Understanding Safety Rope Pull Switches

March 6, 2025 / in Machine Safety Blog
A Comprehensive Guide for Industry Professionals Over the years, I have visited many companies but realized I have not seen many rope pull switches installed. That could be because it was rare for me to frequent companies that used a lot of conveyor belts or large production line machinery. However, I have recommended installing rope…
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Anti-Restart Protection Devices

February 13, 2025 / in Machine Safety Blog
I frequently share blog posts with customers to inform them about various safety topics. Surprisingly, I realized I hadn’t written about anti-restart protection, which is a critical safety feature in many tools and machines. In brief, anti-restart protection prevents a machine from automatically restarting itself, such as during a power failure. One thing that I…
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Environmental Stress Cracking in Machine Guarding

December 3, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
Environmental Stress Cracking (ESC) of Polycarbonate Polycarbonate is a versatile material celebrated for its exceptional strength, impact resistance, and optical clarity. As a preferred choice for machine safety guards and shields, it provides unmatched protection in industrial settings. However, polycarbonate is not immune to challenges like any material, including environmental stress cracking (ESC). This article…
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Safety Relays Explained: A Guide to How It Works

October 1, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
Introduction A safety relay is an electromechanical or electronic device designed to reduce risk and implement safety functions, particularly in industrial environments. Its primary goal is to shut down power and remove risk safely and reliably. It reduces the risk of hazards and decreases the chance of damage, injury, or death. It’s important to note…
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Mechanical Hazards and Injuries in the Workplace

September 5, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
The primary purpose of machine guarding is to protect people from mechanical hazards in the workplace. However, to safeguard a machine, you should first be able to identify the primary hazards that can be found in and around machinery. But first, let’s define mechanical hazards, and later, we will give examples. Mechanical Hazards “Mechanical hazard”…
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Connecting Safety Interlock Switches in Series

July 29, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
To save on costs and simplify wiring, a standard method of connecting multiple interlock switches is daisy chaining them. Daisy chaining means connecting several devices in a linear series. But doing it that way may present what is called fault-masking, which are faults that the safety system may not detect. Daisy Chaining Mechanical Interlock Switches…
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Two-Hand Control for Machine Safeguarding

June 3, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
An adequately installed two-hand control on an operating machine will keep its operators’ hands away from dangerous areas. These hazardous areas include dangers such as crush points. What’s a crush point? A crush point is any location where a body part might become trapped between two moving objects or one moving towards a stationary object….
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Comparing Machine Safeguarding Assessments and Risk Assessments

April 17, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
Are you uncertain if your machinery can meet modern safety regulations? Using safeguarding or risk assessment methods, you can pinpoint areas where machine protection is lacking and identify potential safety hazards. Tons of machines are being set up in companies every day. From small machines like a Home Depot saw to giant machines like automated…
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Presence-Sensing Devices, An Essential Guide

March 6, 2024 / in Machine Safety Blog
Introduction – What are presence-sensing safety devices? If you can’t use a permanent barrier for machine safety, or if the situation demands it, you might need a device that can tell when someone is there. These devices, called presence-sensing devices, use electronic sensors to notice if a person or object is in a certain area….
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