Equipment Hazard Basics

Key Questions

The following key questions are answered in this module:

What are some typical equipment movements?
Typical equipment movements include: linear, straight, or transverse motions (conveyor belts, carrier ropes, rails on tracks), reciprocating, or back and forth motions (levers, pistons, pneumatic cylinders), and rotating motions (rolls, agitators, gears, clutches).

What are some machine actions you should be aware of when working around equipment that moves?
Machine actions include: cutting, driving, embossing, punching or piercing, shearing, bending and compressing.

What are some machine motions and actions that cause common hazards?
Equipment motions and actions can cause the following hazards: entanglement, nip points, draw-in hazards, impact hazards, crushing hazards, cutting and puncturing hazards, burn and abrasion hazards, electrical hazards, and high-pressure hazards.

What are some other equipment hazards?
Other equipment hazards include: high noise levels, causing temporary or permanent damage to one's hearing, and harm to the eyes and skin, caused by equipment that emits electromagnet, X-ray, ultraviolet, or infrared radiation

Sample Video Transcript

Below is a transcript of the video sample provided for this module:

Equipment in the workplace causes many incidents every year. These incidents result in irreversible injuries like crushing of body parts, amputation, electric shock, and blindness. In addition to injuries, thousands of workers are also killed on the job each year. Hazards exist where there is a risk of human contact with a machine's moving parts. Movement can occur at startup, during operation, or while a machine is stopping. Many incidents occur due to malfunctioning or missing machine guarding or to workers taking shortcuts. It is important to know the types of hazards that equipment typically creates in order to avoid incidents. This course will cover common types of hazards associated with equipment as well as how to identify and avoid these hazards.

Additional Resources

Use the additional resources and links below to learn more about this topic:

• U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) – www.osha.gov
• OSHA Machine Guarding eTool - https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding
• MSHA Equipment, Health and Safety Hazard Alerts - http://www.msha.gov/alerts/alertshp.htm
• Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health - http://www.elcosh.org/document/1817/d000661/Hazard%2BAlert%253A%2BOperating%2BHeavy%2BEquipment.html?show_text=1

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