Rockford Systems Offers Assistance in Interpreting Recent Changes to OSHA Enforcement Guidance

ROCKFORD, IL, FEBRUARY 8, 2023 — On January 26, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that OSHA has issued new enforcement guidance to make its penalties more effective in stopping employers from repeatedly exposing workers to life-threatening hazards, or failing to comply with certain workplace safety and health requirements. These penalties will go into effect…

What to Do if You are Issued an OSHA Citation

The Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) is the federal agency responsible for overseeing workplace safety. On the federal level, OSHA conducted 24,333 inspections in 2021. Of these 24,333 inspections, 10,584 (about 43 percent) were programmed inspections that focused OSHA’s enforcement resources towards industries and operations where known hazards exist. If a violation is discovered…

Do Your Machines Have Anti-Restart Protection? Here’s How to Find Out

ROCKFORD, IL, JULY 19, 2022 — In order to meet certain regulations, and as a best safety practice, machinery must be prevented from automatically or unintentionally restarting when an unscheduled power interruption occurs. The safety regulations that reference preventing accidental operation can be found in OSHA 1910.217 (b)(8)(ii) and ANSI B11.1-2009 (6)(2)(3). OSHA 1910 Subpart…

What The Wave of Retiring Machinists Means to Plant Safety

ROCKFORD, IL, MAY 17, 2022 – Within the next decade approximately 2.7 million “Baby Boomers” (b. 1946-1964) will retire, thereby ensuring that tens of thousands of skilled, well-paid positions will become available without a ready supply of American workers to fill them. Statistics paint an especially gloomy picture for the manufacturing sector, a widening of…

Machine Safeguarding Technology Keep Operators Out of a Pinch

ROCKFORD, IL, APRIL 25, 2022 —  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. A pinch point is created when two objects come together and there is a possibility that a person could be…

How Rockford Systems Light Curtains Can Brighten Employee Safety in Your Plant

ROCKFORD, IL, APRIL 25, 2022 — At first glance, a simple beam of infrared light would seem ineffective protection against fast-moving, dangerous industrial machinery. After all, isn’t that what heavy-duty steel guards are for? Yet, these beams of infrared light, when utilized as a component of “safety light curtains,” have prevented thousands of employee injuries…

Protector™ Series Light Curtains with Expanded Features

Reliable detection, advanced safety functions, combined with simplified selection, installation and maintenance ROCKFORD, IL, JANUARY 25, 2022 — Rockford Systems, LLC today introduced its new Protector Series Light Curtains for safeguarding personnel near industrial machinery with the potential to cause injury. Protector Series Light Curtains feature bi-color alignment indicators, simplified resolution settings, automatic diagnostics, remote fixed blanking, and…

Annual Machine Safeguarding Audit Service

ROCKFORD, IL, DECEMBER 10, 2021 — It is a common misconception that once machine safeguarding equipment has been installed onto industrial machinery, no further work is required for the safety of the employees operating it, as long as the machine was in compliance with OSHA regulation and recognized industry standards. The consequences of this misunderstanding have…

Machine Guarding Named to OSHA’s Top Ten Violations in 2021

ROCKFORD, IL, NOVEMBER 30, 2021 — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released the top 10 most cited violations for its fiscal year 2021. These citations follow inspections of worksites by federal OSHA. Lack of machine safeguarding once again made the “Top Ten List” of frequently cited safety violations of 2021 with a total of…

Rockford Systems Detect-a-Finger® Protects Welder Operators’ Fingers from Injuries

ROCKFORD, IL, SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 — The Rockford Systems RKC-500 Detect-A-Finger® drop-probe device prevents serious injuries to welder operators by halting welding machinery from starting its stroke if a finger or hand is detected in the point-of-operation area. To block welding splash, additional lightweight clear plastic shielding can also be attached to the device’s rod. The key components of RKC-500 Detect-A-Finger®…

Machine risk assessments vs. safeguarding assessments

When it comes to accidents, manufacturing ranks second highest of all industries. That comes despite OSHA regulations and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. A key culprit is unguarded hazardous machinery. Year after year, OSHA issues thousands of citations and levies millions of dollars in fines for machine safeguarding violations in an attempt to prevent…

Rockford Systems Becomes Supplier Member of Robotic Industries Association

Rockford, IL, December 12, 2016 Rockford Systems, LLC., a premier provider of machine safeguarding products and services, is pleased to announce that it has become a Supplier Member of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), underscoring the increasing role machine guarding plays in protecting operators of robotic welding, assembly, CNC and metal cutting equipment. “Robotics is…

Rockford Systems Joins National Safety Council

Rockford, IL, December 6, 2016 Rockford Systems, LLC., a premier provider of machine safeguarding products and services, announced today that it has become a member of the National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit organization with the mission to save lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the road…

Carpenter’s Place – A Cause to Celebrate: Rockford Systems Makes Generous Donation to Local Homeless Center

Rockford Systems, a member of the local business community since 1975, has teamed with Carpenter’s Place to help previously homeless men and women celebrate Thanksgiving by hosting a charity presentation scheduled for 2:00pm, Monday, November 21 at the homeless center’s 1149 Railroad Avenue location in Rockford. Rockford Systems will be donating food, clothing and living…

Rockford Systems to Attend FABTECH 2016 Trade Show

Rockford, IL, November 10, 2016 Rockford Systems, LLC., a premier provider of machine safeguarding products and services, announced today it will be attending FABTECH 2016 in Las Vegas, November 16-18 in booth #C14023, where it will showcase its full range of Machine Safety Life-Cycle Solutions engineered to prevent employee injuries and bring equipment to compliance…

Risk Assessments Identify Potentially Deadly Lack of Machine Safeguarding in Metal Fabricating Plant

Rockford, IL, November 9, 2016 According to OSHA statistics, nearly 5,000 workers in metal fabricating plants suffer non-fatal injuries annually in the United States, or approximately 3X more than those employed in electronics or apparel manufacturing. Even with strict OSHA standards and ANSI regulations in place, unguarded hazardous machinery remains a major source of amputations…

Joe Nitiss Appointed CEO of Rockford Systems, LLC

Rockford, IL, August 8, 2016 Nitiss to lead Rockford Systems aggressive growth strategy by expanding new products and services for machine safeguarding and industrial safety at Rockford Rockford Systems, LLC, a leading manufacturer of machine safeguarding products solutions, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Joe Nitiss as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective…

Rockford Systems Adds Stop Time Measurement to List of Machine Safeguarding Services

Rockford, IL, August 15, 2016 Used for OSHA Required Safety Distance Validation of Light Curtains, Two-Hand Control Systems, and Other Presence Sensing Devices Underscoring its total commitment to worker safety, Rockford Systems, LLC, a leading manufacturer of machine safeguarding solutions, today announced that a comprehensive Stop-Time Measurement (STM) service conducted by its trained technicians is…