Preventing Amputations

Every year 20,000 American workers suffer an amputation injury.

Most amputations involve fingers, but in a typical year, 100 people lose an entire arm.

The pain and suffering is enormous. That's why power press safety is such a high priority with the UAW.

No group of workers is more at risk for amputation than the 150,000 operators who run metal stamping presses.

Greg Morris, a member of UAW Local 893, is a punch press operator for Lennox Industries in Marshalltown, Iowa. In 1997 he was operating a 600-ton punch press when the bolts came out of the top of the press and 3,800 pounds of metal crashed down on his arm.

Although he had feeling in his forearm, he had none in his hand. Freed after five minutes, he bravely walked to the ambulance. Today Morris works at the same job with an artificial arm.

“He’s a pretty amazing guy,” says Ron Johnston, chairman of the local’s bargaining committee.

“I try not to let it affect me,” says Morris, who still plays baseball and football with his children.

Today safeguards are in place to prevent another accident like the one that claimed Greg Morris’s arm. A hydraulic clamping system holds the die in place, and if there is any kind of malfunction, the machine won’t run.

The American National Standards Institute has just published revised guidelines for power press safety that go beyond OSHA requirements. ANSI Standard B11.1 Safety Requirements for Mechanical Power Presses can be found at www.ansi.org

Unions and safety experts have long recommended the concept of Hands Out of Dies (HOOD). Parts and machines should be designed so that workers never have to place their hands in the operation.

Given the complexity and variety of tooling and parts that must be formed, this goal is hard to reach --especially when maintenance and die changes are required.

Guarding
Guards are used to keep hands out of the point of operation. Guards can also be set up at the perimeter of the machine to keep people at a safe distance.

In either case, the guards must keep workers from reaching over, around or through the guard to reach the hazard. The guards should not be removed easily; a tool should be required to remove a guard.

Foot-Pedal Controls
Two-thirds of the amputations on stamping presses involve foot-pedal activation switches. If these types of presses are not properly guarded with a barrier that keeps the hands out of the point of operation, serious injuries occur. Highly-repetitive work increases the hazard. Foot pedals should never be used without interlocking safeguards such as barrier guards, light curtains or two-handed controls.

Any misstep can result in misfeeds and injuries. All foot pedals must be protected so that falling objects or accidental steps cannot activate the machine.

NIOSH recommends a seated work station for any job requiring a foot pedal.

Two-Handed Controls
In order to start the machine cycle, a two-handed control may be used. The major shortcoming of two-handed controls is that they only protect the person using them. Often another employee reaches into the die area and is injured because the press is actuated by an employee using two-handed controls.

Barrier guards and other safeguards like light curtains provide protection for all personnel near the press.

However, people with fast hands can still reach into the die area before the die closes.

Die-Safety Blocks
Die-safety blocks are required by OSHA whenever dies are being adjusted or repaired in the press [OSHA CFR 1910.217 (d)(9)(iv)]. OSHA does not require die blocks during die setting procedures. The ANSI standard provides guidelines on how these maintenance and repair activities can be done safely on different types of presses.

ANSI also recommends that die-safety blocks be equipped with electrical interlocks.

Restraint Devices
On full revolution presses, restraints that keep the hands out of the die area are sometimes used. The UAW does not condone the use of restraints or pull backs. These are the most dangerous of all safeguarding devices, and they have been outlawed in some other countries.