Overcoming Human Safety Risk When Operating With CNC Machines

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Human Safety Risks Working On The CNC Machine

A single accident can bring about damaging consequences to a plant, such as production stoppages, psychological impact on workers, legal compensation and more. This eventually affect the bottom line of any company.

The CNC (Computerized Numeric Control) machine is an electromechanical device that manipulate machine shop tools using computer programming inputs.

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Machining Center

Step 1 – The Setting

In a large machining center, workers operate on hundreds of CNC machines on a daily basis, moving heavy and bulky parts in and out of the CNC machines frequently.

CNC Machine’s Door

Step 2 – Safety Hazard

As seen in the above illustration, the CNC machine comes with a control panel, that automates the opening and closing of the machine door.

Workplace Accident

Step 3 – Accident

If a worker accidentally obstructs the path of the closing door, it will lead to a serious human-machine accident. (Potential Loss of Finger / Hand / Arm).

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Which in turns affects the company’s management and decision-makers:

Inability to meet production and customer timelines
Monetary losses from legal fees and compensations

Loss of future opportunities

THE OCCURRENCE AND CONSEQUENCE OF A SINGLE ACCIDENT

Companies Can Potentially Be Affected

It is common to find hundreds of production workers operating on hundreds of CNC machines in a plant. The risks of a such a human-safety accident occuring during operations of the CNC machines, could therefore be higher.

A single accident can lead to major consequences for any company such as:

Production stoppages
Legal issues
Re-hiring of workers
Legal compensation
Psychological impact on other workers
Drop in productivity and production output