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Injury Prevention Resources for Manufacturing
The following links list tools, publications, and other resources to help prevent the most common injuries and illnesses in the manufacturing industry. These resources may not meet all the requirements for health and safety in British Columbia. Please check the Workers Compensation Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, and related materials for specific WorkSafeBC requirements.
Safeguarding
More than 25% of the injuries in the manufacturing sector are caused by poor or missing safeguarding. The following links list tools, publications, and other resources to help improve safeguarding at your workplace.
Too Much To Lose (video)
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An experienced worker loses his fingers when he uses a dangerous piece of equipment without a guard. (3 min 12 s) video guide (PDF 252 KB) |
Source: WorkSafeBC  |
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Guarding
(video)
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This video describes the types of guards available for different work situations and how their use can prevent injuries and save lives.(14 min 46 s) |
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Source: WorkSafeBC |
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Guarding for Woodworking
(slide show)
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Effective point-of-operation safeguarding and safe work practices can help to prevent serious injuries when using table and panel saws. (4 min 40 s) |
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Source: WorkSafeBC |
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Virtual Conveyor (Flash video--requires the Macromedia Flash plug-in.) This link leads to an animated site that shows the hazards associated with conveyor systems and presents some possible solutions to the lower the risk associated with those hazards. Source: CSST (Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail)
Machine Guarding eTool (HTML)
This eTool focuses on recognizing and controlling common amputation hazards associated with the operation and use of certain types of machines.
Source: OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), US
Publications
Safeguarding Machinery and Equipment: General Requirements (PDF 4.6 MB) 
This manual is for everyone who owns, operates, maintains, or sells powered machinery and equipment.
- Employers will find information to help them comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR) and Part 3 of the Workers Compensation Act. It will also help them exercise due diligence in providing a safe work environment.
- Supervisors will find information to help them assess the risks to their workers from harmful contact with machinery and equipment.
- Workers will gain greater awareness of the hazards associated with equipment operation and maintenance and of the safeguarding protection they have a right to expect.
* Available in print from Publications, Videos and Forms Distribution.
For your convenience and ease of use, the chapters of this book are available as individual PDFs. Chapter 4 has been further divided into sections that highlight specific guarding requirements for specific types of equipment. These sections have separate covers so that they can be printed and used on their own.
| Cover, WorkSafeBC info, title page, acknowledgements, CCIP data, table of contents |
Front matter (PDF 416 kb) |
| Introduction | Intro (PDF 100 kb) |
| 1. Hazard Recognition | Chapter 1 (PDF 504 kb) |
| 2. Risk Assessment | Chapter 2 (PDF 120 kb) |
| 3. Design and Selection Criteria for Safeguards | Chapter 3 (PDF 2.1 mb) |
| 4. Some Common Safeguarding Applications | Chapter 4 |
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Section 1 (PDF 611 kb) |
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Section 2 (PDF 120 kb) |
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Section 3 (PDF 2.1 mb) |
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Section 4 (PDF 424 kb) |
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Section 5 (PDF 629 kb) |
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Section 6 (PDF 435 kb) |
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Section 7 (PDF 506 kb) |
| Appendices | Appendices (PDF 552 kb) |
| Zip archive containing all of the above files (requires zip utility to compress) |
Zip archive (ZIP 6.4 mb) |
Safeguarding in Manufacturing (PDF 733 KB)
(A companion guide to the Safeguarding Machinery and Equipment manual).
This guide provides information to help employers comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR) and Part 3 of the Workers Compensation Act. It will also help them exercise due diligence in providing a safe work environment.
Supervisors will find information to help them assess the risks to their workers from harmful contact with machinery and equipment. Workers will gain greater awareness of the hazards associated with equipment operation and maintenance and of the safeguarding protection they have a right to expect.
Source: WorkSafeBC
* Available in print from Publications, Videos and Forms Distribution
For your convenience and ease of use, each section of this infoflip is also available as a stand-alone PDF (8.5" x 11"). The following sections present the same information in the infoflip, organized by the same number and colours used in the infoflip.
| Introduction | Intro (PDF 92 kb) |
| 1. Overview and Terminology | Section 1 (PDF 392 kb) |
| 2. Hazard Recognition | Section 2 (PDF 290 kb) |
| 3. Risk Assessment | Section 3 (PDF 96 kb) |
| 4. Selecting the Right Safeguard | Section 4 (PDF 99 kb) |
| 5. Barrier Guards | Section 5 (PDF 420 kb) |
| 6. Power Transmission Guards | Section 6 (PDF 461 kb) |
| 7. Grid Guard Design Considerations | Section 7 (PDF 198 kb) |
| 8. Protective Barriers | Section 8 (PDF 141 kb) |
| 9. Two-Hand Controls and Trips | Section 9 (PDF 235 kb) |
| 10. Presence-Sensing Devices | Section 10 (PDF 392 kb) |
| 11. Safety Interlocks | Section 11 (PDF 145 kb) |
| 12. Movable Gates | Section 12 (PDF 434 kb) |
| 13. Pull-Wires / Trip-Wires / Contact Bumpers | Section 13 (PDF 283 kb) |
| 14. Shields / Awareness Barriers | Section 14 (PDF 457 kb) |
| 15. Safeguarding by Location | Section 15 (PDF 169 kb) |
| 16. E-Stops | Section 16 (PDF 533 kb) |
| Zip archive containing all the above files (requires zip utility to decompress) |
Zip archive (ZIP 6.4 mb) |
Machine Safety - Prevention of mechanical hazards (PDF 12 MB)
This guide, published by IRSST, describes the use of safeguarding to eliminate or reduce hazards in the manufacturing sector. Although the guide references to standards for the province of Quebec it presents the information in a manner that will be useful for anyone that wants to learn about safeguarding methods and concepts.
Source: IRSST (Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail)
Don't let your guard down (PDF 211 KB)
"Accidents involving unguarded machinery and equipment often result in disfiguring injuries, amputations, and death. Safeguarding is your first and best defence against these types of accidents." From WorkSafe Magazine, May/June 2006.
Source: WorkSafeBC
Concepts and Techniques of Machine Safeguarding
"This manual has been prepared as an aid to employers, employees, machine manufacturers, machine guard designers and fabricators, and all others with an interest in protecting workers against the hazards of moving machine parts." (1992; revised)
Source: OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), US
Information sheets
Machine Risk Assessment Survey (PDF 267 KB)
This document will help identify hazardous machine motion to which a worker may be exposed. It also contains the "hierarchy of safeguarding controls" as a reference.
Source: WorkSafeBC
Machine Guarding Checklist (PDF 248 KB)
This checklist can be used to analyze the machinery in your workplace. Reproduced with permission from Canadian Auto Workers Union video "Blowin' in the Wind - Machine Guarding Prevents Death."
Source: WorkSafeBC
Self-Assessment Forms for Occupational Health & Safety (HTML)
These forms were that were developed as a joint initiative by the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) and the Association paritaire Secteur fabrication du produits en metal et de produits electriques (ASPME). IAPA has translated the forms into English for use by employers, supervisors, workers and or health and safety committees.
Source: IAPA (Industrial Accident Prevention Association Ontario)
Hazard alert posters
- Fatality 2009-03 Worker dies when struck by board after kickback
- HA 08-15 Worker's hand crushed in pinch point of malfunctioning punch press
- HA 08-07 Worker struck when cutting wheel shatters and grinder recoils
- WS 06-07 Industrial lasers can cause serious eye injuries and severe burns
- AA 04-06 Workers seriously injured in conveyor accidents
- HA 04-06 Pasta machine catches sleeve, breaks hand
- HA 04-03 Baker's arm caught in bread dough machine
Regulation and guidelines
- OHS Regulation Part 12 Tools, Machinery and Equipment
- OHS Guidelines Part 12 Tools, Machinery and Equipment
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