Machine Safety Tips

Machine Safety Tips: Keeping your machinery shop running smoothly, efficiently, and safely.

If you’re running or working in a machine shop, safety always needs to be your number one priority. This is easier said than done, as what goes into making a machine shop safe can sometimes make things complicated. That’s why we’re going to go over the most important machine safety tips and advice any shop can benefit from. Some of these tips are lesser known than others, so be sure to take note of all of them.

machine-safety-tips

1. Wear PPE At All Appropriate Times

Let’s start our machine safety tips with a simple (yet very important) one: always wear the proper protective gear whenever operating machinery and understand the appropriate safety procedures as well. This goes for during normal operation and during the event of an accident or emergency.

This includes safety goggles, steel toed shoes or boots and other equipment that is necessary for the particular machines you are operating. This might include safety gloves, helmets, ear mufflers and other forms of face and head protection.

2. Machine Safety Tips – Reduce Fire Hazards

Many machinery shops are loaded with chemicals that are flammable or combustible. It is paramount to keep them in their appropriate locations when not in use.

You should also reduce the number of combustible materials in the air including certain kinds of dust. Don’t forget to discard any wet or oily rags in their appropriate and approved disposal bin.

Lastly, make sure that all sprinklers and fire extinguishers in the building are functioning properly.

3. Proper Machinery Maintenance

A machine shop is only as good as its machines and its staff, which is why you should always make sure every machine is up to safety standards at all times. You should have authorized supervisors or operators who are trained in making sure the machinery is working properly and that if it is deemed too close to a hazardous state it should be removed out of operation and be either repaired or replaced.

Some of the most common accidents occur when a machine has failing or not enough machine guards. This is just one example of how proper machine maintenance and machine safety can improve not only productivity but workers’ well-being.

4. Waste Disposal and Management

While we’ve touched on machine safety tips briefly when it comes to dust and rags, every machine or engine shop will produce its fair share of waste. That’s why knowing how, where and when to get rid of any waste properly is an important part of machine shop safety.

While the particulars or waste factor will differ from shop to shop, you will likely have designated areas to dispose of specific materials. If you work with different kinds of metal then you should know how to properly recycle any excess aluminum, steel, titanium or any other metals in their proper bins.

Toxic and chemical products also need to be disposed to properly as they are more hazardous to people and the environment.

It is also important to have trained employees who know how to work in a manner that will produce the least amount of waste possible. While waste factors are an inevitable part of working in a machinery shop, it can still be useful to both health and productivity to keep waste to an absolute minimum.

5. Upgrade / Modernize Your Older Machinery

The goal here: keep your employees and shop safe. There are many different ways in which to go about upgrading your manufacturing equipment without replacing it all together. As mentioned above proper maintenance can fall here for sure. You can also add in new machine safety products such as, new machine guards, or machine controls. Light curtains, press brake controllers, and other safety controls will GREATLY improve the shop’s equipment.

6. Train Staff for Specific Safety Roles

When everyone in your shop is trained to handle their designated responsibilities properly, your machine shop will be a safer place. Everyone in the shop should treat their own safety procedures and roles as a part of their main job. Examples of such roles include the guidelines provided by OSHA.

These are machine safety tips that every machine shop worker should be accustomed with. Heed the advice above and your shop will be a much safer place to work. MetalTech Controls has your necessities when it comes to improving machine shop safety.