Areas of Concentration

Machine Guarding

A substantial number of worker's compensation related claims arise out of workers becoming injured while operating, maintaining, or working near machines with moving parts. OSHA has adopted the design requirements and sound engineering principles of the safety hierarchy requiring that any machine part, function, or process that might cause injury to be safeguarded. When the operation of a machine or accidental contact with it could injure the operator or others in the vicinity, the hazards must be either controlled or eliminated. Cohen, Placitella & Roth has a strong record of obtaining recoveries on behalf of injured workers and worker's compensation carriers in machine guarding cases that focus on the following:

Dangerous moving parts in three basic areas require safeguarding:

Prevent contact

Guards must prevent hands, arms, and any other part of a operator's body, including hair and clothing, from making contact with dangerous moving parts. Well designed guards eliminate the possibility of the operator or another worker placing parts of their bodies near hazardous moving parts.

Secure

Machine operators should be unable to easily remove or tamper with guards, because a guard that can rendered ineffective is no guard at all. Guards and safety devices should be made of durable material that will withstand the conditions of foreseeable use and must be firmly secured to the machine.

Protection from foreign objects

Guards should ensure that no objects can fall into moving parts. A small tool dropped into a cycling machine may easily become a projectile that could cause injury.

Create no new hazards

A guard defeats its own purpose if it creates a hazard such as a shear point, a jagged edge, or an unfinished surface that could cause a laceration. The edges of guards, for instance, should be rolled or bolted in such a way to eliminate sharp edges.

Create no interference

Any guard that impedes an operator from performing his/her job quickly and comfortably will soon be overridden or disregarded.

Allow safe lubrication/maintenance

If possible, guards should permit workers to lubricate and maintain machines without removing guards. Locating oil reservoirs and other routine maintenance items outside guards reduces the need for the operator or maintenance worker to enter hazardous areas.