I’m often asked what seems like a pretty simple question: “Why do we need to do a risk assessment?” There are a lot of good reasons to do risk assessments, but ultimately, the purpose of risk assessment is best summed up in this quotation: “Risk assessments, except in the simplest of circumstances, are not designed for making judgements,…
Manufacturing Automation Roundtable
I had the great pleasure today of participating in a round table discussion that was held by Manufacturing Automation magazine at their headquarters in Aurora, Ontario. Around the table were: Elizabeth Rankin – CSA, Wayne De L’Orme – Ontario Ministry of Labour, Dave Lawson – Advanced Motion & Controls, Jeff Mathyssen – Electro-Mag, Rick Sauer – Festo,…
Read MoreThe “Inconceivable” Consequences of Failure
A colleague of mine pointed me to this interesting article by Donald Christiansen that was published in the August edition of IEEE USA’s Today’s Engineer magazine.
As engineers designing equipment, we normally conduct some form of risk assessment. Although many companies are still using informal and undocumented methods, methodical, documented risk assessments are becoming the norm in industry.
Since understanding the risk related to our designs is fundamental
Read MoreHazard Identification – Engineered Nanoparticles
Understanding the hazards presented by processes is critical to protecting workers. Nanoparticles are entering the workplace in new products and processes, but the hazards are not well understood. Read this article to learn more.
Read MoreSafety is Good Business
In this excellent article from Rockwell Automation’s The Journal, Mike Miller and Wayne Solberg explain how EN ISO 13849 – 1 and EN IEC 62061 mesh for machine builders.
Well worth the read in my opinion!
The Journal: Safety is Good Business – Marshall & Solberg
AntennaSys tests the iPhone 4…
Are you an Apple fan? An iPhone fan? Here’s an article on an independent test on the iPhone 4 by AntennaSys that may interest you…
http://www.AntennaSys.com
You may also be interested in this IEEE podcast with one of the principles at AntennaSys, Spencer Webb
Interlocked gate testing
Did you know that interlocked gates require stopping performance testing?
Machinery needs to be able to stop in the time it takes a person to open the guard and reach the hazard. If the distance from the guard opening to the hazard is short enough that a person can reach the danger point before the hazard can be controlled, the guard is useless. The resulting situation may be worse
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