Safe-T-Sense provides several services to help reduce the risks associated with machine hazards, including the comprehensive machine risk assessment, machine safety audit, lockout tagout audit, and Alternative Control Measures (ACM) audit.
Risk Assessment
ANSI B11.0 Safety of Machinery explains the process and describes various methodologies that can be followed during a risk assessment. No matter which method is used, the goal is the same – to identify the hazards that exist on a machine and to reduce the level of risk associated with those hazards to an acceptable level.
Including personnel that interact with the machine ensures that both their safety and their operational needs are taken into account when implementing the risk reduction solution. The critical success behind a Safe-T-Sense risk assessment is that our risk reduction solutions combine both compliance with the machine safety standards and maintaining productivity.
Safety Audit
A safety audit is an alternative type of assessment used to evaluate a machine in its current state to ensure its risk reduction measures are in compliance with the requirements of applicable machine safety standards.
- Guards — are they sized such that an operator can’t reach around, under, over or through them?
- Safety devices — are they mounted properly and do they operate correctly?
- Is there a documented lockout tagout procedure?
Safe-T-Sense’s audit report provides you a visual understanding of which risk reduction measures are compliant, which ones are not, why they are not, and how to bring them into compliance.
Lockout Tagout Audit
An important part of your machine’s safety is having effective and well-documented procedures for controlling hazardous energy sources, to provide an acceptable level of risk to your plant floor personnel when performing non-minor service-related tasks on the machine. This includes identifying the energy isolating devices and the respective energy sources they control, and documenting the specific steps required for using lockout devices and tags to effectively isolate the hazardous energy.
Safe-T-Sense’s comprehensive approach to identifying your machine’s hazardous energy program includes reviewing your technical documents, identifying all your machine’s energy sources, (mechanical, gravitational, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, etc.), and reviewing your existing procedures.
The lockout tagout procedure of each specific machine must be reviewed periodically and when major work has been done to the machine.
Alternative Control Measure (ACM) Audit
Alternative controls are used when partial energy is required to perform certain tasks. The Safe-T-Sense ACM audit begins with a review of your machine’s schematics and risk assessment to understand what hazardous energy sources are controlled by which safety devices and to confirm that the safety architecture meets the minimum requirements. The next step is to document the proper procedure for the tasks that do not require lockout or tagout for hazardous energy control. Informative task labels are then printed and placed close to the entry points where the safety devices are installed.