Our objective is to share the experiences that Fox Controls Inc. has encountered while working on a number of real life applications within the industrial market. The solutions to these applications incorporate the ANSI B11 machine guarding method using the base standards, the B11 TR3 approach to Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction strategy, and the B11.19 requirements for applying safeguards on existing manufacturing equipment.
The approach of Fox Controls Inc. is to conduct a Risk Assessment on the subject equipment, unguarded, to establish a primary risk level. This Risk Assessment is performed in accordance with B11 TR3. We then select the appropriate safeguards in accordance with the resultant risk level determined by the assessment and B11.19. A Risk Assessment is then performed with the appropriate proposed, and agreed upon, safeguarding solution in place to determine residual risk. The residual risk is a factor of the amount of required exposure to the remaining hazard by an individual. At this point, we can provide the cost of the safeguarding solution and the amount of risk reduction achieved with the proposed resolution. The challenge is to facilitate this process with respect to Management's expectations, Production and Maintenance requirements, and Operator acceptance.
Corporate Management typically initiates the process of a safeguarding solution through the Human Resource department, Safety Director or Committee Members. This interest develops for a variety of reasons.
An accident or citation has occurred that requires a solution.
Risk reduction is required through corporate mandate or by an underwriter.
A contractual arrangement has been made with an employee organization that dictates that some level of safeguarding is necessary.
Management's primary desire is to achieve the highest level of safeguarding for their money without drastically affecting the productivity of their overall process. They are generally very concerned with how this guarding solution is implemented with respect to the political and emotional issues within the corporation.
Facility engineers are generally the individuals tasked with the responsibility of designing, implementing, and ensuring a control reliable safeguarding solution. Often having little to no training with respect to industry safety standards, engineers typically rely on vendors to supply the proper safety requirements. In our experience, engineers are hesitant to work with a new vendor at the beginning of a project due to all of the contradictory information previously received. Once we have qualified our capabilities and expertise with reference to industry standards such as OSHA, ANSI B11, NFPA 79, and RIA R15.06, they are more willing to accept our assistance. By providing justification of our recommendations based on the standards, the engineers are less skeptical. The delicate part of this process is to educate the engineers while not challenging their opinions and past actions.
Production Management's concern is whether or not the safeguarding solution will adversely affect the production output or efficiency of their process. This is not only a practical concern, but also an emotional one from an operator's point-of-view.
