Safety Articles

While conveyor belts are integral facets of the distribution process and most warehouses could not function without them, they also pose the potential to cause serious injuries and sometimes even fatalities. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that over 40 workplace fatalities a year are the result of…

History of U.S. Machine Safeguarding When manufacturing moved from small shops to factories during the Industrial Revolution, inexperienced, often very young workers were confronted with a confusing jumble of moving belts, pulleys and gears. While pre-industrial craftsmen faced risks from kilns and hand tools, industrialization introduced massive steam engines and fast-moving machines. Adults and children,…

Technology advances can keep the operator safe and the press brake running. Even though the U.S. has some very strict machine guarding regulations, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that press brake operators in this country suffer more than 350 amputations per year—and these are only the reported injuries. The question is why? For one,…

Last year in America 2.9 million employees (U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics) suffered a workplace injury from which they never recover, at a cost to business of nearly $60 billion (Liberty Mutual Insurance). These statistics are staggering. To help gain a better perspective on the realities of workplace danger, we have compiled a list of…

Pinching your finger in a door can be painful but certainly not life threatening. Pinch-point injuries involving industrial machinery are another story, one that rarely has a happy ending. What is a pinch point? A pinch point is “any point at which it is possible for a person or part of a person’s body to…

Did you know that June is National Safety Month? Rockford Systems has partnered with the National Safety Council to promote safety to our valued customers! Nearly 13,000 American workers are injured each day, and each injury is preventable. Here are some of the safety topics NSC is focusing on: Fatigue Adults need seven to nine…

Stop-Time Measurements Keep Safeguarding Equipment in Peak Performance We’ve all heard the phrase “what a difference a day makes,” yet when it comes to industrial safeguarding, the concern isn’t days, hours or even minutes. It is the milliseconds it takes for a machine operation to stop. That fraction of a second can make the difference…

I, COBOT: The Rise of Industrial Robotics and the Need for Employee Safeguarding In general, OSHA’s view on robot safety is that if the employer is meeting the requirements of ANSI/RIA R15.06, the manufacturer has no issues. Tech executive and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk recently took to Twitter calling for the regulation of robots and…

Including In-Depth Analysis of Light Curtains vs. Laser AOPD Press brakes are unforgiving machines and a common source of workplace amputations of hands, fingers and arms. United States Department of Labor statistics indicate an average of 368 instances of amputations annually from press brake accidents. And these are only the reported accidents. WHY ARE PRESS…

Detect-A-Finger® Prevents Welding and Riveting Injuries Preventing hand and finger injuries on manufacturing equipment is a top priority for safety and compliance professionals. Detect-A-Finger is a drop-probe presence-sensing safety device for spot welders and riveters, designed to stop a machine’s cycle if a finger or hand is detected in the danger zone. By halting the…

On the surface, at least, machine lockout/tagout (LOTO) appears simple: Identify and isolate energy sources, lock and tag, and perform the procedure that needs to get done. Simple, right? Wrong. When energy is required to complete machine diagnostics or set-up work, or when a minor maintenance job is going to throw production hours behind schedule,…

Press Brakes are currently a hot topic in the “Machine Safeguarding” arena. OSHA regulations consider press brakes to be a 1910.212 machine, saying to the employer; “one or more methods of machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by point…

Point-of-operation barrier guards are essential safeguarding equipment for hazardous industrial processes and machinery such as presses, pumps, motors and drills. When properly installed the barriers prevent a person from placing any part of their body into the point of operation by reaching through, over, under or around the guards to access a hazard. However, because…