SAFEGUARDING POLICY DEVELOPMENT

A Machine Guarding Policy is a critical part of every safety program where employees interact with machinery. Machine and Machine Guarding is frequently cited in OSHA’s top ten violations. Because of the complexity of today’s equipment and the complexity of compliance requirements, machine guarding is frequently not well understood. A written program will provide the following benefits to an organization and its employees.

Benefits of a machine guarding program:

  • Improved worker safety
  • Consistency of application of machine guarding across a single site or an entire enterprise
  • Provide a platform for training employees working with dangerous equipment
  • Sustainability – through annual audits, ensure that investments in machine guarding remain in place

Development of a machine guarding program has the following elements:

  • Baseline compliance evaluation and report
  • Requirements analysis – equipment types, employee interaction, constraints
  • Written program
  • Strategy and planning for Implementation
  • Employee and organizational training
  • Safeguarding Improvements if Required
  • Sustainability – Annual Audit Program