Safeguarding assessments against OSHA Subpart O and the applicable ANSI B11 standards — with findings ranked by exposure and guarding solutions that production will actually keep in place.
If a guard makes a setup, clear or adjustment impossible, it comes off within a week and stays off. Guarding that ignores how the job is actually performed does not survive contact with production.
The general duty to guard the point of operation is the single most cited item in this area. Older equipment purchased before current expectations frequently has no point-of-operation protection at all.
Belts, pulleys, chains, shafts and couplings within seven feet of the floor require guarding. These are easy to find and easy to cite.
Current practice expects a documented risk assessment supporting the safeguarding choice. Deciding a guard is adequate without a method is difficult to defend after an amputation.
Defeated interlocks are common, usually because the machine cannot be set up with them functioning. A bypassed interlock after an injury is close to an indefensible position.
Machines arrive CE-marked or with a manufacturer claim and are assumed compliant with US requirements. They frequently are not, and the obligation is yours.
We inventory the equipment, assess each machine against the applicable OSHA standard and ANSI B11 requirements, and document a risk assessment for each safeguarding decision. Findings are ranked by severity of the potential injury and likelihood of exposure, not by how easy they are to fix.
Recommendations are practical. Where a guard would block the task, we identify the alternative — interlocked access, presence sensing, two-hand control, or a procedural control with a documented basis — so the fix survives production pressure.
You have to ensure it is adequately guarded as installed and used. Manufacturer guarding is a starting point, not a defense — modifications, tooling changes and how the machine is actually operated all affect adequacy.
There is no grandfather clause in OSHA machine guarding. Age does not exempt a machine from the requirement, though it often affects which practical solution is feasible.
ANSI standards are not law themselves, but they establish the recognized practice that OSHA references in general duty enforcement and that plaintiffs cite after an injury. Assessing against them is the defensible approach.
Roughly a day per twenty to forty machines depending on complexity, plus report time. Press and robotic cells take longer.
Yes. We specify the solution, help evaluate vendors and quotes, and verify the installed guard achieves what was specified.
Twenty minutes to scope an assessment against your equipment list and identify where the exposure actually sits.
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