine Guarding Specialists @ www.rockfordsystems.com
OSHA’s Machine Guarding E-Tool @ http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding/index.html
Robotics Industries Association Website @ www.roboticsonline.com
Oklahoma State University-Machine Guarding Info @ www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/links/machine.htm
MSHA’s Guide to Equipment Guarding @ http://www.msha.gov/s%26hinfo/smallmine/equipguard.pdf
Michigan State Machine Guarding Info @ http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000022/d000022.html
Niosh’s Amputations Resulting From Work with Mechanical Power-presses @ http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/87107_49.html
MIT’s Introduction to Machine guarding @ http://me.mit.edu/Lectures/MachineTools/outline.html
OSHA Standard-Subpart O @ http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10131&p_text_version=FALSE
Stanford University Machine Guarding Guidelines @ http://www-slac.slac.stanford.edu/esh/bulletins/b23.html