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Manufacturers, designers and suppliers of machinery and equipment are legally required to make sure dangerous parts are safely guarded so that operators and others are protected from injury.
A guard may be any shield, cover, casing, physical or electronic barrier intended to prevent contact between a hazardous machine part and any part of a person or a person’s clothing.
Considerations for designers, manufacturers, suppliers and purchasers
Old machinery is sometimes poorly guarded. Hazard areas may include extra moving parts like shafts, sprockets and pulleys that may have been added for various other uses. Original guarding may have also been removed for maintenance and not put back. There may be times when an operator may need to reach over, under, around or into a machine while it is running. If so, any moving parts or other hazards must be appropriately guarded from human contact. Some of the hazards associated with machinery and likely to cause injury include: Machinery being accidentally started during maintenance. (for more information see Guidance note - Isolation of plant.) Depending on the situation a combination of two or more of the following guards may be required to ensure workers’ safety: The code of practice for guarding provides detailed information on types of guards The code of practice for guarding provides detailed information on guards for different machines. The code of practice for guarding provides detailed information on other machinery safety issues such as: Control the risk
Guards and safety devices
Guards for different machines
Other machinery safety issues
Further information
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