Environmental, Health and Safety News, Resources & Best Practices | EHS Insight

EHS in the Machinery Industry

Written by EHS Insight Resources | June 29, 2017 at 4:36 PM

As technology improves, and conveniences like automation become increasingly in demand, machines are no doubt leading the way to our future in industry. But the human element is still very much alive in the machine-dominant landscape, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to maintain safety to ensure the jobs of both man and machine can be accomplished without incident.

How the EHS Role Is Changing in the Machinery Industry

In case you didn’t know,

  • Nearly 45,000 machine-related injuries occur each year, some of which result in death.
  • Of these violations, some carry a penalty of $7,000 per instance, with repeat offenders facing up to $70,000 per instance.
  • In 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that 6,000 job-related amputations were documented, many of which pertained to machine-handling violations.

Surprisingly, of OSHA’s seemingly infinite safety standards, the ones involving machine safeguarding haven’t changed much in the past four decades. However, that doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about machine safety.

Quite the opposite: there’s always something to learn or improve, and it starts with identifying your existing safety gaps.

What can machinery industry professionals do to safeguard their employees without sacrificing performance?

EHS software can help you gain a different perspective on your machine safety operations. It not only helps to boost the performance output of your machines, but also maintains your team’s overall performance when they make safety a top priority.

And when you can lessen your risk of becoming part of the statistics mentioned above, both man and machine will win.

We depend on machines to do a multitude of tasks that we would never be capable of with the same performance output and accuracy. But maintaining a safe work environment will always be left up to us.

Request a free trial to experience the best value in EHS Software today.