Machine Safety Checklist: Things to Consider
June 19, 2024
Machine Safety Checklist: Things to Consider
Maintaining a comprehensive safety checklist for all of the machinery in your factory or warehouse is essential for ensuring the safety of your employees. By developing and implementing a machine safety checklist, you can boost compliance and minimize complacency.
Producing an effective checklist, though, requires you to assess your operations and communicate with your operators. To be truly comprehensive, you must consider every possible hazard that can be present.
At Stronghold Safety Engineering, we’ve been assessing hazards and reducing risks for almost 2 decades. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of machine safety, and discuss how to tailor the OSHA machine safety checklist to your specific needs.
What is Machine Safety?
Machine safety is the application of risk control techniques to reduce exposure to potentially harmful situations arising from the use of machinery. By implementing a comprehensive safety program, you can create a safer work environment and protect your employees from injuries.
There are 4 main elements to machine safety:
OSHA Machine Guarding Checklist
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration provides a Machine Guarding Checklist that simplifies compliance assessment. Remember, however, this may mean that the checklist is _over_simplified for your business.
Some hazards only present themselves during operations. In fact, some may even be caused by minor decisions made by your operator in the moment.
Therefore, it’s vital to conduct a thorough and objective machine guarding assessment to identify the needs of your organization. Once you’ve mapped the potential issues, you’re better empowered to use the checklist questions to optimize your processes, rather than simply to comply.
Machine Guarding Safety Tips
The OSHA checklist is handy for planning or quickly confirming compliance. If you want your safety measures to stick, then you’ll have to be creative and proactive throughout the process.
1. Involve Your Employees in the Process
One of the most effective ways to ensure machine safety is to involve employees in the process. Your operators are on the front lines and in the best position to identify potential hazards.
They should be given a voice in developing and implementing the safety checklist. Moreover, they must be motivated to stay vigilant and active participants.
2. Gamify the Fight Against Complacency
Complacency is a major roadblock to safety and productivity in any operation. One way to combat complacency is to gamify the safety process.
This can include awarding prizes for completing safety tasks or recognizing employees for safe behavior. The goal is to make machine safety an ongoing challenge that employees are excited to tackle, but without distracting from the seriousness of the campaign.
3. Retrace Your Steps Often
Complacency can also be combated by retracing your steps often. This means reviewing processes, procedures, and safeguards regularly. By doing so, you can catch any deviations early and prevent accidents from happening.
Learn More About Machinery Guarding at Stronghold Safety
For more information on machine guarding, best practices, and OSHA compliance, reach out to our team today.