To prevent the occurrence of profession-related accidents while working with any equipment, every manager and worker should be aware of the hazards of specific apparatus and follow the measures that can control them. In the case of a metal shearing machine, the main hazards include contact with scrap metal, entrapment from moving parts, blades, or bending metal, noise, leaking hydraulic hoses, and slips, trips, or falls. To control these hazards, the manager should develop strategies related to the hierarchy of controls, namely, elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, personal protective equipment.
First, the elimination should be directed at removing the possibility of falls by providing special mats, the safe collection of scrap metal, using distance guards near the shears, and establishing “no-go” areas. The substitution should be primarily related to the alteration of hazardous hydraulic hoses that can leak to the safe zones and the replacements of faulty parts. The engineered controls should focus on providing support for metal parts that may fall, applying noise barriers, fixing a distance guard, covering any pedals, and placing a distance table. Administrative controls should be based on employee training on safe rules of work, and the danger to be injured or even killed, installation of warning signs and labels, and arrangement of hearing screenings. The last control, that is, personal protective equipment, should be ensured by providing gloves, safety glasses, coveralls, hard hats, hearing protection equipment, and safety footwear.
To guarantee the safety of workers when working with a metal shearing machine, I would primarily focus on following the elimination and engineering controls since these measures bear the primary responsibility concerning the staff’s safety. They allow minimizing the risks for a user to receive injury of different severity accidentally due to creating the distance from dangerous areas and reducing the possibility of unplanned switching-on of the equipment. In addition, I would promote employee training concerning safe rules of operation and the awareness of danger since this also plays a profound role in the safety and maintaining the health of workers.