Machine Guarding: keeping your workers safe

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Employers have a duty under Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health safety and welfare of all their employees whilst they are at work. An important element of this is the provision and maintenance of safe plant and equipment, which covers machine guards.

In addition to this "enabling" legislation, the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 1992 (as amended) require that machinery must be CE marked to indicate compliance with the Machinery Directive 98/37/EC, and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) require organisations to provide work equipment that is suitable for its intended task and that can be used without putting persons at risk.

Despite this legislative background, the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) reports that in 2006/07 there were 35 fatalities in the manufacturing industries, which is 1.1 fatalities per 100,000 workers. While it might be hoped that such figures would be falling, in fact the rate of fatal injuries to workers in this sector has fluctuated in recent years, with no statistically significant trend either downwards or - thankfully - upwards.

However, the number of reportable non-fatal injuries should also be considered, and the HSE estimates that in the three-year period from 2003/04 to 2005/06 (the latest year for which these statistics are available) there were 1500 such injuries per 100,000 workers.

And provisional figures for 2005/06 indicate that 24,332 workers in the manufacturing industries suffered injuries that resulted in an absence from work of three days or more. Not all of the above fatalities and injuries relate to contact with moving machinery, but the figures for 2005/06 indicate that contact with moving machinery accounts for around one-quarter of fatalities, 15% of non-fatal major injuries and 9% of over-three-day injuries.

Assuming that properly installed and maintained guards would all but eliminate those fatalities and injuries - and leaving aside for one moment the legal requirements - there is a strong moral case for machine guarding. But there is also a third reason why machine guards should be used, and that relates to the financial costs associated with industrial accidents.

This white paper looks at the legislation, financial considerations, guarding standards and guarding issues. To find out all you need to know about machine guarding, download this white paper now »

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