Metal fabrication shop managers have a lot on their minds – from monitoring inventory and quality control to production efficiency, cost management and more. One of the top concerns, however, is employee safety.
When an employee is injured, tight-knit workplaces suffer a big morale hit, but fines and potential lawsuits associated with injuries can also sting. Fortunately, saw manufacturers have stepped up to make it exceedingly difficult for their machines to be the source of a workplace injury.
The “non-negotiables” that all fabricators must follow are often dictated by OSHA guidelines. In 29 CFR 1910.212-213, OSHA offers rules on “machine guarding” and “general requirements,” which states that all moving parts of industrial saws must be guarded to prevent accidental contact, which includes gears, pulleys and blades. Fixed guards are to be in place to cover any part of the blade that is not being used during the cutting process, but flexible guards are also an option for providing flexibility for different material sizes being cut.
Furthermore, saw blade tension, alignment and blade guards are supposed to be inspected regularly, and moving parts are to be lubricated to prevent wear, malfunction and accidents. The operator education component is also vital; while shops will want to make sure their saw operators are trained to hit production goals, they should also be trained to use the saw in the safest way possible.
Safety best practices
In OSHA’s “hierarchy of controls,” the most effective means of eliminating risks is to physically remove the hazard, provide a safety substitution, isolate people from the hazard, change the way people work and require personal protective equipment.
While eliminating the saw blade is not an option and there is no substitution for it, limiting access to the blade is probably the most common means of protecting operators. Machine guarding, including blade guards and covers, come in all shapes and sizes, but they all essentially limit access to the blade and other moving parts of the sawing machine.
For some of the most high-tech and automated sawing machines – from an upcut cold saw with a 24-in. blade to a 2-ton bandsaw with a 10-ft. blade – the design is, essentially, a large box. And aside from a safety window over the cutting area, there is no direct access to the blade while it is in operation.
Saw operators don’t intentionally put themselves in precarious situations, but there are times when it is necessary for human hands to enter the “danger zone” while the machine is down – most often to address mechanical issues, change the blade or perform maintenance. Unfortunately, this is when accidents can happen, as a machine can be turned on unintentionally. This is where interlocks become a vital piece of the safety puzzle as they prevent the saw from operating when doors, covers or guards are open or out of place.
Interlocks can be mechanical, which utilizes physical barriers to prevent unintentional operation; electrical, which offers a circuit break prevention strategy; and electromechanical, which is a hybrid approach for enhanced safety.
Stefan Dolipski, vice president at Kasto, says his company has for years focused on reducing risks by adopting safety technology.
“This is the reason why it’s important to work with doors and interlocks,” he says, “which prevent a machine from starting while the doors are open.”
Dolipski adds that Kasto has embraced designing and building all of its high-performance machines with a “mindset to ensure the highest safety of the operators and bystanders.”
Designed for safety
As saw manufacturers have engineered more complexity into their machines, integrating components that can automatically begin to move at any point, they’ve had to take an equally focused approach to safety.
Dolipski says Kasto has for many years included a variety of safety technologies in the design of its saws. Kasto’s Win and Tec machine lines were designed with guarding and accessibility in mind, not only on the mechanical side, but also with safety built into programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and with the “latest safety switches.”
“It is very important to ensure proper safeguarding of the machine and keep the operator out of harm’s way,” he says, adding that the most common safeguards are covers and enclosures.
Saw operators periodically look inside the machine to see the blade in action and confirm that parts are cut correctly. Dolipski says maintaining visibility while continuing to maintain safety necessitates the use of shatterproof windows, which allow visibility without the danger of operators accidentally coming into contact with the blade, moving parts or being exposed to risks associated with projectiles.
Safety is not solely focused on high-tech sensors, guards, doors and safety glass on the saw itself; other safeguards around the perimeter of the saw can be installed, such as fences and light curtains, which keep operators away from moving peripheral components and handling devices.
“Often,” Dolipski says, “it is overlooked that high-performance machines are operating with chips flying off the saw blade, so a proper guard has to include ‘hand and touch’ guarding, but also protect from debris flying away from the machine.”
