Safety requirements in the USA

3.6.6 Safety requirements in the USA

Th e fo llo win g brief an alysis o f safet y req u irem en t s in t h e USA p ro vid es a rep resen t at ive co m p ariso n wit h safet y regu lat io n s ap p licable o u t sid e Eu ro p e. Alo n gsid e t h e ANSI Am erican Nat io n al St an d ard s In st it u t e St an d ard B11.1-1971, t h e regu lat io n s o f t h e O SHA O ccu p at io n al Safe- t y an d Healt h Ad m in ist rat io n ap p ly. ANSI n at io n al st an d ard s co ver a n u m ber o f areas in clu d in g safet y eq u ip m en t , alt h o u gh ap p licat io n o f t h ese st an d ard s is vo lu n t ary. In co n t rast , co m p lian ce wit h t h e O SHA regu lat io n s is a st at u t o ry req u ire- m en t . Th is stip u lates th at a Lock-Ou t Procedu re to §1910.147 be u sed on all m ach in es. Th is req u irem en t sp ecifies a descrip tion of h ow each typ e of en ergy an d each en ergy sou rce can be ren dered h arm less. Th is m u st be p erform ed in fou r stages: sh u t-down of th e en ergy sou rce, dissolu tion of residu al en ergy, a ch eck of en ergy-free statu s an d safegu ardin g th e en ergy- free statu s again st u n in ten tion al restart. Th is step -by-step ap p roach for th e isolation of en ergy sou rces h as been ad op ted by th e EN1037 to ap p ly to Eu rop ean stan d ard s. As a m in im u m req u irem en t, m ain switch es m u st be cap able of lockin g in th e en ergy-free statu s. Th e OSHA rep resen ts th e p h ilosop h y th at every staff m em ber sh ou ld carry p ad locks u sable on ly by h im self or h erself wh ich safely elim in ate an y p ossibility of restart by th ird p arties. On ly h e or sh e can can cel th e d isabled statu s. Like t h e ANSI st an d ard , t h e O SHA req u ires fro m t h e m an u fact u rer t h e co m p ilat io n o f in st ru ct io n s en su rin g safe m ach in e o p erat io n an d m ain t en an ce. Acco rd in g t o O SHA, eq u ip m en t m u st be d elivered wit h a lo ck-o u t p lat e in acco rd an ce wit h Fig. 3.6.4 in d icat in g t h e d evices req u ired t o ren d er t h e eq u ip m en t h arm less u sin g t h e fo u r st ep s list ed abo ve fo r each o f t h e en ergy so u rces u sed . Th e warn in g p ict o gram s are also at t ach ed at t h e relevan t p o in t s o f t h e m ach in e. As m en t io n ed ear- lier, t h e O SHA p laces p art icu lar em p h asis o n t h e t rain in g o f o p erat o rs, set -u p p erso n n el an d m ain t en an ce st aff in p art icu lar. Th e o bject ive o f t h e t rain in g is t o in d icat e p o ssible so u rces o f accid en t s, p ro m o t e safet y- co n scio u s wo rk an d p o in t o u t t h e p u rp o se an d fu n ct io n o f t h e safet y gear. Em p lo yers sh o u ld p ro vid e t rain in g o n in it ial t ran sfer an d co m - m issio n in g o f t h e eq u ip m en t an d t h ereaft er o n ce a year, an d h ave t h is co n firm ed by m ean s o f a sign at u re. Ap p licat io n o f t h e O SHA regu la- t io n s varies fro m regio n t o regio n , as t h e O SHA o rien t s it s in t erp ret a- 117 Press safety and certification Metal Forming Handbook Schuler c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998 118 Fundamentals of press design Fig. 3.6.4 Lock-out plate in accordance w ith US regulations Metal Forming Handbook Schuler c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998 t io n o f t h e safet y m easu res t o t h e regu lat io n s alread y exist in g in t h e resp ect ive co m p an ies. In t h e USA, t h e first bu rd en o f p ro o f lies wit h t h e o wn er o f t h e eq u ip m en t wh o acco rd in gly h as an in t erest in eq u ip m en t safet y. Fo r t h is reaso n , it m akes sen se fo r d et ails o f safet y en gin eerin g t o be co o rd in at ed wit h t h e safet y o fficer o f t h e co m p an y ru n n in g t h e m ach in e. In view o f t h e alm o st u n p red ict able am o u n t s reach ed by d am age claim s in t h e USA, q u alified safet y en gin eerin g an d go o d d o cu m en t a- t io n are gain in g in sign ifican ce. Ch aracteristic req u irem en ts im p osed on m ech an ical p resses are d efin ed in §1910.217, an d th ose im p osed on forgin g m ach in es in §1910.218. Com p lian ce Safety an d Health Officers from th e Dep artm en t of Labor sh ou ld be given access to m on itor com p lian ce with safety req u irem en ts. Mu ch of th is resp on sibility lies with th e eq u ip m en t u ser. 119 Press safety and certification Metal Forming Handbook Schuler c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998 3 Fundamentals of press design

3.7 Casting components for presses