Page 33 - Occupational Health & Safety, February 2017

b) the standards applicable to the ma- chine;
c) the identified Risk Level;
d) the required safety related control level (based on the risk level and selected guarding concept);
e) the guarding solution, including se- lected safeguarding devices and a clear de- scription or diagram of the solution;
f) the residual risk (there is always re- sidual risk; no guarding scheme reduces the risk to zero); and
g) the corrective action or remediation priorities (which machines need to be ad- dressed first, second, third, etc.).
4. What do they provide with their solution?
a) Do they perform a stop time mea- surement on the equipment to ensure the safe guarding devices are placed at the prop- er safe mounting distance and location? Do they provide the results of that test?
b) Do they provide adequate documen- tation for the materials (BOM), wiring, and interface schematics at job’s end?
c) Do they have a process for training your people and returning the machine to production?
d) Do they provide a completion guar- antee?
5. Do they have the appropriate level of Professional Liability or Errors & Omis- sions Insurance?
6. Is machine safeguarding their core competency?
After you have done your due dili- gence in selecting a risk assessment ven- dor, you can sit back and relax, right? Well, maybe. The risk assessment process is only half the battle. The trickiest part of your selection process must focus on the risk reduction strategy your expert (part- ner) proposes.
Some of the issues you should be com- fortable with include:
1. Are the devices selected all safety rated? Have they been designed for safety applications and not just industrial ones? Do they meet international standards for such products?
2. Is the installation of the selected de- vices done to applicable standards? Are qualified personnel used? Have all safe distance calculations been verified and documented after the safeguarding has been installed?
3. Does the solution maximize the op-
erator’s ability to run and maintain the ma- chine? Have maintenance concerns been fully addressed? Are operational changes required to run the machine once the safety solution has been installed?
4. If production is negatively affected, why and by how much? Are there alterna- tives that have been considered to mini- mize the negative effect on production?
5. If programmable safety devices are used, are back-up programs and software supplied? What if a change is required after installation? Who is responsible, and what is the process to implement a change?
6. What is the warranty period for parts and labor?
7. Whom do I call for technical support or additional training?
Clearly, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to selecting the right ma- chine guarding safety services partner. Ideally, this selection will result in more of a partner then a vendor because the deci- sions made will affect your employees’ working environment for years to come. Moreover, it is unlikely you will end up
guarding everything at once. Your selection may (probably should) wind up resulting in a long-term relationship that bridges existing and new equipment. A good ma- chine guarding vendor (partner) will know which new and or used equipment may be more viable from both a productivity and safety point of view. You should feel confi- dent that your selected machine safety ser- vices partner will bring a working knowl- edge of the existing standards and a keen eye to making your factory floor safer and more productive.
John Peabody (John.Peabody@omron. com) is the Vice President of Major Accounts for Omron - STI. He has been with Omron STI for 30 years, holding positions in Control Engineering, Safety Applications, Business Development, and Sales Management, and has spoken on machine safety issues at sev- eral global and national conferences. He and his team help companies around the world understand and apply OSHA regulations and ANSI machine safety standards to keep workers safer and more productive.
www.ohsonline.com
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