11/01/2011 - New guidance on hand-fed platens
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued fresh guidance to all users of hand-fed platen machines to alert them to the potential risk of serious or fatal injuries.
While there were very few fatalities - two deaths in 2007/08 in the UK, while three are known to have occurred in other countries - the HSE said it has become aware of the risks involved in using larger machines.
It said operators typically climb on to the lower platen to do routine work, which could be very risky.
A new Information Sheet from the HSE highlights the key risks and covers a range of guarding options and other issues such as daily checks, periodic inspections, training and isolation procedures.
The HSE will be carrying out visits to users to check whether the firms are taking action to comply with the information.
Tim Small, a specialist manufacturing safety inspector at HSE, said: "Hand-fed platens are high-risk machines. Our investigations show that workers can and do climb between the platens on many machines.
"The risk is particularly high when the platen is being used in dwell (semi-automatic) mode. In this situation, operators are not protected by the current guarding arrangements."
Copyright © Press Association 2011
Related links
|
