Many machine designers think of interlocks as exclusively electrical devices; a switch is attached to a movable mechanical guard, and the switch is connected to the control system. Trapped Key Interlocking is a way to interlock guards that is equally effective, and often more appropriate in severe environmental conditions. Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018Acknowledgements: As cited.Some Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under…
Five reasons you should attend our Free Safety Talks
Reason #1 – Free Safety Talks You can’t argue with Free Stuff! Last week we partnered with Schmersal Canada and Franklin Empire to put on three days of Free Safety Talks. We had full houses in all three locations, Windsor, London and Cambridge, with nearly 60 people participating. We had two great presenters who helped…
Read MorePresence Sensing Devices – Reaching over sensing fields
I recently heard about an application question related to a light curtain where a small gap existed at the top of the sensing field, between the last beam in the field and the surrounding structure of the machine. There was some concern raised about the gap, and whether or not additional guarding might be needed to close the gap.…
Read MoreCSA Z432 Safeguarding of Machinery – 3rd Edition
If you build machinery for the Canadian market, or if you modify equipment in Canadian workplaces, you will be familiar with CSA Z432, Safeguarding of Machinery. This standard has been around since 1992, with the last major revision published in 2004. CSA has reconvened the Technical Committee responsible for this important standard to revise the…
Read MoreGet the Basics Right!
For more than 15 years I’ve been teaching people about risk assessment, machinery safety and CE Marking of machinery in private, onsite classes and through presentations at safety conferences. Things are about to change! This fall, Compliance InSight Consulting will begin offering open-enrolment workshops in CE Marking, Risk Assessment Functional Safety, and Machinery Safety, all with a focus…
Read MoreNew HSE advice on CE marking assemblies of machinery
This post was originally published on machinebuilding.net. Reprinted with permission. By Jon Severn, machinebuilding.net A degree of confusion surrounds the question of CE marking assemblies of machinery under the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. To help clarify the situation, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) has published a new page on its website entitledIn situ manufacture or assembly of work…
Read MoreInterlocking Devices: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Note: A shorter version of this article was published in the May-2012 edition of Manufacturing Automation Magazine. When designing safeguarding systems for machines, one of the basic building blocks is the movable guard. Movable guards can be doors, panels, gates or other physical barriers that can be opened without using tools. Every one of these guards…
Read MoreHockey Teams and Risk Reduction or What Makes Roberto Luongo = PPE
Special Co-Author, Tom Doyle Last week we saw the Boston Bruins earn the Stanley Cup. I was rooting for the green, blue and white, and the ruin of my voice on Thursday was ample evidence that no amount of cheering helped. While I was watching the game with friends and colleagues, I realized that Roberto Luongo and Tim…
Understanding the Hierarchy of Controls
(Eds. note: This article was originally written in 2011 and was updated in Nov. 2018.) The “Hierarchy of Controls” is one approach to risk reduction that has become entrenched in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) sector. There are other approaches to risk reduction which are equally effective but are less rigidly structured. If you…
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