Sources of Amputations in the Workplace
What are the sources
of amputations in the workplace?
Amputations are some
of the most serious and debilitating workplace injuries. They are widespread
and involve a variety of activities and equipment. Amputations occur most often
when workers operate unguarded or inadequately safeguarded mechanical power
presses, power press brakes, powered and non-powered conveyors, printing
presses, roll-forming and roll- bending machines, food slicers, meat grinders, meat-cutting
band saws, drill presses, and milling machines as well as shears, grinders, and
slitters. These injuries also happen during materials handling activities and
when using forklifts and doors as well as trash compactors and powered and
non-powered hand tools. Besides normal operation, the following activities involving
stationary machines also expose workers to potential amputation hazards:
setting- up, threading, preparing, adjusting, cleaning, lubricating, and
maintaining machines as well as clearing jams.
What types of
machine components are hazardous?
The following types of mechanical components present amputation hazards:
Point of operation—the area of a machine where it performs work on material.
Power-transmission apparatuses— flywheels, pulleys, belts, chains, couplings, spindles, cams, and gears in addition to connecting rods and other machine components that transmit energy.
Other moving parts—machine
components that move during machine operation such as reciprocating, rotating,
and transverse moving parts as well as auxiliary machine parts.
What kinds of
mechanical motion are hazardous?
All mechanical motion is potentially hazardous. In addition to in-running nip points (“pinch points”)—which occur when two parts move together and at least one moves in a rotary or circular motion that gears, rollers, belt drives, and pulleys generate—the following are the most common types of hazardous mechanical motion:
Rotating—circular movement of couplings, cams, clutches, flywheels, and spindles as well as shaft ends and rotating collars that may grip clothing or otherwise force a body part into a dangerous location.
Reciprocating—back-and-forth
or up-and- down action that may strike or entrap a worker between a moving part
and a fixed object.
Transversion - movement in a straight, continuous line that may strike or catch a worker in a pinch or shear point created between the moving part and a fixed object.
Cutting - action generated during sawing, boring, drilling, milling, slicing, and slitting.
Punching - motion resulting when a machine moves a slide (ram) to stamp or blank metal or other material.
Shearing - movement of a powered slide or knife during metal trimming or shearing.
Bending - action
occurring when power is applied to a slide to draw or form metal or other
materials.
What can employers
do to help protect workers from amputations?
You should be able
to recognize, identify, manage, and control amputation hazards commonly found
in the workplace such as those caused by mechanical components of machinery,
the mechanical motion that occurs in or near these components, and the
activities that workers perform during mechanical operation.
Work practices, employee training, and administrative controls can help prevent and control amputation hazards. Machine safeguarding with the following equipment is the best way to control amputations caused by stationary machinery:
Guards provide
physical barriers that prevent access to hazardous areas. They should be secure
and strong, and workers should not be able to bypass, remove, or tamper with
them.
Guards should not obstruct the operator’s view or prevent employees from working.
Devices help prevent
contact with points of operation and may replace or supplement guards. Devices
can interrupt the normal cycle of the machine when the operator’s hands are at
the point of operation, prevent the operator from reaching into the point of
operation, or withdraw the operator’s hands if they approach the point of
operation when the machine cycles.
They must allow safe
lubrication and maintenance and not create hazards or interfere with normal
machine operation.
In addition, they
should be secure, tamper-resistant, and durable.
You are responsible
for safeguarding machines and should consider this need when purchasing machinery.
New machinery is usually available with safeguards installed by the
manufacturer.
You can also
purchase appropriate safeguards separately or build them in-house.
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