Machine Guarding Hazards
Moving machine parts have the potential to cause severe workplace injuries. Any machine part, function, or process that may cause injury must be safeguarded. Industrial workplaces such as garage workshops, metal fabrication and welding shops, and mechanical or heavy manufacturing facilities will have a variety of machines and tools. Some of the tools may be as simple as a table saw or box fan and sometimes they can be complex and partially robotic and involve hazardous chemicals. Workers responsible to operate, repair, clean, or just work near these machines and tools must be protected from potential hazards. Machine guards are critical to the safety of workers. Many times, workers do not realize the dangers that they are protected from because of a simple steel or acrylic guard. For this reason, workers should be familiar with the potential hazards introduced when machines with rotating parts, gears, or pulleys are used.
