[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 5]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1910.212]

[Page 606-607]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR

 
CHAPTER XVII--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 

                                OF LABOR

 
PART 1910_OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS--Table of Contents

 
                Subpart O_Machinery and Machine Guarding

 
Sec. 1910.212  General requirements for all machines.


    (a) Machine guarding--(1) Types of guarding. One or more methods of 

machine guarding shall be provided to protect the operator and other 

employees in the machine area from hazards such as those created by 

point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips and 

sparks. Examples of guarding methods are--barrier guards, two-hand 

tripping devices, electronic safety devices, etc.

    (2) General requirements for machine guards. Guards shall be affixed 

to the machine where possible and secured elsewhere if for any reason 

attachment to the machine is not possible. The guard shall be such that 

it does not offer an accident hazard in itself.

    (3) Point of operation guarding. (i) Point of operation is the area 

on a machine where work is actually performed upon the material being 

processed.

    (ii) The point of operation of machines whose operation exposes an 

employee to injury, shall be guarded. The guarding device shall be in 

conformity



[[Page 607]]



with any appropriate standards therefor, or, in the absence of 

applicable specific standards, shall be so designed and constructed as 

to prevent the operator from having any part of his body in the danger 

zone during the operating cycle.

    (iii) Special handtools for placing and removing material shall be 

such as to permit easy handling of material without the operator placing 

a hand in the danger zone. Such tools shall not be in lieu of other 

guarding required by this section, but can only be used to supplement 

protection provided.

    (iv) The following are some of the machines which usually require 

point of operation guarding:

    (a) Guillotine cutters.

    (b) Shears.

    (c) Alligator shears.

    (d) Power presses.

    (e) Milling machines.

    (f) Power saws.

    (g) Jointers.

    (h) Portable power tools.

    (i) Forming rolls and calenders.

    (4) Barrels, containers, and drums. Revolving drums, barrels, and 

containers shall be guarded by an enclosure which is interlocked with 

the drive mechanism, so that the barrel, drum, or container cannot 

revolve unless the guard enclosure is in place.

    (5) Exposure of blades. When the periphery of the blades of a fan is 

less than seven (7) feet above the floor or working level, the blades 

shall be guarded. The guard shall have openings no larger than one-half 

(\1/2\) inch.

    (b) Anchoring fixed machinery. Machines designed for a fixed 

location shall be securely anchored to prevent walking or moving.