Machinery Safety
Machine shops are a vital part of the OSU campus. However, they can pose a variety of hazards that should be taken seriously. Members who operate and maintain machinery suffer approximately 800 deaths and 18,000 amputations, lacerations, crushing injuries, and abrasions each year. Amputation is one of the most severe and crippling types of injuries in the workplace and often results in permanent disabilities. Most of these accidents can be prevented if proper machinery safety precautions are put in place.
Each employee or student must receive appropriate machinery safety training prior to operating any piece of equipment. They should be able to recognize common hazards and should be provided with basic shop rules which includes but is not limited to: no loose clothing or jewelry, securing long hair, mandatory safety glasses, no open-toed shoes or sandals, no food or drink, and no horseplay.
Common hazards associated with machine guarding:
- Pinch points
- Wrap points
- Shear and cutting points
- Crush points
- Pull-in points
- Thrown objects
- Stored energy
- Reciprocating motion
- Rotating motion
- Transverse motion
- Feed mechanisms
- Burn points
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