Machine guarding and Product Liability

Accidents involving machinery in the work place are common. When personal injuries occur as a result of these accidents, equipment design is often closely scrutinized. Frequently, guarding issues are central to these evaluations. This presentation reviews the use of guarding as part of the overall design process as well as discussing common hazards and the designs used to guard against them. Evaluations of the state of the art, government regulations, and industry standards are also discussed.

1. Introduction
2. Designing against hazards
3. History of guarding
4. Common hazards in machinery
   
   1. point of operation
   2. nip points
   3. rotating shafts
   4. unguarded access areas
5. Guarding requirements
6. Types of guards and safety devices
   1. fixed
   2. pullback
   3. interlocked (limit switches, two-hand controls, photoelectric cells)
   4. by location
7. Guard design
8. State of the art
9. Government regulations
10. Industry standards