Machine Guarding

Moving machine parts cause crushed fingers, amputations, burns and blindness. Guards keep your body out of the danger zone, and they only work if they stay in place.

• General Industry
• Manufacturing

Where the danger is

• Point of operation: where the machine cuts, shapes, bends, punches or presses
• Power transmission: belts, pulleys, chains, sprockets, gears, shafts, couplings
• Other moving parts: rotating, reciprocating and transverse parts, feed mechanisms
• Nip points: where two parts move together, or a part moves toward a fixed object

Types of safeguards

• Fixed guards: permanent barriers. The simplest and most reliable.
• Interlocked guards: the machine stops or can’t start when the guard is opened.
• Adjustable and self-adjusting guards: adapt to different stock sizes (like saw blade guards).
• Devices: light curtains, two-hand controls, pressure-sensitive mats, pullbacks and restraints.

A good guard

• Prevents contact: you can’t reach over, under, around or through it
• Is secure and hard to tamper with
• Protects from falling objects
• Creates no new hazards (sharp edges, pinch points)
• Allows lubrication and adjustment without removal, when possible

• Don’t wear gloves, loose clothing, jewelry or long loose hair near rotating parts.
• Don’t operate a machine you haven’t been trained on.

Last updated: October 1, 2026