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VIEWS AND OPINION

Ten common myths about machine safety

lthough the consequences of measures hamper productivity and make processes less efficient. Although it’s true that
inadequate machine safety safety systems can slow down some processes, their benefits far outweigh the costs.
Apractices can be severe, there are When it comes to costs, safety measures save money in the long run by helping to avoid
nonetheless several misunderstandings expensive, traumatic incidents.
which put many facilities and their
employees at risk. OMRON assesses and Myth 2: Safety is too expensive and reduces productivity
evaluates over 3000 machines a year The cost of an accident demonstrates the falsehood of the above statement. These costs
across the world and has seen the ways include not only fines and workers compensation, but also lost of productivity due to poor
in which a lack of safety knowledge can morale. To address the effect of safety measures on overall productivity, it’s important for
lead to poorly functioning safety systems. manufacturers to note that safety measures can be designed in ways that don’t affect the
The company found that efficiency of the machine. An example would an application that uses a safety laser scanner
misconceptions about machine safety to minimize downtime in areas with collaborative robots (cobots). In this scenario, if a
are currently on the rise as older, worker enters the robot work area, the safety laser scanner will trigger the cobots reduced
experienced workers are retiring in large speed mode and will cause it to slow down to a safer operating level. When the employee
numbers with few mid-career workers steps out of the area, the cobot will go back to its faster speed.
inheriting their expertise. This trend
is causing many industrial facilities to Myth 3: Good administrative control and comprehensive employee safety
lack the engineering expertise required training can replace good engineering
to ensure that their machines meet The foundation of machine safety consists of a hierarchy of controls published by the
modern safety standards. In addition, an National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which lists administrative
increase in the prevalence of newer, fully controls and personal protective equipment as the least effective ways to mitigate risk.
automated solutions may in some cases Physically removing the hazard (elimination) and replacing the hazard (substitution) are
lead to complacency, as manufacturers the most effective measures, but these can be impractical. Engineering controls form the
mistakenly believe that their new systems middle ground for protecting operators from hazardous machine motion.
must be compliant, this bringing us to our
first safety myth. Myth 4: Older machines can be “grandfathered” in, so they don’t need
safeguarding
Myth 1: If a machine is brand new, No equipment is exempt from current machine guarding standards, and so-called
then it must be compliant “grandfather clauses” simply do not exist for machine safeguarding. An exemption does
This is false. Safety usually isn’t a core exist under some robot standards, and it applies to a robot’s safety circuit integration.
competency of OEMs, so they avoid This very narrow exemption has led to some confusion as manufacturers mistakenly
designing safety solutions that they interpret it to apply more generally. The underlying reason for the resistance to retrofitting
have little expertise with. All of this legacy equipment with current standards-compliant safeguarding, is the cost. Smaller
means that safety measures have manufacturers may harbor this misconception too as they have much less cash on hand
become the responsibility of the end than larger manufacturers, so there is a tendency to believe that rules don’t apply in the
user. Manufacturers worry that safety same way.

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