Machine Guarding — General
General industry · Ver en español
Talking points
- Every point of operation, nip point, rotating shaft, and moving part that a worker could contact must be guarded.
- The 7-foot rule: if rotating parts (fan blades, shafts, pulleys, belts) are less than 7 feet above the floor or working level, they must be enclosed or guarded.
- Guard openings must be small enough to prevent fingers from reaching the hazard — for fan blade guards, the maximum opening is 0.5 inches.
- Never remove or bypass a guard to speed up production. If a guard interferes with the task, report it so an engineering solution can be found.
- Before performing any maintenance or adjustment on a guarded machine, lock out and tag out the energy source first.
Ask the crew
Have you ever seen a machine running with a guard removed? What was the reason — and what's the safer alternative?
Standards this talk is built on
A toolbox talk is a short safety briefing. It supports the training a standard requires; it does not replace it.
Run this talk with your crew and keep the record
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Sign-in sheet
Print this page to collect signatures, or run the talk in Jobsite and workers sign in on their phones.
| Name | Signature | Date |
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