This is a great rule to remember: any cut machine function, part or process will cause injury and should be safeguarded. When the operation of the machinery will involve direct contact with the operators and will often lead to serious injuries for people in the vicinity, the hazards should be controlled and eliminated.
These are where mechanical hazards usually occur:
- Point of operation. This is the area where the work is being performed on the material or item like shaping, cutting, boring and forming of stocks.
- Power transmission apparatus. All of the components of the mechanical system which transmits their energy to the part of the machine while performing the work. The components include pulleys, belts, flywheels, couplings, spindles, cranks, connecting rods, cams, gears and chains.
- Other moving parts. All of the parts of the machine which move while the working with the machine. These will include rotating, reciprocating and the transverse movement of parts as well as feeding mechanisms as well as auxiliary parts of the machineries.
There is a wide variety of mechanical actions and motions which may present hazards to the employees. These include movement of the rotating members, moving belts, reciprocating arms, meshing gears, cutting teeth as well as any parts which impact or shear. These different kinds of hazardous mechanical actions and motions are basic in combining nearly all machineries and recognize them as this is the first step toward protecting the workers form the danger that is posed on them.
Basic types of hazardous mechanical actions and motions
- Motion. This includes reciprocating, transversing and rotating including in-running nip points.
- Actions. This includes punching, cutting, bending and shearing.
It can be very dangerous to rotate motions as slowly rotating shafts will grip the clothing and through skin contact will force a hand or arm into a very dangerous position. Injuries due to the contact with rotating parts can be severely dangerous. Cams, couplings, collars, shaft ends, meshing gears, spindles and vertical or horizontal shafting are examples of common rotating mechanisms which can be very hazardous. The danger will increase when projections like the bolts, screws, abrasions, nicks and projecting keys are exposed on the rotating parts. When running nip-point, hazards are caused by the rotating parts on the machine. The parts can be rotated on opposite directions while the axes are still parallel to each other. The parts can be in contact or in close proximity. The danger is very common on machines with rolling mills, intermeshing gears and calendars. The nip points are created between tangentially and rotating moving parts.