The printer s guide to health and safety

Transcription

1 Health ad Safety The priter s guide to health ad safety This is a free-to-dowload, web-friedly versio of The priter s guide to health ad safety (Secod editio, published 2002). This versio has bee adapted for olie use from HSE s curret prited versio. You ca buy the book at ad most good bookshops. ISBN Price Whatever role i pritig, this book ca help you comply with the law ad reduce the risks of ijuries ad ill health. The ew editio icludes safety guidelies o a wider rage of processes ad up-to-date advice resultig from research ito the causes of pritig accidets. It also deals with recet chages i legislatio ad has a comprehesive idex. HSE Books Page 1 of 187

2 Health ad Safety Crow copyright 2002 First published 1998 Secod editio 2002 ISBN All rights reserved. No part of this publicatio may be reproduced, stored i a retrieval system, or trasmitted i ay form or by ay meas (electroic, mechaical, photocopyig, recordig or otherwise) without the prior writte permissio of the copyright ower. Applicatios for reproductio should be made i writig to: The Office of Public Sector Iformatio, Iformatio Policy Team, Kew, Richmod, Surrey TW9 4DU or licesig@opsi.gov.uk This guidace is issued by the Health ad Safety. Followig the guidace is ot compulsory ad you are free to take other actio. But if you do follow the guidace you will ormally be doig eough to comply with the law. Health ad safety ispectors seek to secure compliace with the law ad may refer to this guidace as illustratig good practice. Page 2 of 187

3 Health ad Safety What is PIAC? The Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee (PIAC) was formed i July 1979 to advise the Health ad Safety Commissio (HSC) o matters cocerig the pritig idustry. The members of PIAC are omiated by the CBI ad the TUC ad appoited by HSC to work together with the Health ad Safety (HSE) to advise the idustry o health ad safety. Why does PIAC exist? Every year people workig i the pritig idustry are seriously ijured. May others suffer ill health which prevets them from doig their ormal work. Almost all of these cases could be preveted. PIAC is determied to take actio to improve health ad safety performace i the pritig idustry. As part of this process PIAC has produced this guidace book to help those resposible for health ad safety i the idustry uderstad their resposibilities ad take the ecessary actio. Ackowledgemets Assistace from the followig i providig photographs is gratefully ackowledged: Matthews the Priters Harmsworth Quays Pritig Ltd Delta Displays Heidelberg Graphic Equipmet Prito Wrappigs Goss Graphic Systems Ltd Palamatic Hadlig Systems Ltd Strategic Safety Systems Health ad Safety Laboratory News Iteratioal Newspapers Ltd Members of the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee Mr A D Porter Mr I Wilcock Mr R A Hudspith Mr D Barker Mr A Clarke Mr G Mcityre Mr G Cooper Mr G McNab Mr B Purkis Mr W Stothard Ms S Whittaker Mr M Griffiths Mr M D Wilcock Chair, Health ad Safety British Pritig Idustries Federatio Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio Natioal Uio of Jouralists Newspaper Society Scottish Prit Employers Federatio Newspaper Publishers Associatio British Pritig Idustries Federatio Newspaper Publishers Associatio Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio Secretary, Health ad Safety Members of PIAC safety ad huma factors sub-committee Mr M D Wilcock Mr R A Hudspith Chair, Health ad Safety Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 3 of 187

4 Health ad Safety Ms Z Demark Mr P Chambers Mr D Wallis Mr P Bryat Mr M McGilly Jarrard Pritig Ltd Strategic Safety Systems Goss Graphic Systems Ltd Goss Graphic Systems Ltd West Ferry Priters The assistace provided by S Peace, S Huggas, J Hardy, K Marriott ad T Stoley is gratefully ackowledged. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 4 of 187

5 Health ad Safety Cotets Itroductio What is i this book for me? 11 The law ad guidace 11 Chapter 1 Maagig health ad safety Relevat legislatio 13 Health ad safety i the pritig idustry 13 Settig your policy 14 Orgaisig your staff 15 Plaig ad risk assessmet 15 Risk assessmet 15 Moitorig 17 Ispectio ad checks 17 Evaluatio of accidets, ill health ad ear misses 17 Auditig ad review 17 Home workig 18 Loe workig 18 Accidets ad emergecies 18 The law ad reportig accidets 18 Ivestigatig accidets ad emergecies 19 Dealig with emergecies 21 First aid 21 Permits to work 22 Workig time 22 The problem 22 Applicatio of WTR 22 Workig time limits 23 Health assessmet 23 Night shift risk assessmet 23 Records 23 People with more tha oe job 24 Good time maagemet is good busiess 24 Cotrol of cotractors 24 The law ad maagig cotractors 24 Five practical stages for workig with cotractors 25 Cotractors ad your employees 27 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 5 of 187

6 Health ad Safety Cosultig employees o health ad safety 27 Ispectors ad eforcemet 28 Powers of ispectors 28 Chapter 2 Traiig Relevat legislatio 29 Traiig methods 29 Iductio traiig 30 Traiig safety represetatives 32 Chapter 3 Workplace ad trasport safety Relevat legislatio 33 Fudametals of workplace health ad safety 33 Safe place of work 33 Lightig 34 Movig aroud the premises 34 Desigig workstatios 34 Clealiess 35 Hygiee ad welfare 35 Safe movemet of vehicles 36 Loadig ad uloadig of vehicles 36 Safe stackig ad storig 37 Geeral priciples 37 Rackig istallatios 38 Use of pallets 38 Reel storage ad stackig 39 Maual breakig dow of pyramid stacks 40 Lift ad clamp trucks 40 The law ad lift trucks 40 Health problems 41 Safety guidelies for lift trucks 41 Safety guidelies for automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) 43 Asbestos i buildigs 43 Where is asbestos foud i buildigs? 44 What should you do? 44 Chapter 4 Health risks Relevat legislatio 45 Occupatioal health ad rehabilitatio 46 Occupatioal health services 47 Health surveillace 47 Rehabilitatio 48 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 6 of 187

7 Health ad Safety Hazardous substaces 48 Exposure limits 49 Assessmet uder COSHH 50 Prevetio or cotrol of exposure 50 Chemical hazards i pritig 52 Specific process health hazards 54 Desig ad artwork 54 Graphic reproductio 54 Platemakig 54 Deletio fluids 54 Lithographic pritig 54 UK Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme 55 Ultraviolet (UV) curable materials 56 Acrylate Preferece Criteria 57 Scree pritig ad cleaig 60 Use of isocyaates 62 Disposal of waste 63 Noise 63 Do you have a oise problem? 63 Measurig oise levels 63 Noise ad the law 63 Noise reductio 64 Reducig exposure 65 Providig hearig protectio 65 Commo problems ad solutios for priters 65 Hearig loss 66 Maual hadlig 67 The law ad maual hadlig 67 Risk assessmet filter 67 What are the risks? 68 Reducig the risks 69 Hadlig ewspaper ad magazie budles 69 Traiig 69 Assessig ad reducig risks 71 Repetitive hadlig 72 How to assess ad tackle ULDs 72 Radiatio 74 Lasers 74 Ultraviolet (UV) light 75 Ifrared sources 76 Static elimiators 77 Ski disease (dermatitis) 77 What is dermatitis? 77 Affected areas 78 Symptoms 78 Work-related substaces 78 Why employers should take actio 79 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 7 of 187

8 Health ad Safety Other health issues 79 Workplace stress 79 New ad expectat mothers at work 80 Drugs ad alcohol 81 Passive smokig 81 Humidifier fever 81 Legioellosis 82 Asbestos 82 Local exhaust vetilatio (LEV) 83 Maiteace, examiatio, testig ad the law 83 Selectio ad use 83 Makig the most of LEV 83 Commo causes of LEV failure 83 Persoal protective equipmet (PPE) 84 PPE ad the law 84 Respiratory protective equipmet (RPE) 85 Eye protectio 86 Ski protectio 86 Storage of PPE 87 Chapter 5 Process safety Relevat legislatio 88 Basic rules of machiery safety 89 Machiery guardig 89 Iterlockig guards 91 Machie cotrols 92 Cotrol defiitios for press movemet 93 Safe systems of work 94 Safe systems of work for press cleaig 94 Other essetial safeguards 95 Machiery maiteace 95 Safety hazards by process 95 Pre-press 95 Digital pritig ad copyig 97 Pritig 98 Publishig rooms 117 Evelope-makig machies 119 Guilloties 122 Other cuttig machies 127 Loose kife puchig machies 128 Flat-bed cuttig ad creasig machies 129 Autoplates 130 Had-fed plates used for cuttig ad creasig 130 Label puchig machies 132 Roud corerig machies 132 Folder gluer machies used i box makig 132 Bidery 133 Book sewig 136 Fiishig machies 139 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 8 of 187

9 Health ad Safety Acquirig machiery ad other work equipmet 146 The law 146 Word of cautio 147 Chapter 6 Electricity Relevat legislatio 148 Geeral hazards ad precautios 148 Particular hazards ad precautios for pritig 149 Ispectio ad maiteace 149 Electric shock 150 Chapter 7 Fire ad explosio Relevat legislatio 152 Risk assessmet 152 Fire risk maagemet 152 Geeral fire precautios 155 Process fire precautios 156 Mai fire hazards 156 The fire triagle 156 Chargig electrically operated lift trucks 158 Lithographic pritig 159 Explosio risks i blaket wash systems 159 Explosio risks i flexographic ad gravure 161 Precautios for dryers 162 Precautios for coatig machies 163 Precautios for lamiators with glue applicatio 163 Chapter 8 Maiteace Relevat legislatio 165 What eeds maiteace? 165 Statutory testig ad thorough examiatio 165 Maiteace ad ispectio required by PUWER Safety durig maiteace work 167 Permits to work 167 Isolatio ad lock-off procedures 168 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 9 of 187

10 Health ad Safety Appedices 1 Appedix 1 Safeguardig terms 169 Appedix 2 Example risk assessmet form 172 Appedix 3 Assessig hazards i a small prit works 173 Refereces 174 Further iformatio 185 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 10 of 187

11 Health ad Safety Itroductio Every year people i the pritig idustry are ijured ad become ill through work. The aim of this booklet, ad others produced by PIAC, is to help all those ivolved i pritig, icludig employers, employees ad suppliers, to idetify the mai causes of accidets ad ill health ad to explai how to elimiate the hazards ad cotrol the risks. If you are a maager, it will help you maage health, safety ad welfare i your compay ad comply with your legal resposibilities. If you are a employee or safety represetative i the idustry, it should provide you with some useful iformatio about what stadards to expect ad how accidets ad ill health might be preveted. What is i this book for me? This book is a oe-stop shop givig health ad safety advice to priters. All priters, large ad small, should fid somethig of iterest i it. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 ad 8 cover geeral health ad safety issues ad will be useful to everyoe, from ewspaper producers to high-street copiers or digital priters. Chapters 4 ad 5 are more specialised ad cover specific hazards arisig from substaces or processes used by priters. To help you fid your way aroud the book, each chapter is colour coded ad a comprehesive idex ca be foud at the back. As pritig is a wide-ragig activity, this book does ot deal with every hazard which may arise or every precautio that ca be take. It does, however, outlie some of the more serious ad frequet hazards ad ways of dealig with them. There are Relevat legislatio sectios at the start of each chapter which list the Acts, regulatios etc which apply ad may also cotai summaries of the mai legal requiremets. These sectios have a blue backgroud. You may fid this book tells you all you eed to kow, but if ot, the Refereces sectio will help you fid out more. This is structured i chapter order to make it easier to use. See the Further iformatio sectio for useful addresses. Lookig at your busiess i the way this book suggests will help you stay safe. Followig the advice i it will mea that you are goig a log way to satisfyig the law. The law ad guidace The term reasoably practicable is used i much of UK health ad safety law ad will be foud i this book. This meas that the degree of risk i a particular job or workplace eeds to be balaced agaist the time, trouble, cost ad physical difficulty of takig measures to avoid or reduce the risk. I other words, it would have to be show that a particular risk is isigificat i relatio to the sacrifice eeded to reduce it. This book will help you decide what is reasoably practicable for your compay. The word must idicates a defiite legal requiremet. Do s ad do ts, shoulds ad should ots ad other recommedatios represet best ad good practice which will lead to compliace with what is reasoably practicable. However, there may be other legally acceptable ways of achievig the same objective. The requiremets of a Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) have a special status i law; a court will fid fault if you have ot followed the Code or doe somethig equally effective. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 11 of 187

12 Health ad Safety Thik about, cosider ad similar phrases cotai a tip or hit which may ot amout to a precise legal requiremet but idicate a approach to a health ad safety problem which ought to be cosidered. A safeguard is a meas of reducig risk to health ad/or safety. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 12 of 187

13 Health ad Safety Chapter 1 Maagig health ad safety See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Maagig health ad safety Relevat legislatio The Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) ad the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 place duties o compaies ad idividuals to esure that adequate provisios are made for health ad safety at work. Directors, maagers ad other resposible people all have duties uder the Act. Commitmet to the effective maagemet of health ad safety should come from the top. You must esure, so far as is reasoably practicable, the health, safety ad welfare of your employees ad ay others who may be affected by what you do. This will iclude those who work for you as casual workers, part-timers, traiees ad others who visit your premises, eg customers or cotractors. It will also iclude those who may be affected by what you do, eg eighbours, cliets, sales people, members of the public ad those who use products or equipmet you make, supply or import. I additio, employers must: idetify the measures they eed to take by carryig out a risk assessmet (ad if you employ five or more you will eed to record the mai fidigs); have a writte health ad safety policy (if you employ five or more people); have adequate arragemets for health ad safety ad, i particular, for the effective plaig, orgaisatio, cotrol, moitorig ad review of the prevetive measures required uder health ad safety law; provide employees with ay ecessary iformatio ad traiig i safe practices; appoit oe or more competet persos to help them take the measures ecessary to comply with their legal duties. This icludes requiremets imposed by the Fire Precautios (Workplace) Regulatios A competet perso is regarded as a perso who has had eough traiig, experiece or kowledge ad other qualities to eable them to provide effective help. Employers should appoit their ow employees for this role if possible. Health ad safety i the pritig idustry The pritig idustry is a sigificat employer i the Uited Kigdom. There are approximately workers employed i over compaies, makig the idustry oe of the largest employers i the coutry. Accordig to HSE s aual statistics, the pritig sector has a lower accidet rate tha associated idustries such as paper ad board productio. However, there are aspects of the pritig sector s health ad safety record which cause cocer, i particular a high rate of machiery-related accidets (five times higher tha i other idustries) ad the umber of cotractors ivolved i accidets. There are also sigificat health risks, such as dermatitis ad other problems associated with the use of solvets that eed to be cosidered. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 13 of 187

14 Health ad Safety Detailed aalysis of the patter of accidets i the pritig idustry shows may similarities to idustry i geeral, but there are key sector-specific differeces. Particular parts of the maufacturig process - pritig itself, ad warehousig, yard ad waste disposal activities, cosistetly emerge as the mai areas where accidets occur. The proportio of accidets attributable to fiishig varies cosiderably from 13% i the ewspaper sector to 40% i book bidig ad fiishig. Almost a quarter of all accidets result from maual hadlig, usually liftig. May are also caused by cotact with movig machiery. For accidets directly ivolvig some form of machiery, almost three-fifths occur while the ijured perso is cleaig or preparig the pritig machiery, ie make-ready. Oe i five such accidets occur as the ijured perso is attemptig to free a blockage i their machie. Cuts, strais ad pich ijuries are the most commo type across the idustry. May of these accidets ca be easily preveted. Most warehouse accidets ivolve workplace trasport or result from maual hadlig. Employers i the pritig sector eed to look carefully at their risk assessmets ad the cotrol measures they use such as physical safeguards, safe systems of work ad traiig. Compare where you are ow with the bechmark stadards for the idustry described i this book. This publicatio gives you a good startig poit for all your health ad safety eeds. Settig your policy If you employ five or more people, you must have a writte statemet of your health ad safety policy. It eeds to be a carefully prepared, well-thought-out ad up-todate documet based o commitmet at seior maagemet level. The statemet should be specific to your firm, settig out your geeral policy for protectig the health ad safety of your employees at work ad specifyig the orgaisatio ad arragemets for puttig the policy ito practice. The primary purpose of this documet is to set out your basic actio pla o health ad safety ad it should lead to better stadards i the workplace. The policy eeds to: state what your geeral aims are with regard to your employees health ad safety. The statemet should be siged ad dated by seior maagemet to make the firm s commitmet to the policy clear; clearly show where the duties for health ad safety lie. Resposibility for health ad safety rests at the highest maagemet level, however, idividuals at every level will have to cotribute ad accept some resposibility for carryig out the policy; describe the systems ad procedures i place for esurig the health ad safety of your employees. You ca lik this to other documets such as risk assessmets, fire precautios ad your COSHH assessmet (see Chapter 4), i which you will have cosidered the risks that arise i your workplace ad the actio to cotrol them. Your policy should be clearly set out; be brought to the otice of your employees, eg by givig them a copy; be reviewed ad if ecessary revised if the orgaisatio chages or ew hazards arise; be supported by sufficiet resources, eg eough fiace, people ad time to traslate the policy ito actio. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 14 of 187

15 Health ad Safety Orgaisig your staff The four Cs of a positive health ad safety culture are: competece - i recruitmet, traiig ad advisory support; cotrol - by allocatig resposibilities ad securig commitmet; co-operatio - betwee idividuals ad groups; commuicatio - icludig oral, writte ad visible forms. Ask yourself: Do people kow what they should be doig ad how to do it? Do you cosult ad ivolve your staff ad the safety represetatives effectively? (See Cosultig employees o health ad safety later i this chapter.) Do your staff have eough iformatio about the risks they may be exposed to, the cotrols provided ad how to use them? Do you have the right levels of expertise? Are your people properly traied? (See Chapter 2.) Do you eed specialist advice from outside the orgaisatio ad have you arraged to obtai it? Plaig ad risk assessmet Systematic plaig for health ad safety is eeded so that hazards ca be idetified, risks assessed, cotrol measures ad priorities determied ad the ecessary resources allocated. Ask yourself: Do you have a health ad safety pla? Is health ad safety always cosidered before ay ew work is started? Have you idetified hazards ad assessed risks to your staff ad the public, ad set cotrol stadards for premises, plat, substaces, procedures, people ad products? Do you have a pla to deal with serious or immiet dagers, eg fires, or chemical spills? Are the stadards implemeted ad risks effectively cotrolled? The Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 set out broad geeral duties aimed at improvig health ad safety maagemet. Amog other thigs, they require precautios to be idetified by meas of risk assessmets carried out i the workplace ad a competet perso to be appoited to help employers carry out their duties. Risk assessmet The purpose of risk assessmet is to help employers or self-employed people determie what measures should be take to comply with legal duties. This icludes geeral duties uder the HSW Act ad the more specific duties i other Acts ad regulatios. Oce determied, actio will eed to be take to put the ecessary prevetive ad protective measures i place. For most commo chemicals, PIAC has already doe most of the work for you. (See COSHH essetials for priters ad Chapter 4 for details.) The risk assessmet eeds to cosider: the level of risk; who might be harmed; whether sigificat risks are beig adequately cotrolled. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 15 of 187

16 Health ad Safety A hazard is aythig with the potetial to cause harm, ad risk is the chace of harm actually beig doe. For example, a ca of highly flammable liquid stored i a closed metal cabiet i a workroom may be a flammable hazard because of its ature but there is little risk as it is stored safely. The risk icreases if the liquid is poured ito a ope cotaier because there is the a dager of spillage. The risk sigificatly icreases if people are smokig i the area. The followig five steps eed to be followed whe carryig out a risk assessmet: Step 1 Idetify the hazards Take a careful look at what you do ad how you do it. Remember to iclude everythig like trasport, solvet storage, housekeepig ad work equipmet. You will idetify umerous health ad safety hazards with the help of this book. Thik about what ca go wrog, how people ca be harmed ad where it might happe. For example people beig hit by a vehicle, trapped i a machie or exposed to hazardous chemicals. Cosider the worst. Could they be killed, will they lose a limb or simply be bruised? This will help you later whe you eed to work out what actio you eed to take first. Step 2 Decide who might be harmed ad how Cosider who could be hurt if thigs go wrog. Iclude your employees, cotractors ad ew utraied, uskilled operatives ad other vulerable groups such as the youg. Do ot forget visitors, maiteace staff ad members of the public. Step 3 Evaluate the risks arisig from the hazards ad take the ecessary remedial actio Ask whether existig precautios are eough to protect people ad, if they are ot, what more eeds to be doe. Do ot assume people ca cocetrate all of the time. Check existig safeguards do what they re iteded to do. Remember, badly desiged guards ca be defeated ad, if ot properly maitaied, will fail. (See Chapter 5 for more detail.) Use recogised idustry stadards, such as publicatios from the Health ad Safety (HSE), PIAC, the British Pritig Idustries Federatio (BPIF) or other trade associatios as a bechmark. For chemicals refer to COSHH essetials for priters ad maufacturers data sheets. For further advice, see Chapter 4. You eed to keep up to date with developmets such as safer solvets or ew types of machiery guardig. Refer to suppliers istructios ad data sheets. Ask yourself whether the precautios you have i place comply with the law, represet good practice ad reduce risk so far as is reasoably practicable. Prioritise your actios. Allocate ecessary resources. Implemet procedures to esure the ecessary work will be doe. Step 4 Record your fidigs If you have five or more employees you must record the sigificat fidigs of your assessmet. (A example risk assessmet form is give i Appedix 2. A schematic diagram of hazards to cosider i a overall assessmet of a small pritig premises is give i Appedix 3.) The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 16 of 187

17 Health ad Safety Step 5 Review your assessmet You will also eed to revise your assessmet whe ecessary. You may fid that you eed to make chages to your arragemets after you have ivestigated the causes of a accidet. Oce improvemets have bee made, remember that thigs chage ad you eed to check regularly that precautios remai i place ad are effective. Moitorig Moitorig is a maagemet resposibility ad should take place at all levels. Your safety policy should iclude arragemets for moitorig ad it is a requiremet uder the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios Moitorig should iclude spot checks ad more detailed ispectios. Reports of all accidets, ear misses ad ill health caused by work should be studied to idetify emergig treds or patters. Iformatio from moitorig helps you to decide: what eeds improvemet; what progress is ecessary ad reasoable i the circumstaces; how that progress might be achieved agaist particular restraits (eg resources or time). Ispectio ad checks Moitorig ca be carried out by several differet methods, eg: routie checks by maagers, supervisors ad maiteace staff, eg tours of ispectio; statutory tests ad examiatios by competet persos, eg of lift truck chais, liftig equipmet, ad pressure systems by egieerig surveyors; reportig of defects by employees, eg operator daily/weekly ispectio of machiery safeguards; health surveillace by a resposible perso, eg ispectig hads of priters who work with UV-cured iks for sigs of dermatitis; ivestigatio of icidets ad moitorig of reports to idetify reasos for failures i cotrols ad the steps eeded to prevet a recurrece. Evaluatio of accidets, ill health ad ear misses A effective system for recordig all relevat icidets is importat. Records of accidets/ill health ad ear misses ca be used to idetify problem areas ad take relevat actio. A lack of accidets does ot ecessarily mea all is well - good luck may have bee playig a role. Detailed ivestigatio of icidets will help you idetify the uderlyig causes of all icidets. It will help you highlight weakesses or omissios i your policy or maagemet systems. The fidigs ca be used to help prevet recurrece ad iitiate the ecessary remedial actio (which should be carried out promptly). See Accidets ad emergecies. Auditig ad review Health ad safety auditig aims to provide a comprehesive, idepedet check of work activities. It will review existig arragemets for maagig ad moitorig health ad safety ad idetify ay shortcomigs. It provides feedback to maagers o how well risks are beig cotrolled. Auditig is usually most effective whe it is carried out by people idepedet of the areas beig audited, eg from aother departmet or site. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 17 of 187

18 Health ad Safety Auditig schemes ca be developed i-house or commercially available schemes ca be used. A umber of cosultats operate schemes but pritig firms eed to satisfy themselves that a cosultat is appropriate, sufficietly qualified ad competet to help i their particular operatio. The iformatio obtaied from measurig safety performace ad auditig ca be used to review how well you are doig ad what might eed improvemet. Home workig Health ad safety legislatio also applies to those employees who work at home. If you have employees who do this, you still eed to esure they are ot exposed to risks from the work they do. See the leaflet Homeworkig: Guidace for employers ad employees o health ad safety (INDG226) for further advice. Loe workig Solitary workers may face particular problems. Without supervisors or co-workers preset, they are vulerable to the ormal workplace hazards ad do ot have access to the assistace they ca ormally call o. I certai circumstaces they may be more exposed. For example, staff leavig later tha ormal may be uable to get help if threateed i the car park. Solitary workers should ot be exposed to sigificatly more risk tha employees who work together. Precautios should take accout of ormal workig coditios ad foreseeable emergecies icludig, fire, illess ad accidet. For further advice see the leaflet Workig aloe i safety: Cotrollig the risks of solitary work (INDG73). Accidets ad emergecies As a employer you eed to put i place suitable arragemets for idetifyig, recordig ad ivestigatig all relevat accidets ad icidets. Certai accidets, dagerous occurreces ad icideces of ill health are also reportable. The law ad reportig accidets The Reportig of Ijuries, Diseases ad Dagerous Occurreces Regulatios 1995 (RIDDOR) require you to report certai accidets, icidets ad occupatioal diseases to your eforcig authority. From 1 April 2001 there has bee a Icidet Cotact Cetre (ICC) to record the details you supply. Reports o loger eed to be made to your HSE or local authority office. RIDDOR requires you to do the followig: Keep details of the icidet (eg i your accidet book). Notify the eforcig authority immediately (via the ICC) if ay of the followig happe as a result of work: aybody dies; a employee receives a major ijury (such as a broke arm or leg or a amputatio ijury) or ay other perso is take to hospital immediately as a result of a ijury caused by your work activities; ayoe is seriously affected by a electric shock or poisoig; if there is a dagerous occurrece, eg a fire or explosio which stops work for more tha 24 hours, or a crae overturs. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 18 of 187

19 Health ad Safety Report withi te days accidets at work which result i a employee beig abset from work (or uable to do their ormal job) for more tha three days. Report certai diseases suffered by workers who do specified types of work as soo as possible o receivig a writte diagosis about the illess from a medical practitioer. You ca report icidets by telephoe ( ), fax ( ), (riddor@atbrit.com) or by post to ICC, Caerphilly Busiess Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG. Ivestigatig accidets ad emergecies At the time of writig, the Health ad Safety Commissio was cosultig o a ew legal duty to ivestigate accidets. Whatever the outcome, ivestigatio of accidets ad icidets i-house is importat to establish the causes ad prevetive measures eeded to miimise the risk of further accidets. You should also look at ear misses, mior accidets ad property damage. It is ofte oly by good fortue that someoe is ot ijured. Employers eed to put procedures i place to esure the followig stages are followed if there is a accidet or dagerous occurrece: Take ay actio required to deal with the immediate risks, eg provide first aid, put out the fire, isolate ay dager, fece off the area, call the emergecy services. If the icidet is oe that must be immediately otified to your eforcig authority, cosult them before disturbig the site. Eve if the icidet is ot reportable, it is sesible to take photographs ad measuremets before disturbig the site. Obtai basic facts, eg witess ames, plat coditio, substaces i use, place, time, extet of ijury. Establish the circumstaces, eg what was beig doe at the time. Try to uderstad the sequece of evets leadig up to, durig ad immediately followig the accidet. From the accidet sequece write dow the immediate causes of the accidet. From this list idetify the uderlyig causes of the accidet. (You may have to repeat this step several times to get to the root causes of the accidet.) For example if a idividual did ot follow a procedure, try to idetify why they did ot - it could be due to lack of traiig, a urealistic procedure or lack of supervisio. For each of the uderlyig causes idetified cosider what steps eed to be take to prevet a recurrece. At this poit cosult the guidace issued by PIAC ad HSE for specific iformatio o how to cotrol hazards. Thik also if the iitial respose to the accidet was adequate, eg whether there was a effective first-aid respose or whether correct spillage arragemets were used. Cosider if ay of the lessos leared apply elsewhere withi the orgaisatio. Cosider if the risk assessmets eed to be reviewed i the light of your fidigs. Throughout the ivestigatio, it is importat ot to jump to coclusios, ad ivolve your trade uio appoited safety represetatives or employees as appropriate. Thik about each step, ad if ecessary pla what you are goig to do BEFORE it happes. The followig ivestigatio checklist may be useful. Although it is ot a exhaustive list, it gives examples of questios that might be relevat. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 19 of 187

20 Health ad Safety Ivestigatio checklist Factors ivolved i the accidet Machiery or equipmet failure, eg lack of guards, iterlocks or maiteace Workig practice or procedure, eg lack of supervisio, custom ad practice or o procedure The workig eviromet, eg state of the floor, fumes or oise The idividual, eg lack of traiig, poor istructios or badly labelled cotrols Substaces used, eg solvets or iks have chaged Why this occurred Actio to be take As a result of this assessmet you should the take actio to stop the accidet happeig i future Do you eed to: Yes No Improve physical safeguards, eg provide a iterlocked guard? Provide ad use local exhaust vetilatio? Use mechaical hadlig aids, eg pile turers or mobile lifts? Itroduce better test ad maiteace arragemets? Improve work methods? Provide ad use persoal protective equipmet? Make chages to supervisio ad traiig arragemets? Review similar risks i other departmets? Set up systems to risk assess ew plat ad chemicals before use? Review procedures for cotractors? Update stadards ad policies? Itroduce moitorig ad auditig systems? Give traiig i maual hadlig techiques? Substitute chemicals with somethig less hazardous? The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 20 of 187

21 Health ad Safety Do you eed to: Yes No Chage make-ready procedures or other systems of work? Istitute health surveillace, eg for UV ik users? Dealig with emergecies Whe thigs go wrog people may be exposed to serious ad immediate dager. Special procedures are ecessary to deal with emergecies such as serious ijuries, explosio, fire, electrocutio, power failures ad chemical spills. You should prepare a emergecy pla especially if a major icidet at your workplace could ivolve risks to the public, the eed to rescue employees or co-ordiatio of the emergecy services. To do this you should carry out a risk assessmet ad cosider: the worst that could happe; how people - those i charge ad others - are istructed ad equipped to deal with the problems; how the emergecy services should get access oto the site; how the alarm will be raised (do t forget ight ad shift workig, weekeds ad holidays); how ad whe to call the emergecy services ad how to help them with iformatio whe they arrive; that you will eed to otify the fire authority if you have over 25 toes of certai dagerous substaces o site; where to go to reach a place of safety or to get rescue equipmet; providig emergecy lightig; whether you have eough emergecy exits to allow everyoe to escape quickly (ad suitable arragemets to esure that emergecy doors ad escape routes are kept uobstructed ad clearly marked); omiatig competet employees to take cotrol; pre-plaig ad practisig emergecy plat shutdows or makig processes safe. Importat items such as shut-off valves, electrical isolators etc should be clearly labelled to avoid cofusio; esurig you have adequate first-aid provisio ad first aiders; traiig people i emergecy ad evacuatio procedures ad rememberig the eeds of people with disabilities. First aid The Health ad Safety (First-Aid) Regulatios 1981 require you to have adequate arragemets for first aid. The miimum first-aid provisio for each work site is: a perso appoited to take charge of first-aid arragemets icludig lookig after the equipmet ad facilities ad callig the emergecy services whe required. A appoited perso will eed to be available wheever people are at work; a suitably stocked first-aid cotaier (easily accessible i cases of emergecy); iformatio for employees o first-aid arragemets (icludig otices tellig people where the first-aid equipmet, facilities ad persoel ca be foud). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 21 of 187

22 Health ad Safety Additioal provisio will be appropriate i may cases, for example: If the risks of ijury ad ill health arisig from the work as idetified i your risk assessmet are sigificat, traied first aiders may be eeded. They may also be eeded where large umbers of people are employed.they must be give the right traiig ad hold a certificate (which will be valid for three years). Refresher courses ad re-examiatio will be required whe old certificates expire. Iformatio o traiig courses ad orgaisatios ca be obtaied from your local Employmet Medical Advisory Service (who ca be cotacted via your local HSE office). Where there are specific risks from workig with hazardous substaces, dagerous machiery ad loads, cosider specific traiig for first aiders, extra first-aid equipmet, sitig of first-aid equipmet, iformig emergecy services ad first-aid rooms. Where workplaces are remote from emergecy medical services, iform local medical services of your locatio ad cosider special arragemets with them. Where you have iexperieced workers, disabled workers or persoel with special health problems, cosider the eeds for special equipmet ad local sitig of equipmet. For mobile people, eg sales staff, a first-aid kit eeds to be provided. If you have a small compay with few employees it may be more appropriate to have a perso traied i emergecy first aid. As your compay grows you will eed to make sure your first-aid provisio remais adequate. Permits to work Some high-risk activities such as etry ito cofied spaces or workig large machiery will require a permit to work. This is a formal writte system used to cotrol certai types of potetially hazardous work. The permit details the work to be doe ad the ecessary precautios to be take, ad forms a essetial part of may safe systems of work for maiteace activities. See Chapter 8 for more details. Workig time The mai aim of the Workig Time Regulatios (WTR) is to esure that workers are protected agaist adverse effects o their health ad safety caused by workig excessively log hours or havig iadequate rest. At the time of publicatio, proposals for chages were uder cosideratio, however further guidace ca be foud i the booklet Your guide to the Workig Time Regulatios ad A short guide to the Workig Time Regulatios (available from DTI, Tel: or from the DTI website: The problem Workig log hours ca have a major effect o the health ad safety of employees - those who are tired are more proe to make mistakes, which could result i accidets - or they could develop log-term adverse health effects. For historical or productio reasos there is a culture of log hours i some parts of the pritig idustry, but i may compaies careful maagemet of productio pressures ad plaed prevetive maiteace programmes ca resolve most of the problems that ca arise. Applicatio of WTR If you employ workers, ight workers or youg people you are covered by the The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 22 of 187

23 Health ad Safety Workig Time Regulatios. You eed to take particular care to kow the rules about youg people (betwee school leavig age ad 18 years old) ad people who work at ight, sice special requiremets apply to them. Most people workig i pritig are covered by the law. Workig time limits For adult workers the limit is 48 hours per week averaged over a 17 week referece period. The average ca be calculated over differet periods depedig o the circumstaces. Where a trade uio is recogised, employers who wat to exted the referece period will eed to make a agreemet with that trade uio. Workforce agreemets apply i the absece of a recogised trade uio. Curret provisios which allow for idividual opt-out from the average 48 hours limit are expected to ed withi the ext two years. Compaies will eed to take accout of the edig of the opt-out ad make arragemets to cover this. Nobody should work for log periods without a break. These are eeded to break up mootoous or cotiuous processes ad there are special etitlemets for youg workers. Health assessmet Workig log hours, especially at ight, ca disrupt the body clock. Workers who are to work at ight must be offered a free health assessmet by their compay before they start ight work ad the at suitable itervals, for example before the itroductio of a ew shift patter. Take advice from a occupatioal health professioal whe you desig the assessmet. Night shift risk assessmet The WTR require a risk assessmet for the special risks associated with ight work which is i additio to the requiremets laid dow by the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios for a geeral risk assessmet ad the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios (COSHH) for a risk assessmet for harmful substaces. For advice o makig these assessmets see earlier i this chapter ad COSHH essetials for priters. A WTR risk assessmet is eeded because tasks may become more difficult: whe performed at ight i darkess; whe the full rage of daytime services may ot be available; where workers fid difficulty adjustig to differet workig patters; where there is icreased risk of violece to staff; where workers are subject to icreased stress because of reduced supervisio or maagemet. The assessmet may, for example, idetify the eed for emergecy or supplemetary lightig to be istalled. Act o the assessmet ad provide whatever cotrol measures might be eeded such as more lightig, additioal traiig i first aid, additioal security measures, or perhaps adjust the frequecy of breaks. Records You do ot eed to keep special records. Most compaies fid that the records they already keep of hours worked for other purposes, like pay, are more tha adequate for WTR. However, if you have ot previously kept records of ay sort the WTR does require you to keep sufficiet records of the hours your employees work. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 23 of 187

24 Health ad Safety People with more tha oe job Some people have two or eve three jobs, for example workig at ight i a pub. Where this is the case the the total hours worked should be added together whe calculatig workig time. It is up to you to make reasoable equiries about ay secod jobs doe by your staff ad to co-operate with other employers to calculate total workig time. Good time maagemet is good busiess Promotio of good time maagemet results i better health ad safety maagemet. It allows employers to pla properly for peaks ad troughs, workers to pla a proper regime of work ad family life ad results i a workforce that is happy, healthy ad here, icreasig productio efficiecies. Figure 1 Cotracted work ca be small - or large-scale Cotrol of cotractors Cotractors are employed to work i the pritig idustry for machiery or buildigs maiteace ad modificatios, istallatio of plat ad other equipmet. However, owadays cotractors ca also be foud throughout the idustry, as freelace desigers, cleaers, caterers ad i logistics, doig a rage of tasks that were previously doe by employees. Everyoe workig o your premises or for you eeds to kow what health ad safety stadards they have to achieve, icludig otioally self-employed labour-oly cotractors. The law ad maagig cotractors The HSW Act places duties o you ad your cotractor to protect, so far as is reasoably practicable, the health ad safety of employees ad other people who may be affected by your work activities. All parties will eed to co-operate with each other ad co-ordiate their work to esure everyoe is complyig with their legal duties. I additio to the HSW Act ad the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999, you should be aware of the Costructio (Desig ad Maagemet) Regulatios These Regulatios place duties o cliets, cliets agets, desigers ad cotractors to pla their approach ad take health ad safety ito accout. Health ad safety eeds to be co-ordiated ad maaged effectively throughout all stages of a costructio project, from coceptio through to subsequet maiteace ad repair arragemets. Cliets must be reasoably satisfied that they oly use competet people as plaig supervisors, desigers ad pricipal cotractors. They eed to be satisfied that eough resources, icludig time, have bee or will be allocated to eable the project to be carried out. They also require cliets to provide relevat iformatio - good examples are the locatio of services ad asbestos-cotaiig products withi buildigs. (See Chapters 3 ad 4 for further iformatio o maagig asbestos i workplace buildigs.) The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 24 of 187

25 Health ad Safety The Costructio Desig ad Maagemet Regulatios apply where costructio work is expected to last more tha 30 days or ivolve five or more people o-site at ay oe time. This will iclude the istallatio of fixed plat where people are liable to fall more tha 2 m, such as istallatio of larger web-fed presses. Where demolitio or dismatlig of a structure is takig place, the Regulatios apply regardless of the legth of time or the umber of people carryig out the work. For further iformatio see A guide to the Costructio (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios 1996 (INDG220) ad the Approved Code of Practice o the Costructio (Desig ad Maagemet) Regulatios 1994 (HSG224). If you have people workig uder your cotrol ad directio who are self-employed for tax ad/or NI purposes, they are likely to be treated as your employees for health ad safety purposes. You may therefore eed to take appropriate actio to protect them. If you are i ay doubt about who is resposible for the health ad safety of a perso workig for you this could be clarified ad icluded i the terms of the cotract. However, remember, you caot pass o a legal duty that falls to you uder the HSW Act by meas of a cotract ad you will still retai duties towards others by virtue of sectio 3 of the Act. Five practical stages for workig with cotractors As with all thigs a few simple precautios will save time ad prevet accidets i the future. Just like maagig your ow employees, workig with cotractors will be made so much easier (ad safer) if you follow these five practical stages: Stage 1: Pla before you start Decide a few groud rules before you eve start to use cotractors. If the cotractors are goig to be workig with you for a log time it is especially importat to make plas about what you are askig them to do ad how your ow staff will be workig with them. Esure that you have a good plaig framework to pull together all the separate elemets of what you are askig the cotractor to do. Write plas dow, meet ad cosult everyoe ivolved. Defie the job. Idetify the hazards. Cosider the idividual elemets of the job ad the effect of each piece of cotracted work o the whole project. Assess the risks. Elimiate ad reduce the risks that you cotrol. Specify the health ad safety coditios that you wat the cotractor to follow. Discuss these with the cotractor/s. Stage 2: Choosig a cotractor Cotractors should be chose carefully. Before you choose a cotractor: Decide what are your criteria for selectig cotractors ad placig them o a Approved List? Assess their competece i health ad safety matters. This applies to seior people as well as those who will be workig o your site. Decide what safety ad techical competece is eeded. Has the cotractor got it? Ask questios about their safety performace. How do they maage their performace? Ask to see the writte procedures for similar previous work - their accidet record may be a good place to start. Get evidece. Examie their traiig ad relevat certificates. Safety passport schemes are a good way of demostratig the traiig Make of idividual cotractors workers. aware of your compay safety culture. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 25 of 187

26 Health ad Safety Go through iformatio about the job ad the site, icludig site rules ad emergecy procedures. Agree respective resposibilities for risk assessmets ad precautios. Ask for a safety method statemet, risk assessmet or safety policy. Decide whether subcotractig is acceptable ad use the iformatio gathered to help you make your decisio. If it is, how will health ad safety be esured? If you have t used the cotractor before, ask to talk to some of their previous cliets. Cosider how you will moitor their health ad safety performace. Stage 3: Cotractors workig o site Whe they arrive o site you eed to have the groud rules i place. These should be agreed BEFORE the cotractor starts work. They ca iclude the followig: How do you cotrol access to your site? Does everyoe sig i ad out? Name a site cotact for day-to-day commuicatio - do t just wait for site meetigs to discuss ad resolve problems. Make sure the perso appoited is competet ad traied. Reiforce health ad safety iformatio ad site rules with a simple iductio course or a safety check card settig out your rules for every visitor. Make sure emergecy procedures are covered. Implemet safe systems of work, such as for hot work or work o fragile roofs. How will your ow operatios affect the cotractor s work? What tools, plat, substaces ad equipmet will be used? What will the arragemets for proper supervisio be? Check that everyoe uderstads the job before you allow work to begi. Do t forget to provide facilities for cotractors, ie washroom, toilets, catee etc. Stage 4: Keepig a check Do t just leave the cotractor to it. Not oly ca costs spiral out of cotrol, but safety ca too. Decide how ofte you or your maagers eed to make cotact with your cotractors. Is the job goig as plaed? Is the cotractor workig safely ad i the way that they agreed? Check if there have bee ay icidets or chages i persoel? Are ay chages or special arragemets required? Stage 5: Reviewig the work Lear lessos from cotractig so that everyoe, icludig your employees ad the cotractor ca improve the way they work. Before you start, pla to review. How do you pla to review the job ad the cotractor s performace with all those ivolved, icludig the cotractor? Durig the review, ask yourself how effective your plaig was, how the cotractor performed, ad how the job wet. Record the lessos, review ad lik these to your selectio procedures. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 26 of 187

27 Health ad Safety Cotractors ad your employees At times such as major rebuildig works there may be large umbers of cotractors o site, ofte workig i proximity to your ow employees ad each other ad to a tight deadlie. You eed to thik about how their work may affect each other ad how they iteract with your ow maiteace or productio activities. The more activities that are goig o, the greater the chace there is of somethig beig overlooked. The key is good commuicatio, plaig ad cotrol. Without these, chaos ca result ad accidets will happe. Cosultig employees o health ad safety Employers must cosult all of their employees o health ad safety matters. Where employers have recogised uios, the Safety Represetatives ad Safety Committees Regulatios 1977 will apply. Where employees are ot members of a uio, or the uio is ot recogised, the Health ad Safety (Cosultatio with Employees) Regulatios 1996 (HSCER) will apply. Cosultatio should iclude: ay chage that may substatially affect their health ad safety at work, eg i procedures, equipmet or ways of workig such as safe systems of work for cleaig pritig cyliders; the employer s arragemets for gettig competet people to help him or her satisfy health ad safety laws; the iformatio that employees must be give o the likely risks ad dagers arisig from their work. This would iclude fire ad explosio hazards whe usig highly flammable iks ad measures to reduce or get rid of these risks; the plaig of health ad safety traiig; the health ad safety cosequeces of itroducig ew techology, for example use of UV iks. Further iformatio o cosultig employees is available i the free leaflet Cosultig employees o health ad safety: A guide to the law (INDG232). Uder the Safety Represetatives ad Safety Committees Regulatios 1977, trade uio appoited safety represetatives have the right to: ivestigate potetial hazards ad dagerous occurreces; examie the causes of accidets; ivestigate complaits by employees relatig to health ad safety; make represetatios to their employer o health ad safety matters; carry out ispectios of the workplace; receive time off with pay to perform these fuctios ad udergo traiig. Employers have a geeral duty to cosult safety represetatives o all aspects of health ad safety i the workplace, ad provide them with the ecessary iformatio, facilities ad help to allow them to carry out their fuctios. This is with a view to makig ad maitaiig arragemets for their joit co-operatio i the promotio ad developmet of measures to esure employees health ad safety at work, ad to check the effectiveess of such measures. A safety committee must be established if requested i writig by two safety represetatives. The employer should the cosult with the safety represetatives ad establish the safety committee o later tha three moths after the request was made. A otice should be posted for employees statig the compositio of the committee. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 27 of 187

28 Health ad Safety Further iformatio ca be foud i the priced publicatio Safety represetatives ad safety committees (L87), kow as the Brow Book. Ispectors ad eforcemet Eforcemet for health ad safety at work lies with either ispectors from HSE or from your local authority. Health ad safety i pritig ad may allied trades is ormally eforced by HSE ispectors. A ispector s primary fuctio is to esure relevat legal stadards of health ad safety i the workplace have bee achieved. To help eforcig authorities carry out their duties, you are required by law to otify your eforcig authority (ormally your local HSE office) that you are occupyig a factory or office. Powers of ispectors Followig a visit, ispectors will provide advice ad may cofirm this i writig. Ispectors have powers of eforcemet which might iclude: servig improvemet otices that require improvemets to be made withi a certai time; servig prohibitio otices that stop a process or the use of a piece of equipmet where a risk of serious persoal ijury exists; prosecutio of a busiess, or uder certai circumstaces a idividual, for breaches of health ad safety law. They may visit to ispect the workplace or to ivestigate accidets or complaits. They ofte visit workplaces without givig otice but you are etitled to see their idetificatio before lettig them i. Their powers iclude right of etry ito your premises, the right to talk to employees ad safety represetatives ad to take photographs ad samples. They are etitled to your co-operatio ad aswers to questios. Ispectors will eforce the law whe they judge it ecessary, but they are cocered to help you do what is reasoable ad practicable to cotrol risks to health ad safety. They will give advice ad you may tur to them for guidace. They are happy to aswer questios ad give you iformatio, much of which is free. You ca also cotact your local HSE office or HSE s website: or HSE Books: or, for geeral equiries, cotact HSE s IfoLie Tel: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 28 of 187

29 Health ad Safety Chapter 2 Traiig See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Traiig Relevat legislatio Traiig requiremets are idetified i several Acts ad regulatios icludig the followig: Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 Provisio ad Use of Work Equipmet Regulatios 1998 (PUWER 98) Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios 1999 (COSHH) Electricity at Work Regulatios 1989 It is crucial that all employees, icludig supervisors ad maagers, have adequate health ad safety traiig. Traiig methods These will vary for differet people ad jobs depedig o existig abilities ad the risks of the job. Ay traiig provider eeds to be competet. Traiig ca be carried out by oe or more of the followig: i-house traiig persoel (this might iclude supervisors); exteral traiers (this ca be doe o the premises or by sedig employees away o short courses or day-release courses); distace ad ope-learig techiques; traiig provided by suppliers ad maufacturers followig istallatio of ew or refurbished machiery, or the itroductio of ew cosumables such as blaket washes; sittig with Nellie - you should be cofidet that the perso givig the traiig is competet both i the job ad its health ad safety aspects to avoid passig o bad habits. Traiig materials are available from a umber of sources icludig the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee (PIAC), trade orgaisatios, safety orgaisatios such as the British Safety Coucil (BSC) ad the Royal Society for the Prevetio of Accidets (RoSPA), ad idepedet traiig ad health ad safety cosultats. The PIAC Pritig idustry: Health ad safety traiig package published by HSE is a comprehesive ope-learig course desiged for use i medium ad larger prit employers ad pritig colleges. It cotais targeted modules coverig a rage of subjects icludig oise ad risk assessmets, assessig machiery guardig ad coductig accidet ivestigatio. For each activity a structured traiig sessio is provided icludig subjects for discussio ad case studies, supported by had-outs ad visual aids. The package has bee desiged to be used ad delivered by competet i-house staff. Sector Skills Coucils (SSCs)(UK-wide), Learig ad Skills Coucils (LSCs) i Eglad, Educatio ad Learig Wales (ELWa) i Wales ad Local Eterprise Compaies (LECs) i Scotlad are able to provide practical help o traiig. They The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 29 of 187

30 Health ad Safety ca also provide iformatio o Natioal ad Scottish Vocatioal Qualificatios (NVQs ad SVQs) which meet stadards of competece laid dow for particular jobs. May of these qualificatios ca be obtaied by attedace at various pritig colleges aroud the coutry. The Istitute of Occupatioal Safety ad Health (IOSH) provides traiig ad examiatio i techical, legal ad health ad safety maagemet. Orgaisatios such as the British Pritig Idustries Federatio (BPIF) ad the Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio (GPMU) also provide a rage of prit- specific health ad safety traiig courses for all levels withi compaies. See the Further iformatio sectio for the full cotact details of these orgaisatios. Iductio traiig Iductio traiig for ew employees will help them settle ito their work. This type of traiig usually icludes iformatio about the compay, the orgaisatio for maagig health ad safety, the hazards of the workplace, the priciples of safe workig practice ad the safety resposibilities of idividuals. Maagers ad supervisors have a legal resposibility to maitai a safe workig eviromet. They are accoutable for the safety of those uder their cotrol. They are resposible for spottig hazards or poor workig practices ad correctig them. They are also resposible for ivestigatig accidets ad ear misses ad may have further specific duties allocated to them uder the safety policy. Seior maagers eed to kow eough about health ad safety to determie priorities ad to assess the performace of people further dow the maagemet lie. They should examie the health ad safety traiig eeds of idividuals at regular itervals. The commitmet to traiig should be spelt out i the compay safety policy. After iductio, the health ad safety traiig eeds for each idividual should be idetified ad traiig provided so that o oe is asked to perform a task for which they have ot bee traied. The followig are examples of the topics appropriate for iclusio i iductio traiig at differet levels withi a compay: The followig are examples of the topics appropriate for iclusio i iductio traiig at differet levels withi a compay: Traiig for all employees - example topics Compay structure Compay safety policy Safety committees Safety represetatives Occupatioal health arragemets Resposibilities of idividuals Compay rules Hazards ad safe workig stadards, icludig: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 30 of 187

31 Health ad Safety Safe systems of work Housekeepig Machiery safety Visual display uits (VDUs) Fire Chemicals ad solvets Materials hadlig Electricity Noise First aid Traiig for all supervisors/maagers - example topics Resposibilities - icludig their ow resposibilities ad those of others i the compay Moitorig of health ad safety stadards Hazard idetificatio Accidet ivestigatio ad reportig Risk assessmet Relevat legal requiremets Safe systems of work ad other methods used to cotrol risk Sources of iformatio Cotrol of cotractors Traiig for seior maagers - example topics Purpose of compay health ad safety policy Causes of accidets/ill health ad their costs Plaig for health ad safety Moitorig accidets, reports ad statistics Persoal resposibility ad accoutability Fuctios of safety committees ad safety represetatives Developig a safety culture Use of safety audits Relevat legal requiremets Role of safety adviser Kowledge of the work of HSE ad other authorities Role of the Occupatioal Health Service Existece of relevat stadards ad guidace Remember there are may hazardous activities i the pritig idustry where specific job traiig i safe systems of work etc is essetial, eg press cleaig, webbig-up, guillotie operatig, maiteace work, lift trucks, ad maual hadlig. Eve experieced employees may eed traiig whe they are moved to ew areas of work or asked to operate ew types of machies. Retraiig should be carried out regularly, to reiforce particular safety issues, or whe there are chages i the process ad equipmet. Sometimes accidet ivestigatios ca reveal the eed for retraiig. Traiig eeds should be regularly reviewed to check that the traiig delivered is adequate. Traiig eeds ca also be reviewed whe ivestigatig accidets, ivestigatig ear misses ad as a result of carryig out risk assessmet. From time to time it pays to do refresher traiig. Everyoe ca get stale ad this avoids slippig ito bad habits. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 31 of 187

32 Health ad Safety Traiig safety represetatives Trade uio appoited safety represetatives have two distict traiig eeds. Firstly, they eed to uderstad their fuctios as a trade uio official ad to do this they are etitled to time off with pay to atted a TUC or other approved trade uio course. Secodly, they may eed additioal traiig i the particular hazards of the idustry - ot oly the hazards i their ow jobs but also the hazards of work doe by the people they represet. The employer has duties towards safety represetatives (see Cosultig employees o health ad safety i Chapter 1). Compaies should co-operate so that trade uio appoited safety represetatives i their compay ca receive adequate traiig o idustry hazards, rules ad procedures. Accidets Job specific The operator of a offset litho pritig machie was stragled whe his pullover was caught by the ikig rollers. He was tryig to retrieve misfed paper via the gap beeath the duct keys below the ikig rollers guard. The guard was deficiet ad the operator did ot tur the machie off before tryig to retrieve the paper. Traiig should have bee give i the safe method of workig ad the required stadard of machiery guardig. Procedures should have bee i place to check the coditio of guards regularly. A machie operator i a pritig works damaged his spie whe he fell from a ladder while carryig out maiteace work at high-level machiery. The ladder was ot tied or footed. Operators regularly carried out mior maiteace work but o oe had bee traied to use ladders. Traiig for those movig jobs A experieced priter had part of his right idex figer amputated while chagig the blade of a guillotie he had ot operated before ad had ot bee traied to use. Refresher traiig A pritig shop supervisor trapped two figers i a foldig machie while clearig a creased piece of paper without stoppig the machie. He had bee fully traied some years previously but had short-circuited the safe work procedures so frequetly without icidet that he o loger recogised the obvious risk. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 32 of 187

33 Health ad Safety Chapter 3 Workplace ad trasport safety See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Workplace ad trasport safety Relevat legislatio Geeral requiremets for workplace ad trasport safety are cotaied i a umber of Acts ad regulatios such as the Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) ad the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios The Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios 1992 are specifically aimed at protectig the health ad safety of everyoe i the workplace, ad esurig that adequate welfare facilities are provided for people at work. Employers have duties to esure that workplaces uder their cotrol comply with these Regulatios. More detailed iformatio ca be foud i the publicatio Workplace health, safety ad welfare. Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios Approved Code of Practice (L24). The Disability Discrimiatio Act 1995 creates a right of o-discrimiatio agaist disabled people i the field of employmet, icludig a duty o employers to provide reasoable adjustmet to workig coditios or the workig eviromet to overcome the practical effects of disability. Employers are ot expected to make ay chages which would break health ad safety laws. The employmet part of the Disability Discrimiatio Act does ot apply to employers who employ fewer tha 20 people. However, they are ecouraged to follow good practice guidelies. Further iformatio o the Disability Discrimiatio Act should be obtaied from the Departmet for Educatio ad Skills. Fudametals of workplace health ad safety Some of the basic requiremets for employers are: Safe place of work You must have: buildigs i good repair; precautios that stop people or materials fallig from ope edges, eg mezzaie floors, rackig areas ad ruig boards; space for safe movemet ad access, eg aroud reelstads ad o mezzaie floors; floors, corridors ad stairs etc free from obstructios, eg trailig cables ad pallets; good draiage i wet processes, eg scree cleaig i scree pritig or flexographic pritig usig water-based iks; widows that ca be opeed ad cleaed safely icludig roof lights. You may eed to fit achor poits if widow cleaers eed to use haresses; weather protectio for those workig outdoors, eg lift truck drivers, security guards, traffic cotrollers (baksme) ad delivery workers; outdoor routes kept safe durig icy coditios, eg salted, saded ad swept. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 33 of 187

34 Health ad Safety Also thik about: machiery ad furiture beig sited so that projectig parts do ot cause a risk of ijury, eg at buckle-folders; ot overloadig floors - presses, particularly old oes, are very heavy; space for storig tools ad materials. Lightig You must provide: eough light. Use atural light where possible but try to avoid glare; a good level of local lightig at workstatios; suitable forms of lightig. Some fluorescet tubes flicker ad ca be dagerous, givig some rotatig machiery the appearace of beig statioary; well-lit outside areas - this will help security. You will eed special fittigs for flammable or explosive atmospheres, eg at heat-set oves, flexographic ad gravure presses (see Explosio risks i flexographic ad gravure i Chapter 7). Light-coloured walls help to make the most of atural ad artificial light. Further guidace about lightig is give i the booklet Lightig at work (HSG38). Movig aroud the premises You must have: safe passage for pedestrias ad vehicles. You may eed clearly marked separate routes (see Safe movemet of vehicles later i this chapter); level, eve surfaces without holes or broke boards; had-rails o stairs ad ramps where ecessary; safe doors, eg visio paels i swig doors ad sesitive edges o power doors; surfaces which are ot slippery. Thik about markig steps, kerbs ad fixed obstacles, eg by black ad yellow diagoal stripes. Desigig workstatios Whe desigig workstatios ad seatig arragemets, cosider comfort ad safety. Ergoomic priciples should be followed ad adequate accout take of resposibilities uder the Maual Hadlig Operatios Regulatios 1992 ad the Health ad Safety (Display Scree Equipmet) Regulatios This advice applies to the had-workig ad isertio sectors i particular. Workstatios ad seatig must suit the worker ad the work. Seatig must be provided where the work operatios (or substatial parts of the operatios) ca or must be doe sittig. Seatig should also be provided for employees whose work ecessitates them havig to stad for log periods. I some circumstaces maual hadlig risks may be better cotrolled by people stadig up to carry out a task. Other measures to reduce the risks ad provide relief from stadig, such as regular job rotatio, ca also be take. Further iformatio is give i the booklet Seatig at work (HSG57). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 34 of 187

35 Health ad Safety Figure 2 Moder guillotie ad hadlig system Clealiess You must: provide clea floors ad stairs which are ot slippery; provide clea premises, furiture ad fittigs (eg lights); provide cotaiers for waste materials, eg metal-lidded bis for wash-up cloths; remove dirt, refuse ad trade waste regularly - remember to otify laudries if they are receivig solvet or ucured UV ik-lade cloths/wipes; clear up spillages promptly ad arrage proper disposal, eg through a licesed cotractor; keep iteral walls or ceiligs clea. They may eed paitig to help easy cleaig. Hygiee ad welfare You must provide: clea, well-vetilated toilets (separate for me ad wome uless each toilet has its ow lockable door); wash basis with hot ad cold (or warm) ruig water; soap ad towels (or a had dryer); ski cleasers, with ail brushes where ecessary; pre- or after-work creams ad ski coditioig or moisturisig creams where ecessary; dryig facilities for wet clothes; facilities for workers workig away from base; lockers or hagig space for clothig; chagig facilities where special clothig is wor; a clea drikig water supply (marked if ecessary to distiguish it from the o-drikable supply); rest facilities, such as rest rooms or rest areas, icludig suitable facilities to eat meals where food eate i the workplace would otherwise become cotamiated. The Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios Approved Code of Practice (L24) outlies additioal arragemets, eg for heatig food; arragemets to protect o-smokers from discomfort caused by tobacco smoke, eg provide separate areas or rooms for smokers ad o-smokers or prohibit smokig i rest areas ad rest rooms; rest facilities for pregat wome ad ursig mothers; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 35 of 187

36 Health ad Safety a comfortable temperature ad adequate vetilatio icludig fresh air. The Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios Approved Code of Practice (L24) refers to a miimum temperature of 16 C uless the work ivolves a lot of severe physical effort, i which case the temperature should be at least 13 C. Safe movemet of vehicles May accidets each year ivolve powered vehicles icludig lorries, vas ad lift trucks. Ijuries may be severe, ad eve fatal. Trasport movemets i ad aroud the workplace eed to be cotrolled to protect pedestrias, ad to prevet damage to plat ad equipmet such as rackig systems. Risk assessmets eed to take accout of ay cotractors who may work o, or visit the site, such as cotract loaders i the ewspaper idustry. Look at the movemet of goods aroud, ito ad off the site. For example, check that: vehicles ad pedestrias are separated as much as possible. Traffic routes used by both eed to be wide eough to eable vehicles to pass pedestrias safely. Barriers or rails may be eeded i particularly vulerable places, such as doorways, gateways, tuels, bridges or other eclosed routes; pedestria access to loadig bays ad delivery poits is cotrolled; the eed for vehicles to reverse is kept to a miimum ad that, where possible, reversig is restricted to desigated areas; areas i which vehicles are moved are well lit; workstatios, vulerable plat, gas cotaiers ad chemical storage facilities are ot likely to be struck durig vehicle movemets; traffic routes, roadways ad pedestria routes are clearly marked; site speed limits are marked ad observed; speed cotrol measures, such as humps, are provided where appropriate (gaps may be eeded to allow lift trucks to pass safely); safe crossig poits for pedestrias are marked; actio is take to cotrol dager at blid spots, icludig opeigs with strip curtais which vehicles travel through or past; visitig drivers kow ad follow your rules; if ecessary, vehicle movemets are directly supervised by properly traied sigallers (baksme), particularly whe reversig ad ear blid corers; baksme are visible to drivers at all times, ad are able to stad i a safe positio while guidig the reversig vehicle; if ecessary, high-visibility clothig is provided for ad wor by baksme; traiig i the use of recogised sigals is give to drivers ad ayoe who cotrols vehicle movemets; floors ad roadways are kept i good coditio. For further iformatio see the free leaflet Maagig vehicle safety at the workplace (INDG199). Loadig ad uloadig of vehicles Accidets frequetly happe whe people fall from vehicles, or the load moves uexpectedly ad they are struck by it. Particular dagers exist where reels of paper are beig uloaded as they are heavy ad gai mometum oce they start to move. Uloadig of reels eeds to be doe with suitable equipmet such as a clamp, boom or pole attachmet o a lift truck, ad i accordace with a safe system of work. Tiltig clamp devices are particularly useful, as they permit reels to be picked up from the horizotal ad placed vertically, or vice versa. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 36 of 187

37 Health ad Safety A reputable supplier of lift truck attachmets will be able to give advice about suitable equipmet for your job, ad the effect the use of the device will have o the rated capacity of your truck. Poits to check: avoid the eed to climb o loads by usig curtai-sided vehicles, or proprietary sheetig systems; provide safe access if work must be doe at a height; provide ad use a gatry system, safety lies ad haresses if work o high loads caot be avoided; elimiate maual hadlig of reels; load ad uload i a safe place ad keep everyoe, icludig members of the public, well clear of the area durig loadig ad uloadig operatios; avoid maual hadlig by usig pallets, a lift truck or a porter s trolley; devise a safe system to deal with mishaps, such as stuck loads. A commo mistake is to attempt to free a stuck load by tyig a rope to it ad pullig with the lift truck - ijuries occur whe the rope or its fixig breaks ad it recoils violetly; make sure istructios exist for dealig with ay vehicle that might arrive o-site with a usafe load, for example palletised ewspaper budles which have shifted durig trasit, ad that the istructios are followed; make arragemets to secure loads before vehicles leave the site, for example usig load biders iside curtai-sided vehicles, to prevet dagerous movemet of the load i trasit. Figure 3 Rackig should be securely fixed ad have aisles wide eough to allow maoeuvrig Safe stackig ad storig Geeral priciples Storage areas should be specifically desigated, clearly marked ad uder the cotrol of a resposible perso. Cosider permissible floor loadigs. Place materials hadled by crae or lift truck o battes or other suitable material to esure that a slig or forks ca be iserted uder them. Good housekeepig is essetial at all times. Provide sufficiet lightig. Maitai adequate clearace betwee rows to esure safe stackig ad withdrawal. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 37 of 187

38 Health ad Safety Maitai adequate headroom for lift trucks. Remember to check that lightig, cablig ad heaters are mouted high eough to prevet them beig accidetally struck by the mast. Positio loads capable of beig stacked directly o top of each other o a firm, level base. Check stacks periodically for stability ad take corrective measures where ecessary. Cosider fire precautios at a early stage - stacks which are too high may prevet sprikler systems from workig correctly. Do t: exceed the safe load of racks, shelves or floors; allow items to stick out from stacks ito gagways; climb racks to reach upper shelves - use a ladder or steps; lea heavy stacks agaist walls; de-stack by throwig dow from the top or pullig out from the bottom. Rackig istallatios Rackig should: be istalled ad maitaied i accordace with the maufacturer s istructios; be erected o soud, level floors capable of withstadig the poit loadig of each base plate; be securely fixed to the floor where lift trucks ad mechaical hadlig equipmet are used. If racks have to be secured to the buildig, calculatios should cofirm the buildig is fit for this purpose; have aisles wide eough to esure that mechaical hadlig equipmet ca be easily maoeuvred; have the maximum load clearly stated o them; ever be altered without cosultig the maufacturer first; make key compoets highly visible to help lift truck drivers positio their forks correctly. Use of pallets Operators should receive istructio o the safe use of pallets. Accidets ivolvig pallets are caused by: poor desig; poor costructio; usig pallets usuitable for particular loads/rackig systems (remember you may receive cosigmets with differet-sized pallets); cotiued use of damaged pallets; bad hadlig. Precautios to reduce the risk of accidets whe workig with pallets Establish a effective pallet damage ispectio scheme at the goods-i stage. If pallets are regularly i a damaged coditio, take actio with the supplier. Ispect all pallets agai each time before re-use (damaged oes should be withdraw). Hadle empty pallets carefully ad make sure they are ot dragged or throw about. To avoid damage to pallets, ad to lift the loads safely, make sure the forks of ay hadlig device exted ito the pallet to at least three-quarters of its depth. Forks should ot exted beyod the pallet beig lifted (eg they could overtur a adjacet load). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 38 of 187

39 Health ad Safety As a geeral guide, the height of the load should ot exceed the logest base dimesio of the pallet. Avoid stackig of palletised loads capable of beig crushed. Reel storage ad stackig Ideally, pedestrias should be excluded from reel storage areas i which lift trucks are used. This is especially importat whe stackig or de-stackig operatios are takig place. Stackig reels o ed usually requires the use of clamp trucks or similar equipmet. The maximum height for ay stack will deped o the reel size ad will be limited by stability, driver visio ad overhead obstructios. There should be good lightig with miimum shadow. Reels should be stacked safely. Pillars should be clearly marked, eg with yellow badig. Where clamp trucks or other safe meas of stackig o ed are ot available, reels will probably be stored horizotally. It is safest to store reels without stackig but if they are stacked more tha oe tier high due to lack of space, it is vital to use proper wedges to prevet accidetal breakig dow of the stack. If wedges are too small or icorrectly shaped, ot oly will they be liable to move, but the paper will also be damaged. At least oe wedge should be placed at each side of every reel at floor level - large wedges with hadles may be best. Stackig aisles should be wide eough for ay vehicles doig the work. Correct positioig of wedges WRONG RIGHT Height limited for this method Reels must be stacked true ad vertical ad be of equal diameter i ay oe stack, except that a reel with diameter slightly less tha the other may be used as the top reel of a stack Reels with dished eds or protrudig cetres must ot be stacked o ed Reels must ot be placed horizotally agaist a vertical reel Figure 4 Correct positioig of wedges ad safe stackig of reels The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 39 of 187

40 Health ad Safety Maual breakig dow of pyramid stacks Reels may be delivered o lorries i pyramid stacks, or be stored that way i the warehouse. Where possible, cosider chagig the delivery ad storage arragemets so reels are stored ad delivered o ed. It is best to use mechaical methods of hadlig reels stacked like this, eg by usig a lift truck with tiltig clamp, liftig boom or tie devices - ask a specialist supplier of lift truck attachmets for advice. Mechaical hadlig devices will help protect your employees ad also help prevet damage to the reels. If maual breakig dow of such stacks caot be elimiated, a safe system of work must be set dow ad implemeted. The system eeds to take accout of: the eed to de-stack reels i a predetermied order; the eed to esure that people oly work from the side of the stack, where they will ot be hit by a reel if it moves suddely; the eed to adequately ad firmly chock all reels o the bottom row of the stack util it is ecessary to move them (chock desig is importat - the height of the chock should be at least oe eighth of the diameter of the reel); the use of properly desiged bats or paddles to cotrol uchocked reels. Brakig chocks may be used, together with a chock paddle ad a lever bat; the eed to provide eough people for the job - uloadig should be coducted by a team of at least three adequately traied ad supervised people, ad this may iclude the driver of the delivery lorry. Oe perso will drive the lift truck, while the other two work at the side of the stack, barrig dow the reels; the eed to provide a safe system of work for dealig with reels delivered i cotaiers where side access may ot be possible. There have bee fatal accidets whe reels beig maually de-stacked have ru out of cotrol - mechaical methods should be used if at all possible. See Chapter 7 for fire precautios relatig to stacked reels. Lift ad clamp trucks Lift ad clamp trucks ca be used for may material hadlig operatios i the pritig idustry, particularly i the movemet of pallets of paper, paper reels, chemicals ad waste materials. Lift truck accidets cause may serious ijuries icludig fatalities every year - suitable operator traiig, vehicle maiteace ad workig coditios are essetial. The law ad lift trucks I additio to the geeral requiremets of the HSW Act, thorough examiatio ad testig of the chais of a lift truck by a competet perso is required. You will eed to obtai ad keep a copy of these reports ad rectify ay safety deficiecies idetified i them. The publicatio Rider-operated lift trucks: Operator traiig. Approved Code of Practice ad guidace (L117) gives practical guidace o complyig with the requiremets of sectio 2 of the HSW Act i relatio to the basic traiig of operators of rider-operated lift trucks. The Approved Code of Practice requires: employers to provide basic traiig for operators by recogised istructors (such istructors may be employees who are competet to carry out this role); The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 40 of 187

41 Health ad Safety competece testig of lift truck operators; authorisatio of, ad appropriate records for, all employees permitted to drive lift trucks. I additio to the above, driver-operated lift trucks used regularly o the road for log periods, ad their drivers, must be licesed by the Drivig Stadards Agecy. Health problems Lift trucks ca create health problems which will eed to be cosidered. These ca iclude: breathig problems from usig diesel trucks i cofied workig eviromets (good maiteace, eg of fuel ijectors, ca reduce fume problems); back ad upper limb disorders due to poor seatig ad/or cotrols. Poor roadways ca cause excessive truck vibratio ad back problems. Commo accidets Some commo causes of lift truck accidets iclude: usafe reversig; speedig; overloadig; passeger carryig; utraied drivers; poor or iadequate visibility; poor workig eviromet, eg ueve road surfaces or obstacles; iadequate separatio of pedestrias ad lift trucks; iadequate separatio of highway vehicles ad lift trucks; poor truck maiteace icludig maiteace of chais ad brakes. Safety guidelies for lift trucks Esure all operators have received adequate traiig. Esure eough people have bee traied to cover holidays, weekeds, overtime ad sickess. Esure traiig istructors are competet i istructioal techiques ad skills assessmet. Restrict use of lift trucks to authorised operators oly (authorisatio should oly be give to adequately traied ad experieced operators). It may help to post a list of authorised drivers o the truck. Provide suitable refresher traiig for operators. Esure maagers ad supervisors are traied i safety aspects of lift ad clamp trucks. Maagers should have a appreciatio of the risks ad the ways to miimise them. Supervisors should have eough kowledge to be able to recogise iadequacies i the operatio of lift trucks ad the traiig eeds of operators. Scree operators for fitess, eg eyesight testig. Keep floors ad roadways i good coditio, free from obstacles, obstructios ad potholes. Allow eough room for lift truck maoeuvres. Maitai all lift trucks o a regular basis to esure they are i good coditio (icludig examiatio of the mast chais, tyres, brakes ad hors). Itroduce daily driver checks of the safety equipmet. Esure that thorough examiatio ad testig of liftig chais are beig carried out by a competet perso as required. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 41 of 187

42 Health ad Safety Segregate lift truck routes from pedestria ad workig areas as much as possible ad mark them with barriers or lies o the floor. Esure gradiets are ot too steep. Keep keys safe whe the lift trucks are ot beig used by authorised drivers. Esure that operators use seatbelts. Esure good visibility whe movig loads - where ecessary use a baksma to direct traffic safely. Remember that the fittig of crae jib attachmets is subject to additioal legal requiremets. Do t: allow ayoe to drive a lift truck uless they have bee selected, traied ad authorised to do so; carry reels stacked o top of each other (as the top reels will be usupported ad liable to fall); use lift trucks i areas where flammable cocetratios of vapours may be preset, eg close to gravure or flexographic presses usig highly flammable liquids or i ik stores uless the trucks have bee specially desiged ad protected; leave keys i the igitio whe trucks are parked or left usupervised; allow ay operators to cosume ay alcohol while at work; use forks, pallets or bis to lift people to work at heights (use properly desiged mobile work platforms); pick up loads if someoe is stadig close to the load; allow people to walk uder raised loads; move ustable loads; leave a lift truck uatteded o a gradiet except i a emergecy (if you do have to leave the truck o a slope i a emergecy use wheel chocks); carry passegers uless the lift truck is desiged to do so; ru over electrical cables or flexible pipes o the floor uless they are suitably protected; operate with the load raised except for stackig ad de-stackig maoeuvres; allow speedig or usafe reversig practices; fit attachmets to lift trucks which could affect their liftig capacity without cosultig the maufacturer, authorised supplier or qualified lift truck egieer; forget to cosider the eed for beacos, mirrors, hors etc, the protectio of drivers from fallig objects ad lightig where ecessary; allow other people, such as delivery drivers, to use your lift trucks uless you are certai that they have received appropriate traiig etc. Accidet A prit worker was crushed betwee two full pallets of paper weighig half a toe each whe a lift truck reversed ad iadvertetly pushed a pallet ito her back as she stood at her workstatio. Despite havig a cosultats report warig that the risk of collisio betwee pedestrias ad lift trucks i the cramped premises was high, o attempt had bee made to segregate the activities or provide a oe-way traffic maagemet system. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 42 of 187

43 Health ad Safety Safety guidelies for automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) These iclude: esurig that all safety features are operatig correctly; esurig that stoppig performaces are appropriate to the risk ad load. Vehicles will eed to come to a cotrolled stop so they do ot release their load suddely; esurig that appropriate maximum speeds are set; esurig that adequate clearaces have bee left to prevet trappig people betwee movig vehicles ad fixed structures. Warig light Beaco Emergecy stop Trip bumpers Figure 6 Safety features of a AGV Asbestos i buildigs Asbestos-related diseases kill a estimated 3000 people each year i the UK ad this figure is expected to rise. May of the people ow sufferig from these diseases worked i the buildig ad maiteace trades - joiers, plumbers, electricias, egieers etc. As a rough guide, if your buildig was built before the 1980s ad you carry out ay type of maiteace, repair or refurbishmet work, you could be exposig people to asbestos dust without realisig it. Ay idividual exposure may be small - but these ca build up ad may result i a asbestos-related disease later o i life. This is particularly relevat to maiteace persoel. At the time of writig (Jauary 2002) the Health ad Safety Commissio proposes to itroduce a ew duty to maage asbestos i buildigs. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 43 of 187

44 Health ad Safety The itetio of the duty to maage, as curretly drafted, is to require employers to: take reasoable steps to determie the locatio of materials likely to cotai asbestos; presume that materials cotai asbestos uless there is a reaso to suppose they do ot; make a writte record of the locatio of asbestos ad presumed asbestos material, ad keep it up to date; keep a check o the coditio of asbestos ad presumed asbestos materials; ad assess the risk of exposure from asbestos ad presumed asbestos materials ad record the actio ecessary to esure that: if the material may create a risk of exposure because of its state ad locatio it is repaired or if ecessary removed; ay such material is maitaied i a good state of repair; iformatio about the locatio ad coditio of the material is give to ayoe likely to disturb it, icludig maiteace cotractors as well as those ormally preset i the buildig. A ew Approved Code of Practice will be produced for the duty, together with supportig guidace. Remember your ow employees may also be exposed if they work i office or storage areas where asbestos isulatio board products have bee used which have bee damaged by alteratios or the movemet of materials. Where is asbestos foud i buildigs? The followig are areas where asbestos might be foud i older buildigs: i spray coatig for fire protectio ad isulatio o steelwork, cocrete walls ad ceiligs; i isulatio laggig, o pipework, ad for boilers ad ducts; i asbestos isulatig board used as wall partitios, fire doors, ceilig tiles etc; i asbestos cemet products such as sheetig o walls ad roofs, tiles, cold water taks, gutters, pipes ad i decorative plaster fiishes. What should you do? Idetify ay asbestos material o site (if you are usure, have it tested). Keep a record of its locatio. Esure ay relevat employees or cotractors kow if ad where asbestos may be preset withi your works. Esure ay asbestos you do fid is i a safe coditio, eg udamaged ad/or sealed (ad will ot affect existig employees workig i your factory). Carry out regular checks to make sure that it remais safe. If work is required o or ear the asbestos you may eed to call i licesed cotractors. You will eed to iform ayoe carryig out the work of the dagers ad esure they carry out the work safely. Ask your local eforcig authority for further iformatio. Free ad priced publicatios are available, eg Maagig asbestos i premises (INDG223rev2). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 44 of 187

45 Health ad Safety Chapter 4 Health risks See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Health risks Natioally, over 2 millio people a year suffer from ill health caused or made worse by work. Thirtee millio workig days are lost as people take time off because work has made them ill. The pritig idustry is o exceptio. Ill-health problems iclude musculoskeletal disorders, occupatioal asthma, deafess, eye damage ad dermatitis. Dermatitis is a particular problem i pritig - Europea reports have idicated that it accouts for 65% of all cases of ill health i the idustry. The maagemet of health risks withi the workplace is ofte eglected or fails because, ulike safety issues, health risks ted to be both less obvious ad less well uderstood. Because the oset of ill health is ofte delayed, the risks ca be uderestimated util it is too late ad permaet damage has occurred. Employers have just as much resposibility for safeguardig the health as the safety of their employees. Risk assessmets eed to cover health as well as safety hazards (see the geeral advice give o risk assessmet i Chapter 1). Relevat legislatio Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios 1999 Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios 1992 Noise at Work Regulatios 1989 Cotrol of Lead at Work Regulatios 1980 (CLAW) Maual Hadlig Operatios Regulatios 1992 Cotrol of Asbestos at Work Regulatios 1987 (Cosolidated Regulatios are due to be made i 2002) Ioisig Radiatios Regulatios 1999 The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 45 of 187

46 Health ad Safety Hazard Health effects Typical processes Ihalatio of solvet vapour (health effects deped o the solvet, its cocetratio i air ad the legth of exposure) Cotact with ad absorptio of solvet through the ski Ihalatio of vapours ad mists from isocyaates or reactive acrylates Ski cotact with reactive chemicals (health effects deped o the chemical, its cocetratio ad the legth of exposure) Ski cotact with ad ihalatio of potetially toxic, very toxic additives (eg those with risk phases R40 Possible irreversible effects, R45 May cause cacer, R46 May cause heritable geetic damage, R61 May cause harm to the ubor child ) Exposure to high levels of oise Headaches, ausea Effects o the cetral ervous system Dermatitis Occupatioal asthma Dermatitis icludig sesitisatio (ski allergy) Carciogeic (cacer) Mutageic (harm to the ubor child) Noise-iduced deafess Cleaig litho ad letterpress rollers ad cyliders Scree, flexo ad gravure pritig Use of lacquers, adhesives, iks etc cotaiig isocyaates or reactive acrylates Use of UV-cured products Etchig, egravig Platemakig Scree reclamatio Stereo roller preparatio Gravure cylider preparatio Scree pritig with specialist iks ad coatigs Scree reclamatio Geeral pritig ad cleaig activity ivolvig the use of, eg fot solutios, biocides, formaldehyde, dichloromethae, N-viyl pyrrolidoe (NVP) Web pritig Tiitus Table 1 Examples of health hazards i pritig Prit fiishig Usafe maual hadlig Back ijuries Hadlig of paper reels, sheets ad budles Awkward or repetitive movemets Exposure to micro-orgaisms from cotamiated water Upper limb disorders, eg teosyovitis ad carpal tuel sydrome Humidifier fever Legioaires disease Typesettig Prit fiishig Paper storage or pritig where humidifiers are used Ay pritig process i buildigs with coolig towers or other water systems that ca become cotamiated Occupatioal health ad rehabilitatio I ay busiess, workers are the most valuable assets ad it is importat to look after them properly. Employers eed to actively maage health. With effective occupatioal health support ad advice, health risks at work ca be maaged i ways that are ot costly or difficult. May workers who have already bee made ill, from whatever cause, ca be helped to remai i or retur to work. There are legal duties to prevet ill health caused by work. The mai legal framework is the HSW Act, supplemeted by regulatios which cover particular activities, such as maual hadlig ad exposure to harmful substaces. These require you to make assessmets of the health risks to workers arisig from work activities ad to take actio to prevet or reduce those risks. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 46 of 187

47 Health ad Safety Occupatioal health services Employers may eed expert ad specialist advice o how to help them with issues such as: idetifyig health hazards, assessig risks ad choosig the ecessary cotrol measures; checkig the effectiveess of the cotrol measures ad, where required, measurig the exposure of employees, for example by atmospheric samplig; advisig o placemet ad rehabilitatio of employees; provisio of appropriate o-site first-aid ad treatmet facilities; idetificatio of causes of ill health withi the workforce; promotio of good geeral health amog employees. Occupatioal health services may be able to help with these matters. HSE s Employmet Medical Advisory Service ca advise you ad the leaflet Need help o health ad safety? (INDG322) provides more iformatio. (See also NHS Plus: www. hsplus.hs.uk) Health surveillace Health surveillace is oe compoet of the overall maagemet of health risks. It ivolves obtaiig iformatio about a employee s health ad helps to protect that employee from health risks at work. It may be ecessary: uder the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios 1999, for example to protect agaist dermatitis or occupatioal asthma; uder the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999, where people work i oisy processes; where there is sigificat exposure to lead i premises such as traditioal craft priters ad the Cotrol of Lead at Work Regulatios 1980 apply. The eed for health surveillace should be decided as part of the assessmets required by these Regulatios. Health surveillace caot replace proper cotrol measures but is a essetial part of a health coservatio programme. Health surveillace is required where: a idetifiable disease or adverse effect may be related to exposure; there is a reasoable likelihood of that disease or effect occurrig uder the particular work coditios; there are valid techiques for detectig sigs of the disease or adverse effect ad surveillace is likely to improve the protectio of employees health. The mai objective of health surveillace is to protect the health of idividual employees by checkig for early sigs of work-related illess. It also provides iformatio about ad early detectio of adverse chages, which may be caused, for example, by exposure to oise or a substace hazardous to health. Further guidace about health surveillace is give i the HSE booklet Health surveillace at work (HSG61). All employees will eed to be give iformatio, istructio ad traiig about ay risks to their health that might arise from their work. Where health surveillace is appropriate they also eed to kow: what symptoms ad sigs to look out for, ad where appropriate, how to selfexamie (eg for dermatitis); how the health surveillace scheme works ad who to report to if they are cocered; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 47 of 187

48 Health ad Safety what the arragemets are for seeig their ow health records ad collective results of the health surveillace programme. Records must be kept where health surveillace is carried out to comply with the COSHH Regulatios. The iformatio that should be held i the records is detailed i the Appedix of the COSHH Geeral Approved Code of Practice (L5). Records should be retaied for 40 years. Rehabilitatio Early detectio of illess gives you a chace to deal with the problem promptly, ad provides the opportuity for you to help workers remai at work, perhaps by arragig for light duties or modifyig work for a limited period. If a worker experieces difficulties i returig to their ormal duties withi a few weeks the you should speak to a health professioal about settig up a active rehabilitatio programme. Larger orgaisatios may have their ow specialists ad a occupatioal health service, but all busiesses ca obtai access to treatmet ad rehabilitatio. Some make arragemets through their employer s liability isurer, some have good eighbours (larger compaies that offer small busiesses i their supply chai access to their support services), ad others go it aloe. Some small busiesses fid it worthwhile to make local partership arragemets with health professioals. A umber of people ca advise you about what is available to you locally. A trade associatio, chamber of commerce or trade uio represetative, if you have oe, will probably kow if there are ay good eighbour busiesses you could cotact. Your local Health ad Safety office might also be able to advise. Hazardous substaces May chemical substaces ca cause harm if they are ihaled or absorbed through the ski. May also cause dermatitis or damage to the eyes. Exposure ca have a immediate effect or may be delayed. Repeated exposure to some substaces may cause damage to the lugs, liver or other orgas. They ca be take ito the body by breathig them i, passig through the ski or by eatig food which has bee touched by cotamiated hads. Some substaces ca cause both local ad iteral effects, for example they might damage the ski ad cause liver damage. The most effective way to protect employees from ay harmful substace is to see if the use of the substace ca be avoided completely, perhaps by fidig a safer substitute or by chagig the process i some way. May of the health hazards listed i Table 1 relate to the use of hazardous substaces. With the exceptios of asbestos ad lead (for which there are specialised regulatios), the use of hazardous substaces at work is subject to the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios This sectio summarises the requiremets of those Regulatios ad gives advice o the cotrol measures for particular pritig processes. For everyday tasks ivolvig commoly used pritig chemicals, the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee (PIAC) has produced COSHH essetials for priters. This guidace gives you a good head start with your COSHH assessmets, ad comprises a series of summary sheets coverig typical tasks, which explai the steps you eed to take to cotrol employees exposure. The first stages of the assessmet process have bee doe for you usig iformatio from suppliers. Uder the COSHH Regulatios you must: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 48 of 187

49 Health ad Safety assess the risks to health arisig from the use of hazardous substaces at work (ad review your assessmet if chages occur); prevet or cotrol the risk, eg by usig a safer substitute, or by suitable cotrol measures; esure that cotrol measures are used ad maitaied; moitor exposure ad carry out health surveillace whe ecessary; iform, istruct ad trai your employees about the risks ad the precautios eeded; keep records where required. Figure 7 The use of hazardous substaces at work is subjected to the COSHH Regulatios Exposure limits For certai substaces, where there is a risk of ihalatio, occupatioal exposure limits have bee set. There are two kids - maximum exposure limits (MELs) ad occupatioal exposure stadards (OESs). You may eed to refer to these whe assessig the risks i your workplace. Further iformatio, icludig a explaatio of the differece betwee the types of exposure limits, is give i the guidace booklet Occupatioal exposure limits (EH40), which is published yearly. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 49 of 187

50 Health ad Safety Assessmet uder COSHH First gather iformatio o the substaces used i your workplace. Use maufacturers labels ad safety data sheets to help you decide which oes are hazardous. Ay substace which carries the classificatio very toxic, toxic, harmful, corrosive, or irritat, or which has bee assiged a maximum exposure limit or occupatioal exposure stadard because of risks followig ihalatio, is subject to the COSHH Regulatios. This also applies to biological agets, substatial quatities of dusts, ad other substaces which preset comparable hazards. Suppliers of chemicals for use at work are legally obliged to provide safety data sheets cotaiig iformatio uder 16 headigs, specified i the Chemicals (Hazard Iformatio ad Packagig for Supply) Regulatios. This iformatio will help you to carry out your COSHH assessmet, but simply collectig iformatio is ot eough - you eed to use the iformatio to decide whether or ot there is a risk, ad whether or ot your ow cotrols ad workig procedures are sufficiet. Cotact your supplier for advice if you are i ay doubt about the iformatio provided i safety data sheets. Cosider: how the substace is used, hadled or stored; who might be affected; the likely routes of exposure - ihalatio, igestio, ski absorptio; the likelihood ad effects of spills or leaks; what cotrol measures are curretly used; ay risks durig cleaig or maiteace activities. It is importat to fid out how substaces are actually used i the workplace, ad who is exposed to them - do t forget cotractors ad maiteace workers. Thik about the hadlig of substaces from delivery, to use ad disposal. Thik also about what ca go wrog, for example how you would deal with spillage or leakig cotaiers of solvet, or carry out repairs o machies where there is ucured UV ik. Draw coclusios about the risks ad decide if you eed to take actio to reduce them. Specialist help may be required to help you make these decisios, for example from a occupatioal health professioal. Record your coclusios. Prevetio or cotrol of exposure If your assessmet cocludes that there are risks to health, the you eed to decide what else you eed to do to comply with the COSHH Regulatios. If possible, prevet exposure by usig a less hazardous substace or a differet process. A good example of this is the Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme for the offset ad UV-curable sector itroduced i this coutry i October This is a volutary scheme, based o a very successful approach i Germay, to reduce volatile orgaic compouds (VOCs) i the process, by replacig roller ad blaket The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 50 of 187

51 Health ad Safety washes with a high boilig poit solvet/vegetable cleaig aget (VCA) ad takig steps to reduce or elimiate isopropylalcohol (IPA) from the fout solutio. The priciples of the scheme are show i the box isert later i this chapter. Aother example is the use of water-based iks for flexible packagig. Ask your supplier for alterative products that may be safer to use. Remember if you chage your product you will still eed to carry out a COSHH assessmet for the ew substace ad esure that you provide appropriate cotrols. Where prevetio of exposure is ot possible, you eed to cosider cotrol measures. This usually meas a combiatio of some of the followig: Eclosig the process. Partial eclosure ad/or local exhaust vetilatio (LEV). Geeral vetilatio. A system of work ad hadlig procedures to miimise leaks ad spills. If, ad oly if, you caot adequately cotrol exposure by a combiatio of the measures above, the you should also provide persoal protective equipmet (PPE) such as respiratory protective equipmet, gloves ad eye protectio. See Persoal protective equipmet (PPE) towards the ed of this chapter for further iformatio. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 51 of 187

52 Health ad Safety Chemical hazards i pritig Process or activity Type/ame of substace Potetial health hazard Etchig, egravig, platemakig, certai photographic reproductio systems, correctio of litho plates (hydrofluoric acid) Cleaig of screes i scree pritig Cocetrated photographic developer solutios UV ad electro beam curable iks, varishes ad lacquers Photographic fixer solutios Hardeer added to photographic fixer solutios Litho platemakig, gravure cylider preparatio, photoegravig, photographic bleaches Litho pritig: fout solutio, blaket restorers, cleaig solvets Gravure ad flexographic pritig: various iks Scree pritig: UV-cured iks Scree pritig: iks Corrosive acids, eg cocetrated itric ad sulphuric acids, hydrofluoric acid Strog alkalis, eg cocetrated sodium or potassium hydroxide Hydroquioe Reactive acrylates or methacrylates Acetic acid, acidic salt solutios (eg sodium thiosulphate) Dilute formaldehyde solutio Dichromates, eg ammoium, potassium ad sodium dichromates Isopropylalcohol (IPA), methyl ethyl ketoe (MEK), white spirit MEK Alcohols, eg idustrial methylated spirits (IMS), IPA Esters, eg ethyl acetate Aromatic hydrocarbos, eg toluee, xylee N-viyl pyrrolidoe (NVP) ad Michler s Ketoe Ketoes, eg cyclohexaoe Aromatic hydrocarbos, eg toluee, xylee Ski burs ad blisters Burs with cocetrated hydrofluoric acid are very severe Eye damage Corrosive to ski, eyes ad mucous membrae Irritat to eyes but may cause permaet damage Irritat ad sesitisig to the ski, may cause dermatitis Corrosive to ski, eyes ad mucous membraes Potetial for ski sesitisatio Irritat Irritat Frequet cotact may lead to ski sesitisatio Very corrosive I high cocetratios ca cause deep ulcers Potetial for ski sesitisatio Dermatitis Dermatitis Cacer, harm to the ubor child Dermatitis Table 2 Pritig processes which may give rise to ski or eye cotact hazards Note: The examples here are oly illustrative ad are ot exhaustive The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 52 of 187

53 Health ad Safety Examples of processes or activity Type/ame of substace Potetial health hazard Makig flexographic ad letterpress plates Cleaig rollers, cyliders ad blaket restorig Perchloroethylee Chloriated hydrocarbos, eg dichloromethae Ketoes, eg methyl ethyl ketoe (MEK) Dizziess, drowsiess ad other effects o the cetral ervous system Dizziess, drowsiess ad other effects o the cetral ervous system Cardiac arrhythmia (high cocetratio) Affects liver ad kideys o log-term exposure Litho pritig - fout solutio Alcohols such as isopropylalcohol (IPA) Dizziess, drowsiess ad other effects o the cetral ervous system Gravure ad flexographic pritig Scree pritig Scree pritig: UV-cured iks Adhesive lamiatig Iks cotaiig ketoes (eg cyclohexaoe), alcohols (as i IMS), esters (eg ethyl acetate, isopropyl acetate) or aromatic hydrocarbos, eg toluee, xylee Iks cotaiig ketoes or aromatic hydrocarbos N-viyl pyrrolidoe (NVP) ad Michler s Ketoe Isocyaate prepolymers As above As above Cacer ad harm to the ubor child Irritatio of respiratory tract (high cocetratio) Use of polyurethae lacquers Hadlig, cuttig, gridig lead type, hot metal work Lead dust/fume Occupatioal asthma could occur eve at low levels Lead absorbed i bloodstream leads to headaches, tiredess, stomach pais, costipatio ad loss of weight Dyelie pritig Ammoium hydroxide Irritatio of respiratory tract (as ammoia vapour) High-speed pritig usig UV ik - leadig to ik mistig Laser egravig (gravure cyliders) Maiteace ivolvig weldig Use of UV lamps for photo processig, UV curig, coroa discharge Digital (ik-jet) pritig Reactive acrylates cotaied i UV iks etc Metal fume Ozoe Methyl ethyl ketoe Irritatio of respiratory tract Potetial for occupatioal asthma Irritatio of respiratory tract, flu-like illess (metal fume fever depedig o the metal) Poisoig from substaces i the fume Irritatio of the upper respiratory tract Headaches ad ausea Cardiac arrhythmia (high cocetratio) Affects liver ad kideys o log-term exposure Saw/kife millig i bidery Use of ati-set-off powder Thermography Brozig machies, mixig alumiium pastes Propaol Paper Sugar/starch Plasticisers Metal Dusts Dizziess, drowsiess ad other effects o the cetral ervous system Dust of ay kid ca irritate the respiratory tract ad block the ose Maufacture of formes Softwood dust Respiratory disorders icludig occupatioal asthma Maiteace ivolvig cuttig, sawig, drillig etc Maiteace work, particularly to buildigs Hardwood Asbestos Occupatioal asthma ad cacers Cacers ad asbestosis Table 3 Pritig processes which may give rise to ihalatio hazards The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 53 of 187

54 Health ad Safety Specific process health hazards Desig ad artwork Risks to health from desig ad artwork ca be reduced by: usig o-flammable adhesives - preferably wax; removig wax from glass surfaces by scrapig rather tha usig solvet; usig alteratives to aerosols where these are available ad oly usig aerosols if there is good vetilatio; ot smokig where aerosols are used - may will be flammable. Graphic reproductio Darkrooms with automatic film processors eed mechaical vetilatio to esure healthy ad comfortable workig coditios. Te to fiftee air chages per hour is the stadard ormally achieved i the idustry. A suitable extractor fa mouted i a outside wall will do, but it is importat to provide a air ilet. Carefully desiged louvre covers will esure that uwated light does ot eter the room. Platemakig Automatic processig effectively reduces the likelihood of ski cotact with chemicals durig ormal operatio. Some developers ca cause aggressive ski reactios, so itrile or butyl rubber gautlets ad protective clothig are eeded whe maipulatig the chemical cotaiers. Suitable goggles or face shields should be provided ad wor if there is a risk of splashig. Keep drums of repleisher solutio feedig process equipmet i shallow trays, so as to cotai spillage (ad protect the floor). Deletio fluids Deletio fluids cotaiig hydrofluoric acid i toxic ad corrosive cocetratios may be used to make mior alteratios to pritig plates. These products are particularly harmful if ski or eye cotact occurs - the affected area should be washed immediately uder ruig water, ad medical advice obtaied. Check the safety data sheets for these products to esure that appropriate first aid is available. Atidote cream (calcium glucoate gel) will prevet serious burs right dow to the boe. If it is eeded, keep fresh stock o the premises. Make sure people kow why it is eeded ad how to use it. Where possible, use deletio pes as a alterative to small jars or pots of deletio fluid to reduce the dager of ski cotact. If large-scale deletio work is essetial, keep the cotaiers of deletio fluids i secure storage whe ot i use. Lithographic pritig Wash-up solvets have commoly icluded white spirit ad similar mixtures of petroleum distillates. Vegetable oil derivatives ad high boilig poit solvets are ow available for use as roller ad blaket cleaers, ad these products usually reduce risk to health by ihalatio. Ski cotact may remai a hazard so that a ski care regime may be ecessary. Try usig these products as part of the substitutio approach uder COSHH. See the box isert overleaf for details of the UK Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 54 of 187

55 Health ad Safety Figure 8 Use drip trays ad automatic pumpig to reduce ski cotact with chemicals Priciples of the scheme: UK Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme All ew machies (supplied after 11 October 2000) will be capable of beig used throughout their ormal workig life ad across the ormal rage of productio capabilities with cleaig solvets havig a flashpoit of 55 C or more ( AIII solvets ). Cleaig solvets with a flashpoit of less tha 21 C will ot be supplied or used for routie roller ad blaket washig ( AI solvets ). Cleaig solvets with a flashpoit of betwee 21 C ad 55 C will exceptioally be restricted to machies i use before the date of this agreemet where, for techical reasos, there is o other possible optio. They will ot be used o ew machies ( AII solvets ). Maufacturers, suppliers, priters ad employees ad the authorities will work together to promote the use of alteratives to the above solvets, icludig high boilig poit solvets (flashpoit >100 C) ad vegetable cleaig agets. Solvets i blaket reviver ad ik stripper products which have bee itetioally formulated to iclude halogeated hydrocarbos, terpees (assiged the risk phrases R38 Irritatig to the ski, R43 May cause sesitisatio by ski cotact ), -hexae ad secodary amies or amides will ot be supplied or used. The bezee cotet of solvets supplied or used will be less tha 0.1%. The toluee ad xylee cotet of solvets supplied or used will be less tha 1%. The aromatic cotet (C 9 ) of solvets supplied or used will be less tha 10%. The percetage of isopropyl alcohol or alterative low boilig orgaic substaces used i fout solutios will be reduced (immediately to 5-10%) ad progressively to 5% or less. Small amouts of low boilig poit materials that are ifrequetly used - such as blaket revivers or dried ik removers cotaiig methyl ethyl ketoe - may cotiue to be used provided appropriate special precautios are observed ad traiig give to those usig them. Suppliers will idicate coformace with the scheme by isertio of the PIAC symbol (available from the PIAC Secretariat) with the phrase UK Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme - ad the AI, AII or AIII desigatio o the product label. The phrase Coforms to UK Pritig Solvet Substitutio Scheme, the AI/AII/AIII The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 55 of 187

56 Health ad Safety desigatio together with the words It is the aim of the scheme to reduce the use of low boilig poit orgaic solvets i the pritig idustry i accordace with the priciples of the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios 1999 ad promote improved cotrol of solvet exposure i lie with the guidace give i the booklet COSHH essetials for priters shall be iserted ito Sectio 16 Other iformatio of the material safety data sheet (MSDS). Press, press compoet ad cosumable suppliers ad users will work together through PICON, the Associatio of Pritig Machiery Importers, the Scree Priters Associatio, the Flexible Packagig Associatio, the Corrugated Packagig Associatio, the Newspaper Publishers Associatio, the Newspaper Society, the British Pritig Idustries Federatio, the Scottish Prit Employers Federatio ad the Graphical, Paper ad Media Uio to provide techical support ad traiig o ew cleaig methods to users who make the chage to higher boilig poit solvets ad who, where ecessary, replace blakets ad ikig rollers. More volatile ad aggressive orgaic solvets are sometimes used for removal of dried ik or to swell low areas of the blaket. Check with the suppliers to make sure that the least hazardous product has bee chose. Whatever solvet is selected, use a safe system of work to cotrol it ad reduce exposure. Use of these products should be kept to a miimum. Isopropylalcohol (IPA) is a major cotributor to the total solvet cotet of press room air. Make sure that the percetage cocetratio i the fout does ot exceed 5% ad cosider suitable alteratives. Humidifiers may be used to maitai suitable evirometal coditios for litho pritig. (See uder Humidifier fever i the Other health issues sectio later i this chapter. This eeds to be cosidered if humidifiers with water reservoirs are used.) Ultraviolet (UV) curable materials Particular care is eeded whe hadlig ultraviolet (UV) ad electro beam curable materials (iks, varishes ad lacquers). They are used i all types of pritig ad packagig applicatios where their fast dryig ad durable film-formig properties allow immediate processig of the prit, such as carto pritig, labels, plastic substrates, pharmaceutical packagig, pritig of the outer surface of food ad cofectioery wrappers ad metal decoratig. Clear UV-curable varishes ad lacquers give a protective ad high gloss fiish ad are used for geeral overpritig work. UV light cures freshly prited material almost istataeously by iitiatig a rapid polymerisatio process. Before the ik or varish is cured the applicatio viscosity is depedet o the mixture of reactive acrylates chose. Most UV-curable iks ca be cosidered solvet free. However, the hadlig ad use of ucured material ad associated wash-up solvets give rise to a umber of risks. Burs The iitiators ad some cosituets icluded i UV-curable iks are powerful UV absorbers ad ca cause severe burig if ik or vaish cotamiates the ski ad is the exposed to sulight. It is importat to esure that ik ad varish does ot get oto the ski. You should esure that appropriate persoal protective equipmet is provided ad used. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 56 of 187

57 Health ad Safety Ski irritacy Polyfuctioal acrylates ad methacrylates ca cause ski irritatio ad some ca also cause ski sesitisatio. The first sigs of irritatio - reddeig of the ski ad appearace of a rash - may ot develop util a day after exposure, ad may worse over the followig two to three days. It is geerally a temporary effect ad disappears oce exposure stops. The UK Pritig Idustry has agreed a scheme kow as Acrylate Preferece Criteria, summarised i the box isert, to cotrol the use of acrylates with a high potetial to irritate. Reactive acrylates meetig the preferece criteria still have the potetial for irritacy ad sesitisatio, but to a lesser extet, ad their preferred use should be cosidered uder the COSHH substitutio duty. Acrylate Preferece Criteria Preferred use of acrylates fulfillig the followig criteria: Ski irritacy ratig (OECD test 404) less tha 2. Orgaic solvet cotet less tha 0.2%. Acrylic acid cotet less tha 0.1%. Members of the acrylate suppliers CEFIC UV-curable acrylates sector group will provide iformatio i safety data sheets ad ski irritatio ratigs to ik maufacturers. Pritig ik members of the BCF will preferetially formulate products with acrylates meetig the criteria ad idicate this o safety data sheets. Priters advised to use products coformig with the criteria. GPMU members advised i geeral oly to use products coformig with the criteria. Detailed COSHH assessmet ad additioal cotrol measures eeded if o-coformig acrylates used. The phrase This product coforms to the BCF guidelies o Acrylate Preferece Criteria to be added to Sectio 16 of the product safety data sheet. The followig iformatio o gloves to be added to Sectio 8 of the product safety data sheet: Gloves of a legth to overlap the sleeves of overalls should be used. The followig is recommeded: Sigle-use disposable upowdered itrile gloves (short-duratio exposure ot exceedig 30 miutes or where oly splashes are likely). Not to be used where mechaical resistace is required, or where puchig or tearig of the gloves is likely to occur. Not to be reused whe removed. Miimum 0.45 mm thickess, ulied, upowdered, atural rubber, latex-free, itrile gloves (loger duratio exposure, up to 4 hours, or mechaical hadlig activities). To be replaced immediately whe puctured or degraded or whe a chage of appearace (colour, elasticity, shape) occurs. Heavy duty, ulied, atural rubber, latex-free, itrile gloves (whe usig solvets). Note that cotact with ketoes or chloriated solvets may accelerate glove deterioratio. To be replaced immediately whe puctured or degraded or whe a chage of appearace (colour, elasticity, shape) occurs. Some acrylates that are less well used, but may be required to meet the demads of particular applicatios, do ot curretly coform to the Acrylate Preferece Criteria. Typically, commercial grades of these acrylates have ski irritatio ratigs of 2 or more. Particular care should be take i the rare exceptios where it is ecessary to use such products. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 57 of 187

58 Health ad Safety Ski sesitisatio Ski sesitisatio is a powerful allergic reactio that ca occur at ay time, causig sesitivity to further cotact, eve at low levels - well below those associated with irritacy. The ski ca become red ad swolle, ot always at the site of cotact, for example, aroud the eyes. Sesitisatio is ormally irreversible ad may be caused by both atural ad sythetic products. Havig selected the least hazardous UV-curable product possible, the followig factors should be take ito accout to reduce the risk of ijury from hadlig iks ad coatigs ad from cleaig presses: Hadlig iks ad coatigs Automatic ik dispesers reduce the eed to hadle ik, ad where the quatity hadled is large, cosider pump applicatio from a drum or storage area. Where this is ot possible ad iks are applied to ducts by had, appropriate gloves should be wor. Powered mixig ad stirrig etc which gives rise to airbore emissios should take place i desigated areas with suitable ad effective exhaust vetilatio. Keep cotaiers for ucured materials closed whe ot i use. Idetify procedures to deal with web breaks or radom failure of a UV source which ca produce large quatities of web coated with ucured material, alog with suitable disposal arragemets (see uder Cleaig ad spillages ). Persoal protective equipmet should be cleaed or disposed of as special waste after ay obvious cotamiatio as it may otherwise be a method of trasferrig ucured material. Sed cotamiated clothig for specialist lauderig i labelled bags. Such clothig should ever be take home by employees for lauderig. If ucured material eters the eye, rise with plety of clea water ad seek medical assistace. Deal with ski cotact by washig with soap ad water. Adequate facilities are best located close to the poit of use. Cleaig ad spillages Cleaig of machiery ad associated equipmet, ik ducts, rollers etc will be eeded regularly, for example at chage of colour, ed of shift or the workig day, or chage to other iks. Provide impervious apros (icludig a bib), log gautlet gloves ad eye protectio such as a clear plastic face shield. See Acrylate Preferece Criteria for advice o glove type. Make sure all the local exhaust vetilatio ad persoal protective equipmet provided is used. Remember that maiteace persoel are also at risk from cotact with ucured materials that ca iadvertetly accumulate i ormally iaccessible parts of plat ad machiery. Provide suitable lidded cotaiers labelled to idicate that ski cotact should be avoided for the safe disposal of cotamiated cloths etc. These should be removed from the workroom at the ed of the shift. If cleaig solvets are iteded to be used several times before evetual disposal, keep them oly for cleaig machies usig UV-curable materials, ad store i closed cotaiers that are clearly idetified ad labelled. Cloths dampeed with solvet for cleaig will become cotamiated with ucured material. Ski cotact with these cloths is likely to be a serious cause of ski irritatio owig to the defattig actio of the solvet ad the depositio of ucured material o the uprotected ski. Dispose of cleaig cloths immediately ad do ot put them i overall pockets or leave o beches where others may hadle them. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 58 of 187

59 Health ad Safety Remove permeable clothig that becomes accidetally splashed with cleaig solvets ad/or ucured materials at oce. Clea or dispose of such clothig as special waste. Sed cotamiated clothig for specialist lauderig i labelled bags. Ik mist Ik mist or fly ca be sigificat as press speeds icrease, particularly i offset ad letterpress processes, ad the mist formed ca irritate the ski ad respiratory tract, with the potetial for respiratory sesitisatio. Where ik mist geeratio is idetified, ad roller/plate/blaket pressures are correct ad properly maitaied, try to reduce exposure by ik reformulatio. Coolig of rollers ad cyliders will help to reduce fly by maitaiig the correct ik viscosity. Other factors, apart from press speed, that may have a bearig iclude the amout of material o the rollers, the size of the roller, air temperature ad the relative humidity. Ask for advice from your suppliers. If ik fly persists, cosider fittig shrouds at relevat rollers o the press ad the provisio of local exhaust vetilatio. I all cases workrooms should be well vetilated, for example by mechaical vetilatio systems. Ozoe UV curig lamps give off cosiderable heat ad covert some of the oxyge preset i the air ito ozoe. Mechaical extractio cools the air, but also leads to cotiuous geeratio of ozoe by the coversio of oxyge preset i the freshly supplied air aroud the UV lamp. Ozoe gas is harmful eve at relatively low cocetratios. Levels about the occupatioal exposure stadard (curretly 0.2 ppm, 15 miute time-weighted average (TWA)) ca lead to eye, ose ad throat irritatio. Higher levels of exposure sometimes cause headache ad ausea. At levels about 15 times the occupatioal exposure stadard, chest pai ad coughig may occur. Provide extractio to cotrol ozoe ad duct this outside the buildig to a safe place where it caot retur to the workroom. Moitor to esure that the system is workig satisfactorily ad make arragemets for 14-mothly examiatio by a competet perso. Uits usig water coolig, fed through specially desiged quartz tubes, allow curig ad, as well as removig heat, block or filter some of the higher eergy (UV-C) light resposible for ozoe geeratio. These water-cooled or coldcure UV lamps do ot require air-coolig ad therefore there is o bulk air movemet aroud the UV lamp ad ozoe is ot likely to be cotiuously geerated i sigificat amouts. This should be cofirmed durig istallatio. Further iformatio is give i Guidace Note EH38 Ozoe: Health hazards ad precautioary measures. UV light Exposure to UV light from curig uits ca cause particularly acute effects as they are much more powerful tha those used i platemakig. See Radiatio later i this chapter. Provide fixed or iterlockig screes to prevet direct or reflected UV light beig emitted ito the workroom. The reflective substrates commo i label ad scree pritig create a greater hazard if the UV lamp cowlig is ot kept properly adjusted to miimise escape of light. I some cases, a tuel extesio may be required. No attempt should be made to ispect prited sheets uder the lamp because of the high levels of reflected light; sheets should be removed from the press for ispectio. Screes should be regularly checked, ad broke or damaged screes or filter glasses should be replaced. A summary of the potetial health hazards ad the precautios to be take i the use of UV-curable materials is give i Table 4. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 59 of 187

60 Health ad Safety Type of exposure Health hazards Precautioary measures Cotact with UV-curable materials Ihalatio of UV ik mist or ik fly Cotact with wash-up solvets Ihalatio of ozoe Ski irritatio Ski sesitisatio Upper ad lower respiratory tract irritatio Potetial for sesitisatio Ski irritatio Upper ad lower respiratory tract irritatio Eye, ose ad throat irritatio Headaches ad ausea Cosider possibilities for less irritat substitutes, ad eclosed hadlig systems or automatic dispesers. Use impervious apros, gloves ad eye protectio Reformulatio of iks, cylider coolig etc Shroudig of rollers, ad local exhaust vetilatio Cosider use of local exhaust vetilatio. Devise ad use safe systems of work icludig use of PPE where ecessary (eg spillage ad leakage) Local exhaust vetilatio UV light Occular irritatio to varyig degrees which may temporarily cause difficulty with visio Ski burs (ie erythema) Table 4 UV-curable materials - health hazards ad precautios Fixed or iterlockig screeig Suitable goggles ad ski protectio durig certai maiteace work Health surveillace Health surveillace of those usig UV-curable material is required ad should iclude ispectio of all exposed areas of ski by a resposible perso who has bee istructed to recogise the ski disorders described. Ay perso ca be omiated ad traied as the resposible perso but ofte a first-aider or supervisor is best. There should be ispectios at least oce a moth ad employees should be ecouraged to check themselves for sigs of ski disease. Cases of suspected dermatitis should be referred to a doctor or urse for further ivestigatio. Where the mai risk is from ik fly, promote awareess of possible respiratory problems usig pre-employmet equiries ad iformatio about symptoms, ad ecourage employees to report symptoms to the resposible perso. Where preemploymet equiries ad iformatio about existig respiratory coditios ad symptoms of tightess ad pais i the chest, breathlessess etc are used, remember that they are simply a baselie agaist which ay future health problems ca be assessed. Such equiries are ot a substitute for proper cotrol of exposure. Health records for each employee subject to health surveillace should be kept. The first sigs of harmful effect - reddeig of the ski ad a rash - may ot appear util 24 hours after exposure, ad may get worse over two or three days. A system of ski ispectio will idetify ay priters who develop problems. Wash-up solvets with traces of UV-curable materials are a particular dager. Orgaic solvets de-fat ad damage the ski, makig it easier for all orgaic materials to peetrate the surface of the ski ad reach the vulerable layers beeath. Keep such solvets off ski ad clothig. If cotact does occur, wash off immediately with plety of soap ad water. Remove cotamiated clothig immediately. Sed it for lauderig, but make sure it is properly packaged to prevet iadvertet cotact ad labelled, idicatig the hazard, to protect other people who may hadle it. If eyes are affected, clea with plety of water ad get medical help. Scree pritig ad cleaig Scree pritig is a process usig iks ad auxiliary products (icludig surface coatigs) that are solvet- or water-based, or cured by ultra-violet light (UV). Pritig The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 60 of 187

61 Health ad Safety may be doe maually or by usig machiery with varyig degrees of automatio. Scree pritig iks ad solvets may cotai glycol ethers ad their esters. Like may other solvets, glycol ethers ca cause dizziess, headaches, loss of co-ordiatio ad ausea. Some are more hazardous tha others, as they ca also affect the boe marrow ad cause aplastic aaemia ad ought ot to be used. Particular care ad a very high stadard of cotrol are required where iks cotaiig N-viyl pyrrolidoe (NVP) ad Michler s Ketoe are used. Check with your supplier if i doubt ad substitute safer alteratives. Scree preparatio Adhesives used to attach the mesh to the scree frame ofte cotai isocyaates (see the sectio o the use of isocyaates later i this chapter). Use impervious protective gloves ad a face visor whe degreasig or preparig the mesh before applyig the stecil, especially whe usig corrosive degreasats. UV lamps used to prepare the stecils ca give rise to a umber of risks (see the sectio o UV-curable materials earlier i this chapter). Impervious gloves should be wor durig the preparatio of direct ad idirect stecils, ad for the use of fillers to blak out the remaider of a scree ot covered by a idirect stecil. The preparatio should be carried out i a well- vetilated area. Pritig ad dryig Scree pritig areas eed local exhaust vetilatio or extractio that prevets or adequately cotrols the risk of ihalatio. As a miimum the vetilatio system should comply with the occupatioal exposure levels for the substaces used. Positio mechaical vetilatio so that it draws fumes away from the priters. Arrage the workflow so that dryig racks are positioed i a area of forced vetilatio, so the airflow across them draws the fume away from the workig area. Vet dryig tuels ad oves to a safe place outside. Scree cleaig ad reclamatio After pritig always remove as much wet ik as possible from the scree, wearig suitable impervious gloves to prevet ski cotact (seek advice from your glove supplier if i doubt). Clea screes i a mechaically vetilated area such as a booth. Do ot use high-pressure water jets to clea screes doused with solvets, as this will result i uecessarily high levels of airbore solvet. Jet them whe they are free from ik ad solvet. If the quatity of work allows, eclosed automatic systems provide the best method of scree cleaig ad reclamatio. Figure 9 Scree pritig areas eed very good vetilatio to keep the air clear of fumes The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 61 of 187

62 Health ad Safety Operators should wear eye protectio (goggles or visors), apros, gloves or gautlets ad waterproof boots whe usig high-pressure water/steam cleaers. Vetilatio, electrical safety, hearig protectio ad draiage eed to be plaed whe the wet cleaig area is set out. Further iformatio is available i Guidace Note PM29 Electrical risks from steam/water pressure cleaers. Use of isocyaates lsocyaates may be foud i adhesives used i lamiatig, polyurethae lacquers, primers ad certai specialised iks. They are respiratory sesitisers ad have the potetial to cause asthmatic attacks, which may occur immediately o exposure or after a delay of several hours. Health surveillace will be ecessary i most circumstaces - seek specialist advice from a occupatioal health professioal about this. Try to choose products that do ot cotai isocyaates if possible, but if they are uavoidable, choose those that have the miimum isocyaate cotet ecessary ad are the least volatile to fulfil productio requiremets. Remember there is always a risk of respiratory sesitisatio whe isocyaates are used, eve if they are preset i products at very low levels ad appropriate cotrols should be provided. Care is eeded to esure that cotrol measures are selected ad implemeted to prevet ihalatio of isocyaates. Local exhaust vetilatio that prevets the risk of ihalatio will be appropriate i may situatios. As a miimum the vetilatio system should esure compliace with the relevat occupatioal exposure level for the substace beig used. Risk is likely to be greater i situatios i which the substace is heated, or whe mistig or aerosol formatio may occur (the operatig speed of the machie will affect this). Figure 10 Provide facilities for dealig with spillages such as a spill kit Air moitorig should be carried out. There ca be serious risks to health if the local exhaust vetilatio or other cotrol measures fail, deteriorate or do ot work properly. You should keep a record of ay exposure moitorig you carry out for at least five years. You ca fid more iformatio o moitorig i the guidace booklet Moitorig strategies for toxic substaces (HSG173) ad Methods for the determiatio of hazardous substaces: Orgaic isocyaates i air (MDHS25/3). Geeral protective clothig, icludig gloves ad eye protectio, will be ecessary ad i certai situatios respiratory protective equipmet will be eeded - this will be determied by the COSHH assessmet. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 62 of 187

63 Health ad Safety Provide facilities for first aid ad for dealig with spillages, ski ad eye cotamiatio ad other emergecies. See the booklet Safe use of isocyaates i pritig ad lamiatig for further guidace. Disposal of waste Remember that the disposal of waste materials ad omially empty cotaiers are subject to evirometal regulatios. Take advice from your waste maagemet cotractor ad the waste regulatory authority (Eviromet Agecy etc). Noise Loud oise at work ca cause irreversible hearig damage. It accelerates the ormal hearig loss that occurs as we grow older. It ca cause other problems such as tiitus (troublesome oises i the ear), iterferece with commuicatio, ad stress. Civil claims agaist employers are commo, ad may are successful because ot eough has bee doe i the past to protect the hearig of people at work. Do you have a oise problem? As a rule of thumb, if you caot hear a ormal coversatio i your workplace clearly whe you are 2 m away from the speaker, the oise level is likely to be aroud 85 db(a) or higher. If you caot hear someoe clearly whe you are about 1 m away, the level is likely to be aroud 90 db(a) or higher. If you thik you may have a problem, fid out what the oise levels are i your workplace by takig measuremets. Measurig oise levels Noise is measured i decibels - you will usually see it writte as db(a). The oise level (soud pressure) is measured logarithmically so that every 3 db(a) icrease meas a doublig of the oise eergy, for example 93 db(a) is twice as hazardous as 90 db(a). I most jobs, the risk depeds ot just o the oise levels, but also how log people are exposed, icludig ay overtime. For more iformatio see the booklet Reducig oise at work (L108). Noise ad the law The Noise at Work Regulatios 1989 are iteded to reduce hearig damage caused by loud oise ad they lay dow three actio levels. The Regulatios require employers to assess the risks ad take actio whe workers daily exposure to oise reaches the 85 db(a) (L EP,d )* first actio level ad further actio if it reaches the 90 db(a) (L EP,d ) secod or 140 db(a) peak actio levels. Whe measurig oise exposure o accout is take of the effect of ay persoal ear protectors wor. * Daily persoal oise exposure: the worker s oise exposure averaged over a eight-hour workig period The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 63 of 187

64 Health ad Safety Figure 11 Do you have a oise problem? Loud oise at work ca cause irreversible hearig damage If you fid that the oise level is at the first actio level or above you must: have the risk assessed by a competet perso; tell your workers about the risks ad precautios; make hearig protectio freely available to those who wat it where levels exceed 85 db(a). If you fid that the oise levels are at the secod actio level or above, i additio to the above actios, you must also: do all that is reasoably practicable to reduce exposure without relyig o hearig protectio, eg use egieerig cotrols; use recogised safety sigs to idetify ad restrict etry to zoes where oise reaches (or exceeds) the secod or peak actio levels. Employees, icludig maagers ad supervisors, must ot eter these zoes uless wearig suitable ad effective hearig protectio. Noise reductio Cosider: choosig quiet machies or processes for ew work. Makers must reduce oise by good desig ad costructio ad also provide oise data with their equipmet if levels are likely to reach or exceed the first actio level. If you are buyig machiery, isist o this iformatio. Oce the machiery is istalled, check the oise levels ad take ay steps ecessary to reduce oise. Noise emissio levels ca be limited as part of the cotract with suppliers ad checked after istallatio; chagig the machie ad process to produce less oise. Do t forget that other chages you make might affect oise levels; eclosig oisy machies by providig acoustic eclosures. These have to be made of appropriate oise-reducig materials ad be correctly istalled. If they are ot properly desiged, oise escapig from holes, feed opeigs or poorly fittig paels may sigificatly reduce performace. Specialist advice will probably be ecessary; puttig oisy machies ad processes i separate rooms, away from employees work areas; fittig silecers to all exhausts ad makig sure they are kept i place ad maitaied. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 64 of 187

65 Health ad Safety Reducig exposure Thik about reducig the legth of exposure by rotatig jobs or providig a oise refuge, eg at machie cotrol poits. Remember - hearig damage is cumulative. Make sure that youg people i particular get ito the habit of avoidig oise exposure, before their hearig is permaetly damaged. Providig hearig protectio Esure that workers wear hearig protectio where daily persoal oise levels exceed 90 db(a). Remember this is ot a substitute for oise reductio at source. Do ot rely too heavily o hearig protectors. I practice they reduce oise exposure less tha is claimed because they: have ot bee correctly selected; are ot fitted ad wor correctly; are ot properly maitaied; are ucomfortable or icoveiet to wear. Plastic foam or mieral fibre/waxed plugs, if properly chose ad correctly wor, ca be as good as ear muffs. To work, hearig protectors eed to be wor all the time that people are i oisy areas. If they are left off for eve short periods, eve the best protectors caot greatly reduce oise exposure. Supervisors should check this. Protectors should: be suitable for the coditios i which they are to be used; provide eough atteuatio to reduce the oise exposure level to below 90 db(a) ad preferably to below 85 db(a); oly be issued o a persoal basis; ever be removed i a oisy eviromet; be compatible with other forms of ecessary PPE; preferably be marked to idicate coformity with BS EN 352: 1993 Hearig protectors - safety requiremets ad testig Part 1: Ear-muffs. Part 2: Earplugs. Part 3: 1997 Ear-muffs attached to a idustrial safety helmet. It will be beeficial for employees to have a choice of hearig protectio from a rage of types idetified as suitable. See the free leaflets Noise at work: A guide for employees (INDG99), Ear protectio: Employers duties explaied (INDG298), ad Protect your hearig! (INDG299) pocket card. Workers eed to be adequately traied i the proper fittig, use ad care of hearig protectio. This will help to esure that protectors maitai their efficiecy ad are correctly wor. Commo problems ad solutios for priters Experiece has show that there are certai areas that ca usefully be targeted to reduce oise i a pritig workplace. Sheet-fed buckle-foldig machies i the fiishig departmet create high oise levels. These machies should be fitted with acoustic hoods at all buckle plates to reduce the oise. Guidace is give i the publicatio Noise reductio at buckle-foldig machies. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 65 of 187

66 Health ad Safety Web-fed presses have several oise sources (i particular the folder), ad various oise cotrol measures may be appropriate. Guidace is give i the booklet Noise reductio at web-fed presses. Vacuum pumps ad compressors, such as those associated with sheet-fed pritig machies, gatherer-stitcher-trimmers ad buckle-foldig machies, ca produce high oise levels ad it is importat to site such equipmet away from the workroom or shield it i a suitable eclosure, as these ca make a large cotributio to the overall oise level. Sheet-fed pritig machies (i geeral) do ot create excessive levels of oise if they are properly spaced ad housed, as log as oise from vacuum pumps ad compressors is cotrolled. Regular prevetive maiteace of machies ca be importat i avoidig the geeratio of excessive levels of oise. Wor bearigs i buckle-foldig machies are frequetly foud to be a sigificat source of oise. It is good practice to carry out regular hearig checks o all employees whose daily persoal oise exposures equal or exceed 90 db(a), ad such checks should be carried out whe oise levels reach or exceed 95 db(a). Refer to the leaflet Health surveillace i oisy idustries (INDG193) ad the paragraphs uder Hearig protectio i the Persoal protective equipmet (PPE) sectio at the ed of this chapter. Hearig loss Uder the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999, employees exposed to certai types of risk, such as high oise levels, should be provided with appropriate health surveillace. Such coditios are likely, for example, at large web-fed presses ad associated folders. Health surveillace for hearig loss usually ivolves hearig checks called audiometry. There is o simple formula to show whe audiometry is ecessary. The startig poit is to assess the risk of employees becomig deaf because they are beig exposed to loud oise. This risk depeds o the oise level ad the legth of exposure. Employers should arrage for a competet perso to carry out a assessmet of their employees oise exposures, as required by the Noise at Work Regulatios Programmes for hearig checks eed to be uder the cotrol of someoe who ca make sese of audiometric data ad advise idividuals o the state of their hearig ad o follow-up actio. This might be a occupatioal physicia, a urse with appropriate traiig ad experiece, a audiological scietist or a traied audiometricia able to refer employees to a more qualified perso whe they eed more advice. Health surveillace for employees i oisy jobs ormally meas: regular hearig checks i cotrolled coditios to measure the sesitivity of hearig over a rage of soud frequecies; iformig them about the results of their hearig checks; keepig records; ad ecouragig them to seek further advice from a doctor where hearig damage is suspected. For more iformatio, see Guidace Note MS26 A guide to audiometric testig programmes. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 66 of 187

67 Health ad Safety Maual hadlig The law ad maual hadlig The Maual Hadlig Operatios Regulatios 1992 require all employers to: avoid the eed for hazardous maual liftig ad hadlig if it is reasoably practicable to do so, eg by redesigig the task ad/or workplace layout, elimiatig the eed to move loads maually, usig mechaical hadlig equipmet etc; assess the risk of ijury from ay hazardous maual liftig ad hadlig which caot be avoided; take steps to reduce the risk of ijury from maual hadlig, eg by providig mechaical assistace, improvemets to the task, load or workig eviromet; provide employees with iformatio o the weight of the load ad a idicatio of the heaviest side where a load has a cetre of gravity that is ot cetrally positioed. Risk assessmet filter A detailed assessmet of every risk could be a major udertakig ad ivolve wasted effort, so HSE has developed a filter to scree out straightforward cases. The filter is based o a set of umerical guidelies developed from published scietific literature, ad its applicatio will provide a reasoable level of protectio to aroud 95% of workig me ad wome although it should ot be see as providig safe weight limits for liftig. The guidelies assume that the load is easy to grasp with both hads with the hadler i a stable body positio, ad take ito accout the vertical ad horizotal positio of the hads as they move the load durig the hadlig operatio, as well as the height ad reach of the hadler. Figure 12 gives a boudary mapped out by the guidelies. If the hadler s hads eter more tha oe of the box zoes durig the operatio, the smallest weight figures apply. If the task requires liftig or lowerig of the hads outside the box zoes, a more detailed assessmet should be made. shoulder height elbow height 3 kg 7 kg 7 kg 13 kg 10 kg 5 kg 20 kg 10 kg shoulder height elbow height kuckle height 10 kg 16 kg 25 kg 15 kg kuckle height mid lower leg height 7 kg 13 kg 20 kg 10 kg mid lower leg height 3 kg 7 kg 10 kg 5 kg Figure 12 Liftig ad lowerig wome me The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 67 of 187

68 Health ad Safety What are the risks? Although some people are more at risk, everyoe ca suffer ijuries as a result of maual hadlig - this is why hazardous maual hadlig activities should be avoided if possible. If it is impossible to avoid such activity the it should be assessed ad risk reductio measures cosidered. Whe makig a assessmet, you may have to give particular attetio to the followig groups of people: youger, more iexperieced employees; older ad/or less physically fit employees; those with existig ijuries or coditios such as asthma; pregat employees. Maual/materials hadlig ca lead to ijuries ad musculoskeletal disorders i various parts of the body icludig the back, abdome, eck, upper limbs ad eve lower limbs. The cumulative effects of eve mior ijuries ca become more proouced over a period of time. Serious ad lastig damage to the spie ad other parts of the body ca result. Careful job desig ca avoid the problems of restrictig particular tasks to particular workers or the disruptio that ca follow if people are ijured. Poor liftig ad carryig, pushig ad pullig causes more tha 25% of the workrelated ijuries reported i the pritig idustry each year. Figure 13 Reel ad cylider trolleys reduce the amout of maual liftig ad carryig The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 68 of 187

69 Health ad Safety Reducig the risks Whe maual hadlig is uavoidable, look at the job ad thik about reducig the risk by providig mechaical help, for example: scissor lifts ad elevatig tables at folders ad guilloties; pile turers ad joggers to reduce the eed for had turig ad kockig up ; mechaical or free-ruig coveyors to reduce liftig ad carryig; hoists ad sligs at reelstads to reduce maual liftig of paper reels, especially those mouted o swig arms; reel coveyor trolleys for localised movemet of paper reels ito ad out of reelstads; cylider ad roller trolleys; reel shaft trolley; sack trucks. Other ways of reducig the risk iclude: makig the load smaller/lighter or easier to grasp, eg by buyig i smaller paper budles or chemical cotaiers; reorgaisig or redesigig the tasks to reduce the effort required; alterig workstatio heights to suit the worker; improvig the layout of the workplace to make the work more efficiet; esurig reasoable workig temperatures; esurig adequate maoeuvrig space has bee provided. Hadlig ewspaper ad magazie budles Specific guidace is available o the cotrol of risk from hadlig budles, comprisig two free leaflets (IACL105 Hadlig the ews: Advice for employers o maual hadlig of budles ad IACL106 Hadlig the ews: Advice for ewsagets ad employees o safe hadlig of budles) ad a traiig video What the papers weigh. The idustry has agreed a maximum budle weight of 18 kg, with a target to reduce this further to 17 kg to help reduce the risks to all those ivolved i the distributio chai - icludig delivery boys ad girls, ad ewsagets. Traiig Cosider providig every employee with basic traiig i maual hadlig techiques appropriate to the type of work they do. You will also have to cosider other more direct ways to reduce risk. Traiig should cover: how maual hadlig ca cause ijury; the essetials of the Maual Hadlig Operatios Regulatios 1992; how to recogise potetially harmful maual hadlig tasks/operatios; appropriate systems of work; correct use of mechaical aids; appropriate hadlig techiques. Further iformatio o maual hadlig ca be foud i the booklet Maual hadlig. Maual Hadlig Operatios Regulatios Guidace o Regulatios (L23) ad the leaflet Back i work: Maagig back pai i the workplace (INDG333). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 69 of 187

70 Health ad Safety Accidets A priter liftig a magazie budle weighig 12 kg oto a pallet ijured his lower back. He had ot bee give ay hadlig aids or traiig i correct liftig techiques. A employee attemptig to clear a jammed ewspaper budle o a coveyor ijured her back. She had ot bee give ay traiig or iformatio o maual hadlig techiques or budle clearig techiques. A maiteace fitter suffered back pai after liftig press ikig rollers weighig 23 kg. He had received o traiig or iformatio o maual hadlig. Use of mechaical liftig equipmet or assistace from a secod perso would have reduced the risk of ijury. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 70 of 187

71 Health ad Safety Assessig ad reducig risks Job Does the job require: Load Is the load: liftig or lowerig too far? rushig? carryig over log distaces? lots of repetitios? twistig ad turig? too heavy? too large? too ustable? too sharp? too difficult to grasp? Work area Is the work area: Idividuals Are idividuals: too dark? too slippery? too cogested/ obstructed? fit? i eed of special cosideratio? traied? Example tasks Loadig ad uloadig deliveries by had Short-term actio Provide help for heavy loads. Reduce the load size. Log-term solutio Palletise loads. Use lift trucks, pallet trucks, boom coveyors, vehicles with tail lifts etc. Movig materials to ad from machies Break dow the loads ito easily hadled uits. Fold or wrap over large sheets of paper. Use coveyors/ hoists/lift trucks/ pallet trucks etc. Use air tables, eg at guilloties. Loadig ad uloadig machies Raise pallets etc to the right height ad positio. Automate loadig/ uloadig operatios. Use mechaical aids, eg scissor lifts ad pile hoists. Assemblig ad packig Use appropriate, fit, traied persoel. Rotate the work to reduce repetitio. Provide a welllit workig eviromet with suitable seatig where appropriate. Automate. Provide mechaical aids. Preparig, maitaiig, movig ad repairig presses ad other equipmet Use appropriate, fit, traied persoel. Esure adequate workig space. Provide mechaical aids, eg hoists for removig cyliders etc. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 71 of 187

72 Health ad Safety Repetitive hadlig Repetitive hadlig ca preset particular problems ad give rise to coditios called work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) or upper limb disorders (ULDs). Sometimes the coditio is called repetitive strai ijury (RSI). The musculoskeletal system (ie the muscles, boes, ligamets, tedos) i our hads, arms, shoulders ad eck ca be harmed by static or awkward postures, excessive force levels ad repeated exertios. This is especially so whe these are combied with little opportuity for variety or other meas of recovery. Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD) ca cause all of the followig: pai; soft tissue swellig; restrictio of joit movemet; reduced sese of touch ad maual dexterity; permaet disability if other symptoms go utreated. Failure to take prompt actio ca result i: serious ill health. Well-motivated ad productive people have had to give up work because of pai ad disablemet from WRULDs; others have bee so badly affected that simple household tasks become difficult; lost productio due to employees takig sick leave; compesatio claims from employees that have had to stop workig because of WRULDs; employees complaiig of, or seekig medical attetio for, persistet pai or actual ijury; hidde costs, eg traiig ew staff or providig extra staff where sickess absece is high. Substatial cost savigs ca occur whe a prevetive strategy is adopted. Additioal iformatio about upper limb disorders is give i Work-related upper limb disorders i the pritig idustry (IACL91). To protect your employees from upper limb disorders you eed to be able to idetify the operatios that give rise to the risk ad take steps to reduce that risk. How to assess ad tackle ULDs Idetify the hazards The followig are examples of operatios which ca give rise to upper limb disorders (ULDs): Usig powered had tools. Usig pliers or scissors. Sealig boxes with tape. Had feedig/uloadig of machies. Assembly work. Coutig, sortig, checkig. Strippig, breakig, kockig-out, kockig-up. Flat pack wrappig. Maual hadlig of budles. Had isertio work. Jacketig of cased books. Hazards may also exist if the work ivolves frequet, forceful or awkward grippig, squeezig, twistig, ad repititio, pullig, pushig or liftig. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 72 of 187

73 Health ad Safety Warig sigs of upper limb disorders ca iclude complaits by workers ad improvised chages to workstatios or tools. If ay of the above are characteristic of your workplace you should do a full ergoomic risk assessmet. Do t forget to cosider the risks arisig from the use of display scree equipmet (see Chapter 3 for further advice). A systematic ad ergoomic approach will help to assess risks ad provide solutios. Reduce the risk Apply ergoomic priciples to machies, workstatios ad work methods so that the job fits the perso. For example: reduce high force levels (maitai equipmet properly, spread force levels, use tools with appropriately desiged hadles); reduce highly repetitive movemets (balace frequet repetitio with orepetitive work, carry out tasks with the other had, itroduce hadlig aids, use automatio, provide more varied tasks); provide rest/recovery time by breaks or activity chages before fatigue starts; chage postures (modify operatio, redesig work so the wrist ca be straight); chage the operator s positio i relatio to work; where people remai i the same positio, provide a mix of work requirig movemet. Other steps iclude: makig sure operators receive adequate iformatio, istructio ad traiig; beig aware of the mai causes/symptoms ad prevetive measures; reportig problems early before they become serious; esurig ew employees start at slower work rates before gradual upgradig; rotatig jobs (variatio of tasks); esurig that ay icetive schemes do ot adversely affect how the work is doe (eg esure sufficiet breaks are take). Future cotrol measures Examie risks from upper limb disorders whe plaig chages to work methods or purchasig ew machiery. Check that ergoomic priciples have bee icorporated i the desig. Cosider health surveillace, eg record keepig ad prompt medical assessmet whe problems are reported. Thik about ways to ecourage early reportig of symptoms. Look at sickess records ad staff turover. Cosider the possibility of alterative work if a perso caot cotiue i a particular job or where it will assist a retur to work. Itroduce a system to moitor the effectiveess of curret cotrol measures. Be alert to ay icrease i ULDs i the workplace, eg after a chage i process, ad take appropriate actio. Esure that there are arragemets for effective rehabilitatio (see Occupatioal health ad rehabilitatio earlier i this chapter). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 73 of 187

74 Health ad Safety Radiatio Lasers Laser use i the pritig idustry is icreasig. Applicatios iclude laser priters ad copiers, scaers, platemakers, egravers (i pritig cylider maufacture), package date markig, die cuttig ad typesettig. Radiatio hazards A laser is a source of itese light. Laser emissios ca be dagerous whe viewed either directly or whe reflected from a smooth surface. The greatest hazard is to the eye, because it focuses visible laser emissios to form a very small image o the retia. Power itesities ca be icreased by a factor of so that eve a few milliwatts of laser emissio ca cause serious ad permaet damage to the retia, ad therefore visio i the affected eye. It is importat to get a eye examiatio immediately followig hazardous persoal exposure, but routie eye examiatio as part of health surveillace is ot recommeded. Some types of laser produce ivisible beams that may still be focused by the eye to produce a harmful image o the retia. Ski burs may also be a risk that eeds assessmet. Fume hazards Laser copiers ad computer priters may give off ozoe, dust ad fume - this is seldom excessive ad ot ormally a problem if the equipmet is both well maitaied ad sited i a place that is effectively vetilated. Other types of equipmet may eed local exhaust vetilatio (LEV) - your COSHH assessmet will help you to decide the eed for this, ad your supplier should be able to advise. Mechaical ad electrical hazards As with ay machiery, dagers from movig parts ad from electrical istallatios exist - these hazards should be evaluated as part of your risk assessmet. Safeguardig stadards Laser products are classified i accordace with their level of hazard. BS EN : 1994 Safety of laser products Part 1: Equipmet classificatio, requiremets ad user s guide gives iformatio o class defiitios. Laser products used i the pritig idustry will geerally be Class 1 (safe by egieerig desig). This meas the laser ad workpiece will be fully eclosed durig ormal use. Lasers are geerally classified accordig to their output power, but remember that a Class 1 laser product may cotai a high-powered Class 4 laser iside its casig. Tamperig with or removal of shieldig or eclosure from a Class 1 product may result i exposure to a high-powered laser emissio. Also remember that harmful exposure ca result from reflected laser beams as well as those that are viewed directly. Avoid use of mirrors or reflective glass ear laser sources. Whe you acquire laser equipmet the supplier has a duty to provide adequate iformatio to you (see Acquirig machiery ad other work equipmet i Chapter 5). The iformatio provided by the supplier will help you develop suitable systems of work for the safe operatio of your equipmet. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 74 of 187

75 Health ad Safety Oly a competet perso (usually a service egieer) should carry out ay servicig or other work o your laser equipmet. A competet perso is someoe who is properly traied i laser safety ad who is able to follow a safe system of work which i may cases will iclude wearig suitable eye protectio. It is your resposibility to assess eye protectio eeds ad to esure your workers wear it (see Persoal protective equipmet (PPE) later i this chapter). For further iformatio o lasers see the booklet Laser safety i pritig. Ultraviolet (UV) light UV light is used i photoegravig ad lithographic platemakig ad to cure certai iks, vaishes ad lacquers, eg i lithographic, flexographic ad label pritig (see Hazardous substaces earlier i this chapter for hazards of UV-curable iks etc). UV light is typically geerated by a carbo arc, xeo discharge tube or mercury vapour discharge tube. Nowadays, carbo arcs are seldom used because of the fume they geerate (primarily carbo mooxide ad toxic oxides of itroge). Accidets A employee was dealig with a film misfeed o a imagesetter. He tured off the computer but forgot about the raster image processor (RIP). He opeed the cover to the film ad laser, ad used a override key to ru the film through maually so that he could fid the misfeed. But stored iformatio i the RIP caused the laser to start up uexpectedly, ad the employee suffered eye damage from the reflected laser emissio. Radiatio hazards Excessive UV exposure ca cause acute effects such as redess ad burig of the ski ad damage to the eyes (possibly causig paiful cojuctivitis). The oset of symptoms may be delayed for several hours after exposure. People who have had the les of the eye removed (aphakes) may suffer retial damage from exposure to UV light. Some people may have a abormally icreased sesitivity to the effects of UV light which may be a cosequece of oe of a umber of ucommo medical coditios or may result from exposure to a sesitisig chemical such as a prescribed drug, for example some atibiotics icludig tetracyclies ad sulphoamides, thiazide diuretics, tricyclic atidepressats, pheothiazies ad some other categories of drugs. Such sesitisatio may result i a exaggerated subur respose or i more varied ad less well localised ski chages. Ayoe who develops a abormal coditio affectig maily the light-exposed areas of the body may have become photosesitised. Further occupatioal exposure to UV light should stop ad the idividual should be referred to a doctor. UV exposure also icreases the risk of developig various types of ski cacer ad is associated with accelerated ski ageig ad cataracts. Ski cacer risk icreases with exposure level ad with exposure time ad is ot thought to have a exposure threshold below which there is o risk. Whe cosiderig acute effects, as a geeral rule, UVB sources (those emittig at wavelegths betwee 280 ad 320 m (aometres)) are more hazardous tha UVA sources (those emittig at wavelegths betwee 320 ad 400 m). UVC sources emit below 280 m ad are potetially the most harmful. UVC radiatio The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 75 of 187

76 Health ad Safety is, however, easy to remove as eve glass is a heavy absorber. This is a techically complex area, ad users may eed to take advice from their suppliers about the adequacy of their precautios. Fume hazards UV light sources used for curig are usually much more powerful tha those used i platemakig. It is importat to esure that where these lamps are aircooled they are well vetilated so that fume ad ozoe is removed. Safeguardig stadards Fixed or iterlocked screeig at UV light uits prevets direct or reflected UV emissio from beig emitted to the workroom where it would preset a risk to the ski ad eyes. It is importat that the screes, shutters ad sealig brushes o prit-dow frames are well maitaied, so that emissio leakage is preveted. It is particularly importat to check that lamp cowligs are adjusted so that UV escape, especially where reflective substrates are i use, is miimised. A commo failure is the splittig of ifill cavas screes. These should be regularly ispected ad replaced as ecessary. Figure 14 Scree all UV light sources adequately, preferably with automatic curtais or blids Prited sheets should ot be visually ispected uder a UV lamp because levels of reflected radiatio may be high: remove sheets from the press before ispectio. For some uusual maiteace work it may be ecessary to ru a UV lamp without screeig. I such cases, suitable eye protectio agaist UV emissio will be ecessary, together with clothig to cover exposed areas of ski. For further iformatio see Scree pritig ad Basic rules of machiery safety i Chapter 5. Ifrared sources Ifrared uits are used typically for dryig prited material at offset litho presses, as a alterative to the use of ati-set-off powder ad for accelerated dryig. The equipmet may be fitted retrospectively to existig machies. Radiatio hazards Ifrared light may cause eye ijury (especially to the les of the eye). I the pritig idustry, however, it is ulikely that sources will be of sufficiet output for this risk to be a serious problem. Exposure may also cause reddeig ad burs to the ski. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 76 of 187

77 Health ad Safety Fume hazards The iks used o litho presses have a low solvet cotet. There are geerally o fire, explosio or fume hazards arisig from their evaporatio, however you will eed to assess the fume hazards ad itroduce cotrol measures if ecessary. Safeguardig stadards Iterlockig of lamp uits with presses prevets the risk of fire whe machies are stopped durig a prit ru, or whe there is a misfeed. Dryers should be electrically isolated durig wash-up at machies ad usig flammable solvets should be avoided o the ifrared uit itself. Lamp eclosure may be ecessary to shield operators from excessive exposure ad to reduce levels of glare that might otherwise iterfere with work. Static elimiators Static electricity may be a problem i some plats. As well as the possibility of operators experiecig paiful static shocks, there is also the risk of static igitio of flammable vapours, for example where volatile, flammable solvets are used i processes such as web-fed gravure ad flexographic pritig. Polythee, PVC ad other isulatig substrates are particularly likely to geerate static. Static elimiators are used to prevet the build-up of uwated electrostatic charges ad so avoid the potetial for static igitio of flammable vapours. Static elimiators eed to be desiged so that they caot produce icediary sparks, ad where relevat eed to be costructed to a suitable explosio protectio stadard. Static elimiators may be used i cojuctio with static assist devices, or may be used to cotrol static geerated by the movemet of the web. Some static elimiators cotai small amouts of sealed radioactive material, which ioises the air. It is also possible to use static elimiators such as carbo fibre brushes, ad high voltage types, which do ot cotai radioactive material. It is importat that static elimiators are kept clea ad properly maitaied. The correct fittig of ay static elimiators is a skilled task ad it is recommeded that advice be take from the suppliers. Static elimiators cotaiig radioactive material should ot be tampered with or dismatled. If you suspect they are ot workig correctly, call the supplier. Ski disease (dermatitis) A detailed study i the pritig idustry has idetified that about 40% of pritig workers are likely to have suffered from a ski complait at some stage ad over 10% are likely to have a curret problem. This highlights the fact that ski problems are a importat problem i the pritig idustry, which were previously uderestimated. People workig i the pritig area ad ivolved i cleaig pritig machiery showed the greatest tedecy towards ski problems, but the evidece suggests that some problems ca exist i all areas of pritig. What is dermatitis? Dermatitis is a commo ski coditio, which is reported to affect betwee 15 to 20% of the UK populatio. The causes are varied. It is ofte quite simply a iflammatio of the ski, ad ca arise as a result of: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 77 of 187

78 Health ad Safety a iherited sesitivity to eczema (atopy); cotact with irritats such as soaps, solvets ad wet work; a allergy caused by cotact with certai substaces such as ickel or rubber. I the workplace all these factors may be ivolved. The pritig idustry uses developers, etchig solutios, solvets, iks, glues, gums, oils ad greases that ca all cause ski irritatio. Pritig processes with a high occurrece of ski problems are: platemakig; correctio of litho plates; solvet use; UV-cured ik use; materials cotaiig isocyaates; cleaig of litho rollers ad cyliders; guillotiig; hadlig press room cosumables. Fifty per cet of workers ivolved i the correctio of litho plates or cleaig of litho rollers ad cyliders are likely to have had a ski complait at some time. Affected areas The most commoly affected parts of the body are the figers ad the webs betwee the figers, closely followed by the back of the hads, particularly those of pritig press workers. These workers geerally also have more problems o the wrist, forearm ad elbows tha other workers. Somethig like three-quarters of those who have ever had a ski complait fid the problem clears up away from work. A majority of ski problems first occur after the age of 16. Symptoms The most frequetly reported symptoms by pritworkers, ad which are cosistet with irritat cotact dermatitis are: itchig; rough ski; dry ski; redess. Work-related substaces The most commo work-related substaces which geerally aggravate ski coditios are: wash-up solutios; iks ad cleaig solvets; UV varishes; UV iks; developers; thiers; had cleasers. Washig powders, cleaig agets ad persoal soaps both at work ad i the home ca also cause problems. Hadlig of paper, costat washig ad cotact with water ca all lead to dryess, ad itchy ad sore ski coditios. The disappearace of symptoms away from work, foud i about three-quarters of all priters with a ski complait, reiforces the eed for better ski care provisio i the idustry ad more awareess. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 78 of 187

79 Health ad Safety Why employers should take actio The Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 ad the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios 1999 require employers to assess risks to health as well as safety, such as dermatitis, ad take actio to prevet it. Also, dermatitis costs moey - from sickess absece, loss of productio, staff turover, retraiig etc. As part of their overall COSHH assessmets employers eed to assess the risks of dermatitis from the materials ad processes they use. Health surveillace should be carried out ad employees properly iformed, traied ad supervised (see earlier i this chapter uder Health surveillace ). Where there is exposure to substaces that may cause dermatitis ad the hads ad forearms are likely to be affected (for example where UV-curable iks, lacquers ad varishes are used) the followig measures will help protect employees. Arrage for a resposible perso such as a supervisor or first aider to be give traiig by a occupatioal health professioal o the symptoms ad sigs of dermatitis, ad set up a system of periodic ski ispectios. The frequecy of the ispectios will deped o the idividual circumstaces, eg the likely severity of the dermatitis that might develop, but would ormally be at least mothly. Arrage for ew employees to have their hads ad forearms ispected before they start work with the substace that might cause a ski reactio. Refer ay employee foud to have relevat symptoms or sigs to a suitable medical practitioer (ormally a occupatioal health physicia) who is familiar with the risks of the process ad the priciples of health surveillace. Trai employees so they ca recogise ad report relevat symptoms ad sigs of illess to the resposible perso. Further guidace is give i the booklet Assessig ad maagig risks at work from ski exposure to chemical agets (HSG205) ad Ski problems i the pritig idustry (IACL101rev1). Other health issues Workplace stress Stress is the secod biggest occupatioal health problem i the UK, after back pai. About 5 millio workers suffer from high levels of stress at work. How employers desig ad maage jobs affects the metal ad physical health of their employees. What are the effects of stress? Stress is people s atural reactio to excessive pressure - it is t a disease. But if the stress is itese or goes o for some time, it ca lead to metal ad physical ill health, such as depressio, ervous breakdow or heart disease. The symptoms of stress ca also iclude idecisio, axiety, altered appetite, chages i weight, headaches, backache, ski rashes ad difficulty i sleepig. What must employers do? It is the duty of all employers to make sure that their employees are ot made ill by their work. Where stress caused or made worse by work could be, or is, leadig to ill health, employers must assess the risk. A risk assessmet for stress ivolves: lookig for pressures at work which could cause high ad log-lastig levels of stress; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 79 of 187

80 Health ad Safety decidig who might be harmed by these; ad decidig whether the employer is doig eough to prevet that harm. If ecessary, employers must the take reasoable steps to deal with those pressures. Simply relyig o employees to maage their ow stress, for example by traiig them i relaxatio techiques, or just providig cousellig whe they experiece high or sustaied levels of stress is ot eough. Refer also to the sectio o occupatioal health services at the begiig of this chapter. Maagig stress Most of the thigs to do o stress boil dow to good maagemet, icludig good maagemet of health ad safety. They are ogoig processes that eed to be built ito the way a compay is ru. Takig stress seriously, ad beig uderstadig towards people who admit to beig uder too much pressure. Ecouragig maagers to have a ope ad uderstadig attitude to what people say to them about the pressures of their work, ad lookig for sigs of stress i their staff. Esurig that staff have the skills, traiig ad resources they eed, so that they kow what to do, are cofidet that they ca do it ad receive credit for it. If possible, providig some scope for varyig workig coditios ad flexibility, ad for people to ifluece the way their jobs are doe. This will icrease their iterest ad sese of owership. Esurig that people are treated fairly ad with cosistecy ad that bullyig ad harassmet are ot tolerated. Esurig good two-way commuicatio, especially at times of chage, ad ot beig afraid to liste. Workplace stress ad metal health Workplace pressure ca keep staff motivated ad be the key to a sese of job satisfactio, but people s ability to deal with pressure is ot limitless. Excessive workplace pressure ad resultig stress ca be harmful ad damagig to both your employees health ad to your busiess performace. Employers have a resposibility uder the HSW Act to take reasoable care to esure that health is ot put at risk through sustaied levels of stress arisig from the way the work is orgaised, the way people deal with each other or from day-today demads. It is kow that too little persoal cotrol over the work, ot beig allowed to use skills fully, beig overworked or uderworked, ad borig work ca all cotribute to stress. Lear to recogise sigs of stress ad ecourage employees to discuss problems opely - are people distracted, tese or worried? Give help, be sympathetic ad, if appropriate, advise employees to see their doctor. Delay ca make matters much worse. Further iformatio o stress at work ca be foud i the employer s guide Tacklig work-related stress: A maager s guide to improvig ad maitaiig employee health ad well-beig (HSG218) ad the leaflet Work-related stress: A short guide (INDG281). New ad expectat mothers at work Employers are required to take particular accout of risks to ew ad expectat mothers whe carryig out risk assessmets. Particular attetio should be give to The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 80 of 187

81 Health ad Safety liftig ad carryig, hours of work icludig ight work, work requirig log periods of stadig ad work ivolvig exposure to chemicals, eg exposure to lead. Employers eed to esure that exposure to carciogeic, mutageic or teratogeic substaces is preveted, as such exposure may create a risk to the ubor child. If a risk is idetified the suitable alterative work should be offered. If this is ot possible the worker should be give paid leave for as log as possible to protect her health ad safety ad that of her child. Further iformatio ca be foud i the booklet New ad expectat mothers at work. A guide for employers (HSG122). Drugs ad alcohol The misuse of alcohol ad drugs ca affect work performace ad potetially pose a threat to health ad safety. Employers ca beefit by developig a alcohol ad drugs policy. This policy should form part of the overall health ad safety policy. It should help employers idetify problems at a early stage, ecourage affected people to come forward for help ad treatmet ad esure appropriate cotrols. Work such as operatig machiery or drivig demads clear thikig ad soud judgemet. Where performace is impaired, people should ot be allowed to udertake such duties. All activities of employees who are i a place of work while uder the ifluece of drugs or alcohol should be strictly cotrolled. HSE s Employmet Medical Advisory Service ca advise o all aspects of occupatioal ill health icludig drug abuse. Further iformatio for employers is available i the leaflet Drug misuse at work (INDG91). Passive smokig Passive smokig is the breathig i of other people s tobacco smoke. It ca cause damage to health, make asthma worse ad cause lug cacer. Thik about agreeig rules with the workforce to protect o-smokers ad ecouragig ad helpig smokers to give up. Advice is give i the booklet Passive smokig at work (INDG63). The Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios 1992 require that rest rooms ad rest areas iclude suitable arragemets to protect o-smokers from discomfort caused by tobacco smoke. This ca be achieved by providig separate rest areas or rooms for smokers ad o-smokers or by prohibitig smokig i rest areas ad rest rooms. Humidifier fever Humidifier fever is a flu-like illess caused by ihalatio of fie droplets of water from humidifiers that have become cotamiated by micro-orgaisms. It should ot be cofused with Legioaires disease (see Legioellosis ). The symptoms of humidifier fever vary from mild fever with headache, malaise ad muscle weakess, to acute illess with high fever, cough, chest tightess ad breathlessess o exertio. The oset of symptoms is delayed, begiig four to eight hours after the start of the workig shift. The symptoms usually occur o the first day back at work after a weeked or other break ad ted to resolve over 12 to 16 hours. Humidifiers are sometimes used i prit compaies to stabilise paper size ad coditio. They are also preset i buildig air-coditioig systems. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 81 of 187

82 Health ad Safety Cotamiatio of humidifier systems is most likely to occur i iteral reservoirs withi the humidifiers ad i holdig taks, especially if the water is recirculated. Paper dust or ati-set-off powders may act as a utriet for the growth of microorgaisms if allowed to accumulate. Exposure the results from spray emitted from the cotamiated system. So far, cases of humidifier fever i the pritig idustry have bee associated with spiig disc ad spray-type humidifiers icorporatig holdig reservoirs. Prevetio ad cotrol Choose the humidificatio equipmet that is least likely to become cotamiated, eg steam humidifiers, compressed air atomisers that take water directly from the mais, or evaporative type humidifiers that do ot create water spray. Maitai clealiess - weekly cleaig may be ecessary i process eviromets, every two to three moths may be acceptable for offices. Esure that humidifiers are draied ad kept dry durig periods whe they are ot i use, ad are thoroughly cleaed ad disifected before they are used agai. If humidifier fever is suspected, tur off the humidifiers ad seek advice from both a medical practitioer ad a competet vetilatio egieer with the ecessary specialised kowledge of humidifiers. Legioellosis Legioaires disease is a peumoia that pricipally affects those who are susceptible due to age, illess, immuosuppressio, smokig etc ad may be fatal. Legioellae ca also cause less serious illesses that are ot fatal or permaetly debilitatig but which ca affect all types of people. Ifectio is attributed to ihalig legioellae. These bacteria are widespread i atural water sources but may multiply uder certai coditios if they eter ma-made systems or water services. Most cases ad outbreaks of legioellosis have bee attributed to water services i buildigs ad coolig towers; other sources may iclude humidificatio systems ad idustrial coolats. Plat ad systems cotaiig water which is likely to have a temperature i the rage C, ad which may release a spray or aerosol durig operatio or whe beig maitaied, may also preset a risk. The law The Notificatio of Coolig Towers ad Evaporative Codesers Regulatios 1992 require the otificatio to local authorities of wet coolig towers ad evaporative codesers. Legioaires disease: Cotrol of legioella i water systems. Approved Code of Practice (L8) gives guidace o complyig with the requiremets of the Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ad the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios 1999 i respect of this risk. Asbestos As a rough guide, if your buildig was built before the 1980s ad you carry out ay type of maiteace, repair or refurbishmet work, eve istallatio of ew cablig i a office, you could be exposig people to asbestos dust without realisig it. Ay idividual exposure may be small - but these ca build up ad may result i a asbestos-related disease later o i life. This is particularly relevat to maiteace persoel ad cotractors who could ukowigly disturb asbestos i premises built before 1985 if there are o records of what material is i the buildig. See the sectio i Chapter 1 dealig with the cotrol of cotractors ad Chapter 3 about the maagemet of asbestos i workplace buildigs. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 82 of 187

83 Health ad Safety Local exhaust vetilatio (LEV) Maiteace, examiatio, testig ad the law Uder regulatio 9 of the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios 1999, cotrol measures must be maitaied i a efficiet state, i efficiet workig order ad i good repair. Regular maiteace will esure this is achieved. Employers must also esure that thorough examiatios ad tests of LEV are carried out every 14 moths, ad appropriate records must be kept for at least five years. Someoe who has the ecessary traiig, kowledge, skills ad experiece should carry out maiteace, examiatio ad testig of LEV. Your isurace compay may have the competece required. Selectio ad use LEV is frequetly used ad ca be a effective way of cotrollig exposure to hazardous substaces. It works by drawig hazardous emissios away from the breathig zoes of workers ito a hood or booth ad ductwork coected to a extractor fa. LEV may also be used o machies for cotrollig hazardous substaces at the poit at which they are geerated. Examples of situatios where LEV might be ecessary iclude: scree pritig ad scree cleaig work; gravure pritig usig volatile solvets; UV uits where ozoe or ik fly is geerated; hot melt glue statios ad paper millig at adhesive biders. I may circumstaces LEV may be cheaper ad more effective tha geeral vetilatio. (Geeral dilutio vetilatio works by itroducig fresh air ito the workplace to lower the geeral level of hazardous substaces i the air.) Heat losses from LEV may be miimised by heat recovery systems or recirculatio of filtered air. Recirculatio should oly be employed after specialist advice to prevet the recirculatio of hazardous materials i harmful quatities. Makig the most of LEV Get a expert to desig ad istall the most appropriate system, with the right hoods/eclosures, ductwork, air velocities ad cleaig ad filtratio systems. It is sesible to ivolve employees i discussios about the desig of the systems, as they have to use the plat ad will have views about what is workable. I geeral: Keep the extractio as close to the source of cotamiatio as possible. Make sure the fa draws air away from the operator. Extract at the same level or below the source of cotamiat uless there is eed to cotrol fume risig from a heated source. Extractio positioed above the operator s head will draw harmful substaces ito their breathig zoe. Check, clea out ad maitai the system regularly, particularly flexible ductwork. If ecessary, provide eough heatig ad lightig (suitably protected) withi the eclosure to ecourage work to be doe iside the extracted area. Commo causes of LEV failure The followig are commo causes of LEV failure ad are easily checked by you. It helps to keep a record of these checks: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 83 of 187

84 Health ad Safety physical damage to ad poor positioig of hoods ad booths; damaged ad/or blocked ductwork; blocked, damaged, usuitable or icorrectly istalled filters; too high/low water levels i wet collectors; wear, corrosio or build-up of cotamiat o fa blades; slippig or broke drive belts to fas; poor lubricatio of fa bearigs; poor fitmet of the ductwork. Bad Good Bad Good Figure 15 Make sure fas draw air away from the operator Persoal protective equipmet (PPE) If you are thikig of usig persoal protective equipmet (PPE) to cotrol employees exposure to substaces hazardous to health, remember that COSHH limits its use to situatios where it is ot reasoably practicable to use other cotrol measures such as local exhaust vetilatio. PPE ad the law The Persoal Protective Equipmet at Work Regulatios 1992 require employers to: assess risks to health ad safety which have ot bee avoided before providig PPE; provide suitable PPE free of charge to protect employees agaist risks which have ot bee cotrolled by other meas; take all reasoable steps to esure it is properly used; maitai PPE provided i clea ad efficiet workig order with appropriate storage accommodatio for it whe it is ot i use; give iformatio, istructio ad traiig i its use. Employees must use the PPE provided ad report ay loss or obvious defect to the employer. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 84 of 187

85 Health ad Safety BAD GOOD BAD GOOD GOOD BAD BAD GOOD Figure 16 Some priciples of good ductig desig Respiratory protective equipmet (RPE) Choosig Whe choosig respiratory protectio cosider the job to be doe i detail. Idetify the cotamiat ad the likely level of exposure agaist which protectio is required ad take ito accout the workig eviromet i which it will be wor. Differet types of RPE offer differet levels of protectio ad the correct type has to be matched agaist the job, icludig the potetial levels of exposure, ad the wearer. Assess the work carefully ad cosult the suppliers of the substace i use ad the protective equipmet. British (BS) ad Europea (EN) Stadards set out the specificatios for respiratory protective devices ad filters. Check that equipmet is marked to idicate coformity with a stadard. Uless it is a good fit ad properly wor, RPE will ot offer effective protectio ad will ot perform as desiged. Maitaiig Thoroughly examie ad, where appropriate, test RPE at least oce a moth ad more frequetly where coditios are severe. (This does ot apply to oe-shift disposable respirators.) Half-mask respirators used oly occasioally agaist dust or fumes of relatively low toxicity may be examied at loger itervals, but ot less tha oce every three moths. Make sure employees have facilities to clea respirators ad kow how to do this without damagig them. Esure that breathig air supplied to air-fed equipmet is satisfactory; proprietary equipmet to do this is widely available. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 85 of 187

86 Health ad Safety Figure 17 Employers eed to provide suitable PPE ad iformatio Figure 18 Examples of respiratory protective equipmet Eye protectio Eye protectio will have to be provided ad used (sometimes throughout the whole workshop) where work that puts eyes at risk is carried out, eg: the use of pressure-cleaig appliaces which leads to the projectio of spray ad particles; the use of hazardous substaces, such as solvets which may splash ito the eye; i maiteace departmets, gridig ad other machiig processes, which lead to the ucotrolled ejectio of metallic particles. BS EN 166: 1996 Persoal eye-protectio. Specificatios sets out the stadard for eye protectio for idustrial ad o-idustrial uses. Special arragemets are appropriate for people who ormally wear glasses such as the use of goggles or safety glasses. Ski protectio The selectio of suitable protective gloves ca be a complicated procedure. Seek expert help from maufacturers or distributors. For the glove to be suitable it must: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 86 of 187

87 Health ad Safety be appropriate for the risk(s) ad the coditios where it is used; take ito accout the ergoomic requiremets ad state of health of the perso wearig it; fit the wearer correctly, if ecessary, after adjustmets; either prevet or cotrol the risk ivolved without icreasig the overall risk. Further iformatio, icludig a table with a simple guide to selectio, is give i the leaflet Selectig protective gloves for work with chemicals (INDG330), the booklet Cost ad effectiveess of chemical protective gloves for the workplace (HSG206) ad the leaflet Ski problems i the pritig idustry (IACL101rev1). For other protective clothig requiremets see Work with UV-curable materials earlier i the chapter. Storage of PPE Suitable accommodatio should be provided for PPE whe it is ot i use. The storage should be adequate to protect the PPE from cotamiatio, loss, or damage by, for example, harmful substaces, damp or sulight. Where PPE becomes cotamiated durig use, the accommodatio should be separate from ay provided for ordiary clothig, ad where ecessary be suitably labelled. Special arragemets may have to be made to clea PPE. Make sure you iform your cleaers about ay hazards. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 87 of 187

88 Health ad Safety Chapter 5 Process safety See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to PROCESS SAFETY ad also see Appedix 1 Safeguardig terms Relevat legislatio The Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) requires employers to esure, so far as is reasoably practicable, the health, safety ad welfare at work of their employees. This duty exteds to the provisio ad maiteace of plat ad machiery that is safe ad without risks to health. The Provisio ad Use of Work Equipmet Regulatios 1998 (PUWER 98) place geeral duties o employers to esure that the work equipmet they provide is suitable ad safe for use. Maufacturers ad suppliers have duties uder the Supply of Machiery (Safety) Regulatios 1992 (ameded 1994) to provide ew equipmet that meets certai essetial health ad safety requiremets ad is safe. Employers, however, should still assess all equipmet to esure it is safe ad free from patet defects before brigig it ito use. The fact that a machie is CE marked does ot ecessarily mea that it is safe for use i your pritworks - you may have procedures ad acillary processes that were ot cosidered by the maufacturer so you will still eed to do your ow risk assessmet. Provisio ad Use of Work Equipmet Regulatios 1998 (PUWER 98) The mai requiremets of the Regulatios which will eed to be met by employers i the pritig idustry are to esure that: equipmet is suitable for the use that will be made of it ad is ot used for usuitable applicatios (eg uprotected electrical equipmet i potetially explosive atmospheres); equipmet is adequately maitaied; guards ad protective devices are kept i good workig order, eg by performig daily/weekly checks o the satisfactory operatio of photoelectric or iterlocked guards; equipmet whose safe operatio is critically depedet o its coditio i use ad where deterioratio would lead to sigificat risk, such as power-operated guilloties ad had-fed plate presses, are ispected at suitable itervals by a competet perso; adequate iformatio, istructio ad traiig is give to operators, eg lift truck operators; ew equipmet (icludig secod-had equipmet from outside the Europea Ecoomic Area) coforms with product safety legislatio, eg the Supply of Machiery (Safety) Regulatios 1992 ad amedmets; hazardous parts of machiery are guarded, eg i-ruig ips at cyliders ad rollers; there is protectio agaist specific hazards, eg disitegratio ad ejectio of slittig discs; cotrol devices are clearly visible, properly marked, uambiguous, reliable ad perform all the tasks ecessary for safe operatio, eg provisio of emergecy stop ad other cotrols where appropriate; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 88 of 187

89 Health ad Safety equipmet ca be isolated from the electrical supply ad other sources of eergy, eg usig a properly earthed electrical supply isolator adjacet to the machie, or isolatig gas valves at heat-set oves; adequate lightig is provided, eg at the test sheet removal area of a sheet-fed press; maiteace ca be carried out safely, eg provisio of ladderways ad workig platforms o large web presses for maiteace of free ruig rollers; equipmet is stable, eg bolted to the floor. Basic rules of machiery safety Every year serious accidets occur i the pritig idustry as a direct result of uguarded or iadequately maitaied machiery. Just because you have t had a accidet at a particular machie, do t assume that the machie is safe. Machiery may eed upgradig to meet the right safety stadards. Do a risk assessmet to check whether your guardig is suitable, the take ay ecessary actio to reduce risks. (See Plaig ad risk assessmet i Chapter 1.) The followig are examples of basic steps you ca take to reduce the risk of machiery accidets at work: 1 Choose the right machie for the job. 2 Check that it is adequately guarded, eg is there protectio from i-ruig ip hazards at ikig rollers ad pritig cyliders, is trasmissio machiery eclosed, are all iterlocks workig correctly, are gap covers provided ad used where ecessary? 3 Esure operators ad supervisors are adequately iformed, istructed ad traied so they kow how to work safely ad how to use the guards ad safety devices provided. Some machies, icludig guilloties ad plate pritig machies, are extremely hazardous. Youg people i particular are likely to eed additioal traiig ad a high level of supervisio. 4 Check adequate lightig has bee provided for work at all machies. 5 Provide clear workig space aroud machiery. 6 Test ad check machiery regularly to esure safeguards are workig. 7 Carry out maiteace work o a proactive rather tha reactive basis. Machiery guardig All machiery must be guarded so that access is ot possible to hazardous parts. Wherever possible, fixed guards should be used. However, if regular access is eeded to hazardous parts, eg pritig cyliders, the iterlockig guards, trip ip bars, fixed ip bars, a electrosesitive safety system or a combiatio of the above will be more appropriate. Europea Norm (EN) Stadards give specificatios for ew machies. However, some of these stadards may also be relevat to existig machies. Guards should be carefully desiged, costructed ad fitted to esure that they are: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 89 of 187

90 Health ad Safety i accordace with the safety reach distaces laid out i BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs so that opeigs i or aroud guards do ot allow access to the hazardous parts; sufficietly robust, eg ip bars do ot become deflected; ot heavy or awkward to use (eg some gap covers ad lift-off iterlocked guards provided for flexo presses); desiged to allow operators to see certai machie fuctios (eg gluig uit o a adhesive bider); desiged to be compatible with machiery operatio (eg fittig of wash-up trays); of adequate electrical/electroic itegrity (eg suitable for use withi flammable atmospheres at gravure presses), ad reliable eough for a safety applicatio; are located close eough to rollers if they are ip bars (ie o more tha 6 mm from the cylider surface); desiged so that they do ot cause a hazard themselves. The followig are examples of machiery hazards - some or all of these may be relevat to your workplace. Parts of the body, clothig ad cleaig cloths ca become etagled i rotatig ad i-ruig parts such as ikig ad dampig rollers, pritig cyliders, ippig rollers or trasmissio machiery. Trasmissio machiery Coveyors Gears Ik rollers Nippig rollers Pritig cyliders Figure 19(a) Idetifyig basic machiery hazards The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 90 of 187

91 Health ad Safety Shearig ca occur betwee parts movig past oe aother. (a) (b) Whe a cylider has a gap i it as show i (a), a gap cover which completes the periphery of the cylider as show i (b) ca be fitted. This elimiates the shear trap which arises whe the cylider rotates past the fixtures. Crushig ca occur betwee parts movig towards each other or betwee fixed ad movig parts, eg the traps betwee gripper bars ad machie body o certai litho presses, traps created by closig scissor lifts or traps created betwee movig parts of machies ad fixed structures, eg litho proofig presses. Figure 19(b) Idetifyig basic machiery hazards Iterlockig guards Opeig a iterlocked guard should stop movemet of hazardous parts before they ca be reached. Alteratively, guard lockig ca be used to prevet the opeig of guards util hazardous movemet has stopped (this is particularly appropriate for machies with log rudow times). Iterlocked guards should be used where there is a eed for frequet access. Cuttig ad severig ca occur at sharp edges or surfaces, eg web-severers, slitters ad guillotie blades. Materials ca be ejected from machiery, eg reels from reelstads ad hot glues from adhesive bidig machies. Electricity ca also cause accidets at machies (see Chapter 6). Figure 19(c) Idetifyig basic machiery hazards The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 91 of 187

92 Health ad Safety Guard iterlocks ca fail as a result of age or rough treatmet. They should be desiged to work i the positive mode so that uder ormal circumstaces a failure of the iterlock switch prevets machie operatio. Switch A Positive mode Switch B Negative mode Switch A is istalled i the positive mode, ie the cotacts have bee opeed by the positive mechaical actio of the cam. Switch B is istalled i the egative mode, ie the cotacts are opeed by sprig pressure whe the cam is rotated. Whe switches are used sigly, the positive mode should be used. Failure should prevet operatio of the machie. Positive switches are also more difficult to defeat. The use of two cam-operated switches positioed ext to each other but operatig i opposite modes provides a eve better stadard. 6 Guard overlap Figure 20 Itegrity of guard iterlocks Machie cotrols Cotrol switches should be clearly marked to show what they do. Emergecy stop cotrols should be provided where ecessary, eg red mushroom-headed buttos o a yellow backgroud, withi easy reach of operator positios that stop all hazardous motio ad require positive resettig. Operatioal cotrols should be desiged ad placed to avoid accidetal operatio, eg by the use of shrouds o start buttos ad pedals. Presses with reverse facilities should have the reverse cotrols distiguishable by touch. This is usually doe by the use of deep shrouds. Higed flaps ca also be used. Multi-operator equipmet Multi-operator presses should have pre-start warig devices which automatically give a audible warig whe a ich, crawl or ru butto is depressed. A acoustic sigal of oe to three secods duratio should be give. From the momet the sigal is activated, at least three secods should elapse (waitig time) before the machie ca be started by repeated activatio of the same or differet cotrol elemet. After the waitig time or after a precedig operatio i the ich mode (ot cotiuous ru mode) the machie ca be started withi 0 to 12 secods (release time) without aother audible warig. After the release time or activatio of a stop cotrol, or the emergecy stop, it should oly be possible to operate the machie after repeatig the whole of the above sequece (see Figure 21). Zoig of cotrols should be used o multi-operator presses or other equipmet where the visio of a secod operator may be obscured. A zoed cotrol will oly allow limited movemet (slow crawl or ich) of a specific press area with a guard ope, such as oe side of a prit uit, or a sigle sectio of a gatherer-stitchertrimmer, whe all other guards are i the closed positio. Where hazardous parts have log rudow times, iterlockig methods icorporatig brakig ad/or guard lockig should be used. Systems should be desiged to icorporate a device to either cause the hazard to be elimiated as the guard is opeed (by applyig a brake), or prevet the guard from beig opeed util the risk of ijury from the hazard has passed (guard lockig). The Stadard pren 1010 Safety of machiery. Safety requiremets for the desig ad costructio of pritig ad paper covertig machiery requires guard lockig to be provided o ew presses with rudow times i excess of te secods. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 92 of 187

93 Health ad Safety Figure 21 Audible pre-start warig sigal sequeces Cotrol defiitios for press movemet True ich - a sigle depressio of the cotrol butto causig a movemet of 25 mm measured circumferetially. It should ot be possible to cause uiterrupted movemet of the cyliders by repeated depressio of the ich butto. Limited ich - a sigle depressio of the cotrol butto causig a movemet greater tha 25 mm but less tha 75 mm circumferetially. It should ot be possible to cause uiterrupted movemet of the cyliders by repeated depressio of the ich butto. Hold-to-ru slow crawl - uiterrupted movemet of the cyliders at 1 m/mi (5 m/mi for web-fed machies) caused by cotiued depressio of the cotrol butto. Crawl speed may be icreased to a maximum of 5 m/mi (10 m/mi for web-fed machies) oly if there is o substatial icrease i hazard. Cotiuous slow crawl - uiterrupted movemet of the cyliders at 1 m/mi (5 m/mi for web-fed machies) which does ot require cotiued depressio of the cotrol butto. Crawl speed may be icreased to a maximum of 5 m/mi (10 m/mi for web-fed machies) oly if there is o substatial icrease i hazard. Note: Certai other types of machies, eg gatherer-stitcher-trimmers, folders, have icreased slow crawl speeds ecessary for settig purposes. These are referred to where relevat later i this chapter. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 93 of 187

94 Health ad Safety To measure crawl speed - cout the umber of revolutios per miute ad multiply by the cylider circumferece. Trip ip bar performace stadard - after trippig the stop fuctio, the legth of movemet of the trip bar should be greater tha the stoppig distace of the cylider, ie cylider movemet should cease withi the deflectio travel distace of the trip bar. (See box isert below Table 6 for testig procedure.) Safe systems of work A safe system of work is a agreed, documeted, safe job method based o risk assessmet that is desiged to reduce the risk of accidets or ill health. Examples are the ich-stop-clea or ich-stop-lock-clea safe systems of work which miimise the risk of figers beig draw ito i-ruig ips. It is essetial that the correct system of work is used for the task - for press cleaig, see the tables uder the sectios dealig with each press type. Safe systems of work for press cleaig There are three mai safe systems: Ich-stop-lock-clea. I this system, the press is subject to limited movemet usig the ich butto, stopped ad the power isolated usig the emergecy stop butto before applyig the solvet-soaked cloth. I multi-operator operatio, each perso must retai cotrol over the re-settig of their ow emergecy stop butto so that it is ot possible for aother perso to cause the press to move uexpectedly. Ich-stop-clea. I this system the cyliders are rotated eough to expose the ext sectio of cylider surface to be cleaed. The had with the cleaig cloth is held clear of the cylider while it is rotatig. The cylider should be statioary before the solvet-soaked cloth is applied. For machies with a true or limited ich cotrol, several depressios of the butto may be required to expose eough of the cylider surface to clea. Multi-operator cleaig is acceptable usig this system oly where zoed prit uit cotrols are provided, ie cylider movemet at each prit uit ca occur ad be cotrolled idepedetly of the rest. Figure 22 Emergecy stop cotrols should be provided withi reach of all operatig positios The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 94 of 187

95 Health ad Safety A variatio of this system ca be used o sheet-fed presses with semi-automatic plate chage. By makig use of the plate chage cycle, ad pre-cockig the cylider positio, there is almost a complete revolutio at slow speed which is sufficiet to allow cleaig of the whole cylider surface without allowig exposure to the cylider gap. Slow crawl cleaig. I this method, the cleaig cloth is applied to the cylider as it rotates at very slow speed. Movemet is cotrolled usig holdto-ru slow crawl cotrols or o-hold-to-ru cotrols (cotiuous slow crawl). Note: This method is oly acceptable where the defied trip ip performace is met ad rigorous guard checkig is doe. See box isert below Table 6 for the defiitio of trip ip performace. Accidet A operator was cleaig the blaket cylider of a press o cotiuous slow crawl. The rag he was usig was draw ito the ip betwee the plate ad blaket cylider. The press was fitted with a trip-ip bar which stopped the machie but oly after the priter s had had bee take i up to the wrist. The accidet could have bee preveted by usig the appropriate safe system of work ad checkig the performace of the trip bar. Other essetial safeguards Operators should kow how to stop a machie before they start it. All guards should be i positio ad all protective devices workig. Cylider gap covers should be used where provided by the maufacturer. Hickeys (fluff) should oly be removed from movig cyliders usig a proper hickey picker (such as a rubber blade mouted o a woode hadle). Rags should ever be applied to movig rollers or other parts such as duct rollers or oily trasmissio machiery. Machiery maiteace All guards ad other safety devices should be kept i good workig order ad checked regularly, eg daily checks o guilloties ad had-fed plates, ad weekly checks o presses. Machiery should be isolated from all power sources before maiteace work, icludig lubricatio, is carried out, especially if the work ivolves the removal of guards. Safeguards should be checked after ay modificatios to machiery. Maiteace eeds should be cosidered before istallig ew machies. Prevetive, rather tha breakdow, maiteace procedures should be implemeted. Safety hazards by process Pre-press Maual desig ad art work Although this is geerally a low-risk area, take care with scalpels which should be sheathed whe ot i use. Provide iclied lay-up boards with a high lip at the base to prevet scalpels fallig from them. Dispose of used scalpel blades safely - do t just put them ito waste bis. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 95 of 187

96 Health ad Safety Electroic/digital image preparatio Typesettig ad electroic pre-press ivolve large amouts of work at visual display uits (VDUs). The use of VDUs by the employed ad self-employed is covered by the Health ad Safety (Display Scree Equipmet) Regulatios Employers have a duty to make sure that the display scree equipmet is safe ad does ot affect the user s health. Experiece has show that repeated use of iput devices like a mouse ca lead to upper limb disorders so it is importat to cosider all the risks. Workers usig VDUs eed well-desiged work areas with suitable lightig ad comfortable, adjustable seatig. This helps to prevet udue tiredess, reduce eye strai, ad prevet pais i the hads, arms, eck, shoulders ad back. Place VDUs i a positio where lightig will ot cause reflectios or glare o the scree. No special precautios are ecessary agaist radiatio - the levels emitted from VDU equipmet are well below the recommeded safe levels. Employers must: aalyse the workstatios of employees covered by the Regulatios ad assess ad reduce the risks; esure the workstatios meet miimum requiremets; pla so there are breaks or chages of activity; trai ad iform display scree users about the health ad safety aspects of their work; provide eye examiatios ad tests for users o request ad special spectacles where required - for a defiitio of users ad further advice see VDUs: A easy guide to the Regulatios (HSG90). Trailig electrical ad digital data cables ca cause accidets. Ru cables i ducts, uder the floor, aroud the walls or i a pedat dropped from the ceilig. Computer ad digital data hadlig equipmet ofte geerates large amouts of heat. Good geeral vetilatio ad/or air coditioig should cope with this. Automatic gas-floodig fire-protectio systems may be used to protect major systems. Set up procedures to esure that whe persoel eter the protected space the automatic fire protectio system is switched to maual ad illumiated idicators are provided to show the system s operatig mode. Graphic reproductio ad platemakig Scree all UV light sources adequately. Screeig o pritdow frames ca take the form of curtais (preferably automatic or iterlocked), automatic shutters or automatic roller blids. Blids should be maitaied i good coditio. Brushes should be used to reduce leakage of UV light aroud the periphery of the frame o pritdow boxes. O large format pritdow frames, as foud i scree pritig, the UV sources should be positioed so that light is directed away from doors, widows ad passageways, ad screeed from other work areas, eg by usig curtais. Timer switches (or other o/off cotrols) should be located outside the screeed area. Provide laser cotaiig equipmet such as scaers ad image setters with iterlocked covers as part of the laser beam screeig to esure that Class 1 coditios are met (ie the output of the laser light is iheretly safe) ad to prevet access to rotatig parts of machiery. See the Radiatio sectio i Chapter 4 for more iformatio. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 96 of 187

97 Health ad Safety Rollers o automatic film ad litho plate developers eed periodic cleaig. The best method is to remove the rollers before cleaig. I-ruig ips eed to be guarded (this is usually achieved by usig iterlocked guards) except where the rollers are held i positio by their ow weight ad the maximum force that could result is 50 ewtos. Rollers should ot be cleaed while the machies are ruig as figers may be draw ito i-ruig ips. Make sure drip trays have bee provided beeath auto film ad plate processors. Hot surfaces o plate developer pre-heat ad bakig oves should be shielded to prevet cotact. Assess the ergoomic risks arisig from hadlig ad loadig of plates ad film ito computer-to-plate uits (see Maual hadlig i Chapter 4). Plate bedig machies eed to either be adequately safeguarded or provided with a simultaeous two-had cotrol. O plate puchig devices the movemet of the puchig tool should be safeguarded either by desig or by providig guards. Durig flexographic platemakig, mouldig presses are frequetly used to impose heat ad/or pressure to rubber or sythetic compouds. The closig movemet of these presses should be safeguarded. Local exhaust vetilatio should be provided for the heat ad fume geerated. Also cosider extractio for solvet wash-off from photopolymer plates ad persoal protective equipmet such as suitable gloves where there is a possibility of ski cotact with ucured photopolymers. (See Persoal protective equipmet i Chapter 4.) Covetioal litho proofig presses The dager of hads beig trapped i the shear traps created by the movig carriage of litho proofig presses should be elimiated. Trip devices should be provided at each ed of the carriage which actuate a fail-safe stop device to arrest movemet of the carriage. Where hazardous i-ruig ips exist at the statioary dampig ad ikig roller uits, they should be guarded, eg by fixed ip bars. May litho proofig presses avoid this hazard by havig lift out rollers or stoppig these rollers whe the carriage moves away. The ikig ad dampig rollers o the moveable carriage should be safeguarded either by iterlockig guards, fixed ip bars or other effective meas. The actio of sheetig off is a hazardous operatio which should be prohibited. Regularly maitai ad check safety features o all proofig presses. Digital pritig ad copyig May of the health ad safety cosideratios required for traditioal pritig are also relevat to digital pritig ad copyig. The mai risks iclude: Maual hadlig - paper is heavy ad it is importat to keep the area aroud machies clear to allow easy access to clear paper jams etc (see Chapter 4). Electrical - maitai electrical equipmet ad esure cables ad coectors do ot become damaged (see Chapter 6). Fire - maitai a clear airflow to allow proper coolig of the machie ad remove rubbish regularly (see Chapter 7). UV light - take precautios to esure that strog light sources i photocopiers ad large reprographics istallatios are adequately shrouded (see Chapter 4). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 97 of 187

98 Health ad Safety Hazardous movig parts - feeder trays, staplers ad other attachmets have the potetial to trap figers. Remember to isolate the machie before clearig blockages ad to replace guards ad covers before operatig. Associated fiishig machiery, such as guilloties, should be properly guarded ad those guards maitaied. Chemicals ad ozoe - always hadle ad chage toer or cleaig agets i accordace with the maufacturer s istructios. Provide adequate vetilatio to prevet build-up of heat ad ozoe (see Chapter 4). Broke glass - the top glass of copiers ca break if abused. Pritig Litho sheet-fed Where access to movig parts is eeded, eg for cleaig ad make-ready operatios o pritig machies, the guard cotrol circuits should be iterlocked so that with guards ope the machie ca be operated by holdto-ru cotrols (or o slow crawl oly where a trip ip device meetig the performace stadard detailed later i this chapter is achieved). The hold-to-ru cotrol devices should be desiged to allow: machie movemet limited to 25 mm (true ich) o each depressio of the cotrol or a maximum operatig speed of 1 m/mi; or where the measures defied above would reduce the ability of the machie to perform its fuctio ad where there would be o substatial icrease i risk, machie movemet limited to a maximum of 75 mm (limited ich) or a maximum operatig speed of 5 m/mi. Where iterlocked guards allow hold-to-ru slow crawl or ichig, cylider trip ip bars withi 6 mm of the cylider surface which stop pritig cylider movemet withi the deflectio travel distace of the bar should be provided to prevet the risk of etaglemet i cotra-rotatig rollers or cyliders, especially where gap covers are ot provided. Fixed ip bars are oly acceptable i cojuctio with cylider gap covers where there is a slow crawl fuctio. The prit uit guardig optios for sheet-fed presses are summarised i Table 5. Figure 23 Two-colour press fitted with slotted, iterlocked, all-eclosig guards The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 98 of 187

99 Health ad Safety Figure 24 I multi-operator presses a audible pre-start warig device should be fitted Hazard Sheet-fed offset I-ruig ips betwee ikig ad dampig roller assemblies I-ruig ips betwee the plate, blaket ad impressio cyliders I-ruig ips betwee impressio/ trasfer cyliders Uexpected start-up durig multi-operator cleaig Safeguard All-eclosig iterlocked guards with either o powered movemet or true ich oly whe the guard is raised. A eclosig iterlocked guard which allows limited powered movemet whe raised by meas of true or limited ich, or hold-to-ru or cotiuous slow crawl; ad a trip ip bar adjusted to withi 6 mm of the cylider surface which either meets the performace stadard detailed i the box isert uder Table 6, or is supplemeted by cylider gap covers for both plate ad blaket cyliders, or there is o facility for cotiuous slow crawl; or a eclosig iterlocked guard as above supplemeted by fixed ip bars adjusted to withi 6 mm of the cylider surface ad gap covers for both plate ad blaket cyliders. Fixed ip bars are ot adequate i the absece of cylider gap covers uless there is o facility for cotiuous slow crawl; or o certai old machies, trip ip bars which do ot meet the performace stadard (see the box isert uder Table 6) or fixed ip bars, i either case adjusted to withi 6 mm of the cylider surface ad close-fittig gap covers for both plate ad blaket cyliders. There should be o facility for cotiuous slow crawl. Users should pla to upgrade such presses by the additio of eclosig iterlocked guards. A eclosig iterlocked guard which allows limited powered movemet whe raised by meas of true or limited ich. A emergecy stop (or stop-lock ) cotrol should be provided at each prit uit. Pre-start audible warig device. Table 5 Safeguardig sheet-fed offset presses Safeguardig other parts of litho presses Guardig is required for the hazardous parts of feed tables, icludig: i-ruig ips associated with chais ad sprockets; rotatig shafts; swig arm grippers. Trasfer cyliders ad delivery mechaisms eed high stadards of guardig due to the severity of ijury they cause. Iterlocked ad/or fixed guards are essetial. The iterlock arragemet should oly allow the press to be iched (true or limited) due to the severity of the hazard ad usual lack of ip bars. The delivery mechaism guardig should permit the safe removal of test sheets. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 99 of 187

100 Health ad Safety Clearly mark all press cotrols. Emergecy stop cotrols should ormally be provided at all operatig cosoles ad withi easy reach of all other operatig positios ad prit statios, ad should stop all hazardous movemet. O certai smaller existig presses without powered ichig/crawlig, additioal emergecy stop cotrols will ot be ecessary as they will ot ehace the overall safety of the machie. Cotrol statios o uits should preferably be laid out so that hold-to-ru cotrols are above, or immediately adjacet to, the emergecy stop cotrols. O multi-operator presses, or those o which it is ot possible to clearly see all over the press from ay cotrol statio, a audible pre-start warig device should be fitted (see uder Machie cotrols i the Basic rules of machiery safety sectio earlier i this chapter). Guards ad other protective devices eed to be regularly maitaied ad checked (see Chapter 8). A weekly check of the guards, their operatio, the hold-toru cotrols ad the emergecy stop cotrol should esure that presses remai properly guarded. Hickeys (fluff) should ever be removed from a movig cylider except with a proper hickey picker. Rags should ever be applied to movig ikig or dampig rollers icludig duct rollers, eve if adjacet rollers are well guarded, because of the risk of etaglemet. Figure 25 Hickeys should ot be removed from movig cyliders except with a proper hickey pickig stick Safe systems of work for sheet-fed press cleaig A very high proportio of the accidets to priters result from cleaig tasks (see Chapter 1). Use Table 6 to select the appropriate safe system of work. Ikig roller guards Ikig ad dampig roller guard Cylider gap covers Paper feed mechaism guards Cylider trip ip bar Plate ad blaket cylider guard Delivery mechaism guards Figure 26 Basic guards for a sigle-colour press The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 100 of 187

101 Health ad Safety Task Risk factors System of work Sheet-fed offset Cleaig ikig rollers, multior sigle-operator cleaig Cleaig plate ad blaket cyliders, sigle-operator cleaig Cleaig plate ad blaket cyliders, multi-operator cleaig Cleaig impressio ad trasfer cyliders, multi- or sigle-operator cleaig It should ot be possible to access rollers whe i motio Frequet lack of gap covers with resultat accessibility behid trip ip/ip bars Frequet lack of gap covers with resultat accessibility behid trip ip/ip bars Uexpected start-up Relative iaccessibility; absece of ip bars ad hazard from grippers Table 6 Safe systems of work for press cleaig Use of demoutable wash-up tray. Auto wash-up. Ich-stop-clea, forward motio. Forward slow crawl cleaig oly if there is safeguard checkig ad a trip ip to the defied performace stadard. Ich stop-lock-clea. If press has zoed cotrols allowig idepedet movemet of prit uit cyliders, ich-stop-clea, forward motio. Forward slow crawl cleaig oly if there is safeguard checkig ad trip ips to the defied performace stadard. Ich-stop-lock-clea. For presses with dedicated, zoed true ich cotrols beeath the foot board oly, ich-stop-clea. Trip ip performace stadard - o trippig, the legth of movemet of the trip bar should be greater tha the stoppig distace of the cylider, ie cylider movemet ceases withi the deflectio travel distace of the bar. To test: With the press statioary, measure the total deflectio of the trip ip bar (t). Mark the cylider ad machie frame. Operate the crawl cotrol. Push the trip ip with a cardboard tube whe the two referece poits are i lie. Measure the distace moved by the cylider (c) ad compare measuremets (t) ad (c); (t) should be greater. Web offset presses Webbig-up Oe of the mai additioal hazards associated with web-fed presses arises from the eed to web-up followig a web break ad/or a format chage. It is extremely importat to esure that a safe system of work is devised ad a writte procedure laid dow ad adopted. O ew presses this will be supplied by the maufacturer. O older presses maagemet may eed to develop a safe system of work i cojuctio with press crews ad safety represetatives. The safe system of work should take accout of the differet web path cofiguratios (icludig paths through colour satellite uits i ewspaper pritig) ad through the folder, ivolvig cross-associatio if appropriate. It should also deal with the use of The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 101 of 187

102 Health ad Safety part-width webs where web lead-i devices may ot be usable. The writte procedures will eed to iclude a clear diagram of the press showig all possible web paths. Maual webbig-up should be carried out with the press statioary ad off impressio so that the web ca be passed betwee/aroud the cyliders. Web lead-i devices ca sigificatly reduce the hazard associated with webbig-up ad should take the web from the reelstads, through the prit uits ad dryers to the top of the folder, but ot icludig tured or bay widow web paths where the tapes may be termiated. O older presses, or machies ot fitted with web lead-i devices, the practice of tuckig i or attachig the web to the cylider with adhesive tape should be used so that all operators ca withdraw completely ad stad away from the press whe the crawl cotrols are depressed. Traps associated with drive web lead-i tapes or chais should be guarded where there is a risk of ijury, eg by providig disc guards. Safeguardig of prit uits Ikig ad dampig rollers must be guarded (see Table 7). O certai old istallatios the ikig ad dampig rollers may be guarded by o-iterlocked eclosig guards. These should be upgraded by providig ip bars or by iterlockig the eclosig guards. Where alcohol dampig systems have a separate drive which cotiues after the iterlocked guard is opeed, the i-ruig ips should be guarded by ip bars. Plate, blaket ad impressio cyliders must be guarded. Guardig ca take the form of robust fixed ip bars if the pritig ad blaket cylider gutters are less tha 4 mm deep ad 8 mm wide (or exceptioally 19 mm wide o ewspaper presses) ad the press s throw-off (cylider movemet goig o impressio ad off impressio) still keeps the ip bars withi 6 mm of the cyliders durig make-ready ad wash-up. Followig web breaks, ip bars should be checked by operators to esure they have ot bee deflected away from the cyliders leavig gaps i excess of 6 mm. I some situatios, such as the blaket-to-blaket ip, the web path precludes the use of a sigle fixed ip bar. I these circumstaces, a dual fixed ip bar or letterbox guard may be used. There eeds to be a large eough gap to allow for web flutter, but the guards should be positioed far eough away from the ip to prevet risk of ijury. Certai types of presses require some ip bars to be removed for make-ready. A higed ip bar secured whe the press is i the ru mode is acceptable as log as measures are take to esure it must be i positio whe the press is ru, eg by iterlockig. O uit arch type presses, access must be preveted to roller/cylider itakes withi the arch. This guardig ca take the form of iteral guardig, eg ip bars or fixed guards or iterlocked uit gates. With iterlocked gates ope, movemet of rollers/cyliders withi the arch should be via local hold-to-ru cotrols oly allowig crawl speeds of o more tha 5 m/mi (10 m/mi may be acceptable i exceptioal circumstaces, eg o some older presses). The prit uit guardig optios for web-fed presses are summarised i Table 7. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 102 of 187

103 Health ad Safety Hazard Web-fed offset Safeguard I-ruig ips betwee adjacet ikig (ad dampig) rollers I-ruig ips betwee plate, blaket (or impressio) cyliders Uexpected start-up durig multi-operator cleaig Table 7 Safeguardig web-offset presses All-eclosig iterlocked guards with either o powered movemet or true ich oly whe the guard is raised; or fixed ip bars adjusted to withi 6 mm of the roller surface. Iterlocked guards allowig true or limited ich or hold-to-ru slow crawl oly where ip bars are ot fitted. All dager poits should be withi view of a sigle operator, or of several operators each of whom eeds to operate a hold-to-ru cotrol. Nips out of view should be safeguarded; ad/or fixed ip bars adjusted to withi 6 mm of the cylider surface; ad/or fixed or iterlocked letterbox distace guards; ad/or sweep-o ip bars iterlocked with reverse crawl or o facility for reverse crawl. Where ip bars are provided ad cotiuous slow crawl is available, this should always be supplemeted by a emergecy stop (or stoplock cotrol) at each prit uit. Pre-start audible warig device. Safeguardig other parts of web presses Draw rollers Draw rollers may be icorporated ito the reelstad, betwee the reelstad ad the first prit uit, or withi the frame of the pritig uits. Where the itake betwee draw rollers is accessible, it should be guarded usig a ip bar, a split bar with a bell-shaped mouth to assist had webbig-up, or a eclosig guard. Web severers Web severers withi uit arches ad elsewhere o the press eed to be guarded or be safe by desig. Tuel guards are frequetly used. Precautios eed to be take to esure that the web severers do ot automatically fire whe operators or others are i the viciity. Iterlocked access gates to uits ca be used. Guide rollers Due to the high speeds of may of these machies ad the iertia of web-drive guide rollers, these rollers should be safeguarded. Guardig such as ip bars ca be provided or the rollers ca be separated from other cotra-rotatig rollers ad the machie s frame by a gap of at least 120 mm. Dryig uit Oves at heat-set offset presses may have opeig higed tops. Esure that these will ot close iadvertetly, trappig the operators. The cotrols to close the ove should be of the hold-to-ru type ad be located so that the closig movemet of the ove ca be see alog its etire legth. See Chapter 7 Explosio risks i blaket wash systems for guidace o avoidig fire ad explosio risk. Chill rollers A gap of at least 120 mm should be allowed betwee accessible i-ruig chill rollers, or a guard should be fitted. Guards should be fitted over ay accessible balace weights at the eds of the rollers. Propeller rollers Propeller ad slitter roller itakes should be guarded. This guardig is ofte associated with dust collectio hoods ad should also elimiate the laceratio hazard posed by slitters. The guardig should cover at least 300 º of the roller. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 103 of 187

104 Health ad Safety Figure 27 Propeller ad slitter rollers should be guarded Cotrols Clutches used to disegage the drive to press uits o older presses should be provided with iterlocks which esure that the cotrols o a disegaged uit remai ieffective with the exceptio of the emergecy stops. Misiterpretatio of idicatio lights o presses has resulted i a umber of accidets. It is therefore extremely importat that the idicator lights are clear ad uambiguous. Foldig uits Guard all i-ruig ips ad other mechaical hazards o folders. I-ruig ips should be protected with ip bars ad/or eclosig guards, eg ippig ad crossassociatio rollers. Guidace o folders is give uder I-lie folders, sheeters ad die cutters later i this chapter. Icorporate oise cotrol measures i eclosig guards ad, where possible, exted cotrols, lockig uts ad adjustig devices through the guard. Idle rollers, web-drive rollers, ad cotra-rotatig rollers Slitter ad propeller rollers Webs Kite former Uit arch Pritig cyliders Reelstads Figure 28 Examples of areas that eed safeguardig at web-offset pritig presses The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 104 of 187

105 Health ad Safety Task Risk factors System of work Web-fed offset Cleaig ikig rollers, multior sigle-operator Cleaig plate, blaket (ad impressio) cyliders, multior sigle-operator Cleaig trasfer/path rollers, multi- or sigle-operator It should ot be possible to access rollers whe i motio Smooth cyliders oly (gutter ot exceedig 4 mm radially by 8 mm circumferetially (exceptioally, 4 mm x 19 mm o ewspaper presses)) Auto tray wash-up. Ich-stop-lock-clea, forward motio. Forward slow crawl cleaig oly if ip bars ad a emergecy stop are provided ad a suitable guard checklist is completed. Relative iaccessibility; absece of ip bars Ich-stop-lock-clea where rollers are powered, or by had turig where free ruig. Table 8 Safe systems of work for web-fed offset press cleaig Cleaig ad make-ready To facilitate make-ready, cleaig operatios etc, hold-to-ru cotrols should be provided which may allow movemet of the press with the iterlocked guards ope. O ew ad existig istallatios hold-to-ru slow crawl speeds should be less tha 10 m/mi. Certai older istallatios may ot be able to achieve this speed ad the slow crawl speed at these should be as low as practicable. Safe systems of work for web-fed offset press cleaig A very high proportio of the accidets to priters result from cleaig tasks. Use Table 8 to select the appropriate safe system of work (see Chapter 1). Reel uwids ad rewids For the purposes of this book, the term reel uwidig ad rewidig devices applies to simple sigle-reel, o-automatic equipmet for the provisio ad collectio of paper, polythee, foil or other types of web. The term reelstads applies to larger istallatios capable of holdig two or more paper reels ad istallatios associated with automatic operatios such as splicig. The followig safeguards are appropriate for reel uwidig ad rewidig devices: Uwid uits are usually of two types, shafted or shaftless. O uwids the i-ruig ips betwee the reel ad pressure roller should be protected either by a trip device or guards. Devices for brigig the reels up to speed should be guarded if dager poits are accessible, eg at ruig tesio belts. I-ruig ips associated with the pressure/rider rollers should be guarded over the etire reel diameter. This may be achieved by the provisio of trip devices, self-adjustig ip bars or area iterlocked guards. At reel-up, the latter are best desiged o castors with togue-operated iterlock switches to allow hold-to-ru movemet oly whe removed for access durig reel chage. Tickets to mark defects etc should be self-adhesive ad attached to the web at a accessible locatio away from the guarded ip betwee the formig reel ad lay-o roller. Cosider also providig devices which will allow remote placig of marker tickets. Ay shear hazards created by movemet of the reel liftig arms or other reel liftig devices should either be guarded or reel liftig/lowerig should oly be possible usig hold-to-ru cotrols restricted to a speed of o more tha 5 m/mi. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 105 of 187

106 Health ad Safety Where shaftless uwidig or rewidig is used, the chuckig coes should be desiged so they ca oly be iserted usig a hold-to-ru cotrol. The hold-toru speed should ot exceed 5 m/mi for ew machies. The cotrol system of the machie should prevet start-up util the chuckig coes have bee fully iserted. Ejectio of a reel due to a core chew out or iadvertet opeig of the chuckig coes must be preveted. The cotrols should ot allow separatio of the chuckig coes while the press is i motio. Safeguardig reelstads Existig reelstads should have a miimum 500 mm clearace betwee the surface of the largest reel that the stad is desiged to accept ad ay obstructio such as a full reel, mouted o a adjacet stad, or a wall, uless fixed or iterlocked barriers prevet whole-body access. Sice ay reel beig loaded will ecroach o the 500 mm gap metioed above, reels should ot be left stadig withi the reelstads o the sub-trucks. Perimeter fece guardig should also be provided where had/arm access is possible to i-ruig traps/ips created betwee rotatig ad statioary reels o the same reelstad, uless a miimum separatio distace of 120 mm ca be maitaied betwee the reels. Additioal dagers created by a adjacet stad idexig durig automatic splicig will eed to be addressed, eg uexpected start-up of the reel, splicig uit movemet ad spider arm movemet. A safe system of work should be implemeted to address such hazards i cojuctio with safeguardig. Safeguardig may be provided by electrosesitive devices ad trip bars. Where turrets or spider arms rotate automatically, pressure-sesitive mats or similar should be provided to prevet rotatio whe a perso is i the pit. Where rotatio is maually cotrolled, movemet should be by meas of a hold-to-ru cotrol. Where reels are drive by belts o the reel circumferece, the dager poit betwee the reel ad the belt should be safeguarded by iterlocked or other effective guards. Guards should also be provided to protect operators from i-ruig ips created at drive-belt guide rollers. Where flyig splicig devices are fitted, they must either be safeguarded by fixed ad iterlocked guards or be safe by positio (ie out of reach of ay work platform). O presses fitted with reelshafts, guards or loose sleeves eed to be provided for ay exposed eds of the shafts. Ay brake discs should also be guarded. Safeguardig for draw ad festoo/dacer rollers is ecessary to protect operators from i-ruig ips ad roller movemet. This may be achieved by a combiatio of fixed ip bars, iterlockig guards, tuel-type guards or by esurig a spacig of at least 120 mm betwee the rollers. 500 mm 500 mm 500 mm Figure 29 Reelstads should have a miimum 500 mm clearace betwee reels or fixed parts The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 106 of 187

107 Health ad Safety Reeler/wider slitters used i paper coversio ad flexible packagig These machies vary i size from less tha 1 m to several metres wide ad are used widely for covertig paper ad prited paper ad flexible packagig materials. The diameter of the reels beig rewoud ca vary from less tha 100 mm to 1 m ad above. The machie speeds also vary. All machies have i commo a sigificat accidet history. Commo issues to all types of machie Prevet reel ejectio by esurig that there is gradual start-up ad speed cotrol ad provide iterlocked restraits where the reel shaft rests o ope-topped bearigs. Prevet the risk of trappig betwee the reel loadig arms ad the reel shaft by esurig the loadig arms are operated uder hold-to-ru cotrol. Prevet the risk of trappig betwee the chuckig coes ad reel by isertio of coes uder hold-to-ru cotrol ad withi the view of the operator. Where there are web-drive cotra-rotatig rolls, ip guards should be provided if the size ad weight of the rolls could cause ijury. Webbig-up should oly be udertake whe the machie is statioary. Power-drive rolls should be provided with post-box type guards, or, where the web agle makes webbig-up difficult because of the distace betwee the slot ad the ip, a combiatio of fixed guards below the web path ad a higed iterlocked guard above. Make sure there is a gap of at least 120 mm to prevet ips betwee drive rolls ad fixed parts or provide fixed guardig. Make sure guardig is provided where there are ruig ips betwee the web ad web-drive rolls for flexible packagig material ad paper with a high breakig stregth. Guard the whole of the surface of slittig kives (except that i immediate cotact with the substrate) by idividual fixed plates or iterlocked higed guards alog the legth of the kife shaft. Adjustmets should ot be made o the ru uless this ca be doe remotely. Two-drum reelers Prevet access to the i-ruig ip betwee rewidig reels ad the drive drum by oe or more of: perimeter fecig with iterlocked doors; localised fixed/iterlocked guardig; photoelectric devices; pressure-sesitive mats. Where the rider (lay-o) roll is held uder hydraulic or peumatic pressure, or has a self weight at a pressure greater tha 300 ewtos, iterlocked guardig or a self-adjustig ip bar will be required. Where a trap uder the descedig rider roll occurs uder power, a twosectio guard with a trip fuctio which desceds i advace of the roll should be provided. Machies without ratchet-operated rider rolls should have a scotch to prevet gravity fall. Whe repairig a paper break, a sigle operator should cotrol the machie usig hold-to-ru slow crawl at o more tha 5 m/mi. Cetre widers The ip preset betwee the cetre ad the surface drive roll util the formig reel has reached a diameter of 120 mm should be safeguarded by localised fixed/iterlocked guardig, photoelectric devices or pressure-sesitive mats. Automatically adjustig ip guards are ecessary to safeguard the ip betwee formig reels ad the surface drive roll, as the positio of the ip will chage with the icreasig diameter of the formig reel. The operatio of cross-cut kives should be operated by a hold-to-ru cotrol positioed out of reach of the kife where the operator ca see the kife movemet. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 107 of 187

108 Health ad Safety Itervetio by the operator to isert tickets, smooth the web, check for bidig betwee slit reels, feel the sides of the formig reel to idetify telescopig ad to correct problems with trim must ot be doe with the machie ruig at productio speed. Accidets A operator of a small slittig machie covertig a polyester web was ijured whe his figers were draw ito the ip betwee the patet roller ad a upowered rubber coated roller. He had attempted to remove a piece of adhesive tape used to label the patet roll from a upowered tesio roller. The operator of a wider suffered a fractured figer whe it was take ito the ip betwee the polyester foil web ad the take-up roller. He had bee smoothig creases i the foil. Frictio burs were sustaied by the operator of a widig machie whe he was feedig a tail of paper to web-up. The iterlocked guard was ope ad the machie was beig operated o crawl usig a foot pedal cotrol. A air feed was subsequetly fitted. Flexographic press safeguardig Safeguardig of uwid ad rewidig uits is explaied uder Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this sectio. Safe webbig-up procedures eed to be implemeted. Much of the advice uder Web offset earlier i this chapter is applicable, though may older presses will ot have web lead-i devices. Flexographic pritig uits o all size presses, eg label presses to flexible packagig presses, are a frequet source of accidets. It is particularly importat to esure that they are properly guarded. Removable eclosig iterlocked guards or gate/barrier iterlocked guards are geerally cosidered acceptable. The former are usually more suitable for small- to medium-sized presses, ad presses with web widths up to 1 m, ad the latter for larger machies. Adjustable ip bars have ot proved satisfactory as they are frequetly removed or icorrectly adjusted (due to the use of stereo cyliders of variable diameter). They are oly likely to provide a satisfactory stadard of protectio o presses which carry out log-ru work with few or o cylider chages where strict cotrols are i place to esure they are always correctly adjusted. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 108 of 187

109 Health ad Safety Uwid statio 4 Drive gears 7 Ove 10 Rewid statio 2 Cotra rotatig rollers 5 Prit uits 8 Chill roll 3 Ik pumps 6 Access to heights 9 Web-drive rollers Diagram of a flexographic pritig press Stadards for flexographic presses with removable iterlocked guards The followig stadards should be met o flexographic prit uits guarded by removable eclosig iterlocked guards: A removable eclosig guard should be provided which prevets access to itakes betwee impressio/stereo ad stereo/ailox cyliders as appropriate, for the etire rage of stereo cylider diameters. This guard should be electrically iterlocked with the drive so that, with the guard removed, the press may oly be ru at slow crawl speed, ie o more tha 5 m/mi. The operatio of the slow crawl should be via a hold-to-ru butto. O some small presses where cyliders may be tured by had the iterlockig should be to stop, ie ot to slow crawl or ich. Electrical iterlockig should be via proximity switches desiged for safety applicatios, ad i presses usig highly flammable iks ad lacquers should be suitable for potetially explosive atmospheres (see Chapter 7). I additio to the eclosig guard, a fixed ip bar should be provided at the itake betwee ailox ad duct roller o the dow-ruig web side, as these rollers ofte have a auxiliary drive to prevet the ik from dryig whe the press is stopped. The distace betwee this ip bar ad the surface of the cylider should be o more tha 6 mm. O some presses a chamber doctor blade arragemet may be fitted. This device is mouted directly oto the ailox roller ad the duct roller is removed. Cosider usig plastic doctor blades to miimise the risk of cuts durig hadlig ad cleaig. Gears drivig the cyliders should be adequately guarded by either fixed sheet metal eclosig guards or iterlocked guards (which ofte take the form of iterlocked side-opeig doors). Accidet A employee crushed his figers betwee the cetral impressio cylider ad stereo cylider whe cleaig the stereo durig makig-ready. No-iterlocked guards were fitted ad the machie was able to ru o cotiuous slow crawl. The safeguardig ad the system of work used for cleaig were iadequate. New ad recetly istalled presses should already be guarded by oe of the methods outlied i this booklet. May older machies will ot be adequately guarded, relyig o o-iterlocked lift-off covers or adjustable ip bars. You will eed to upgrade these. Stadards for flexographic presses with gate/barrier iterlocked guards The followig stadards should be met o flexographic prit uits guarded by The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 109 of 187

110 Health ad Safety gate/barrier iterlocked guards. These guards usually take the form of distacig higed mesh barriers situated at the frot of each prit uit: Side-opeig doors should be provided o the drive ad operator s side of the press to guard the drive gears ad itakes accessible from the side of the press. Ay opeigs aroud ad/or betwee the gate guard ad doors should prevet access to hazardous parts (see also BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs). O some older presses the side lay ca oly be adjusted whe the press is ruig at a speed greater tha 5 m/mi so provisio should be made for this, eg by extedig the adjustmet mechaism outside the guarded area. The guards should be iterlocked so that with the guard ope the press may oly be ru at slow crawl speed. The fixed ip bar for the itake betwee ailox ad duct roller o the dow ruig web side should be fitted as detailed for flexographic presses with removable iterlocked guards. Table 9 summarises the safeguardig optios for flexographic ad rotary letterpress machies. Hazard Safeguard Flexographic ad rotary letterpress - small- to medium-size, up to 1 m web I-ruig ips betwee ikig rollers (rotary letterpress), duct, ailox, stereo ad impressio cyliders Uexpected start-up Iterlocked guards allowig limited ich ad hold-to-ru slow crawl oly whe removed or opeed; ad a fixed ip bar adjusted to withi 6 mm of the ailox/duct rollers where these have a separate auxiliary drive which is ot stopped by opeig of the iterlocked guard. Pre-start audible warig device. Flexographic - larger format, eg flexible packagig I-ruig ips betwee duct, ailox, stereo ad impressio cyliders Uexpected start-up Iterlocked guards allowig limited ich ad hold-to-ru slow crawl oly whe removed or opeed; ad a fixed ip bar adjusted to withi 6 mm of the ailox/duct rollers where these have a auxiliary drive. Pre-start audible warig device. Table 9 Safeguardig flexographic ad rotary letterpress machies Safeguardig other parts of flexographic presses As well as the guardig of the pritig uits o flexo presses there are ofte other hazardous itakes or other parts that will require guardig, eg betwee chill ad pressure rollers, betwee other cotra-rotatig but o-cotact rollers, ad at uwid/rewid poits. Gaps of less tha 120 mm betwee cotra-rotatig powered rollers will require guardig ad this ca ormally be achieved usig ip bars or fixed guards. Where fixed ip bars are used, they should be positioed to comply with the maximum permissible gap of o more tha 6 mm from the cylider or roller surface. Ideally, right-agled ip bars should be used. There may also be i-ruig ips o o-powered ridig or guide rollers drive by the movemet of the web. Assess whether there is a eed for safeguardig - this will deped o a umber of factors, such as type of material, wrappig agle ad web speed. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 110 of 187

111 Health ad Safety Eclosig guards are best made of weld mesh material o a rigid frame as this makes them reasoably lightweight ad allows good visibility of the cyliders ad prited web. It is likely that operators will wat sheet metal sectios at the duct roller to prevet ik splashig, ad i some cases a meas of repleishig ik by had without removig the guard. It is very importat that safe systems of work are implemeted for cleaig ad make-ready operatios which caot be carried out without removig guards. Table 10 lists the appropriate safe system of work for various tasks. Give particular attetio to developig ad implemetig safe meas of access ad methods of work whe accessig the upper sectio of a commo impressio cylider o a large press. Task Risk factors System of work Flexographic/rotary letterpress Cleaig duct/ailox rollers, sigle-operator Cleaig duct/ailox rollers, multi-operator Cleaig stereo mid-ru, sigle-operator Cleaig stereo mid-ru, multi-operator Cleaig stereo at ed of ru Absece of ip bars Table 10 Safe systems of work for cleaig flexographic ad rotary letterpress machies Stadards of safegardig at the rewid uit should meet those set out uder Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this chapter. See also Reeler/wider slitters used i paper coversio ad flexible packagig. Where hold-to-ru cotrols are beig used to safeguard a dager poit, startig the machie i the hold-to-ru mode after opeig a iterlockig guard should oly be possible whe other iterlockig guards outside the area viewable by the operator are closed. Cotrols should be zoed - this is particularly relevat to ew machies. Care should be take whe cleaig sharp doctor blades. Ati-cut gloves should be provided, or plastic blades ca be used. Safeguardig gravure web-fed presses Reel uwid ad rewid uits o gravure pritig presses must be adequately safeguarded. The requiremets for the differig types of reelstads are set out uder Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this chapter. See also Reeler/wider slitters used i paper coversio ad flexible packagig. Gravure pritig cyliders eed to be guarded. This ca be difficult to achieve as the prit cyliders ad gears vary i diameter to determie the patter repeat. Guardig should take accout of access eeds for safe cleaig of doctor blades. Ich-stop-clea. Absece of ip bars Ich-stop-lock-clea. If press has zoed cotrols allowig idepedet movemet of prit uit cyliders, ich-stop-clea. Accessibility to i-ruig ip whe iterlocked guard raised Ich-stop-clea. Accessibility to i-ruig ip whe iterlocked guard raised Ich-stop-lock-clea. If press has zoed cotrols Stereo removed from press allowig idepedet movemet of prit uit cyliders, ich-stop-clea. Off-machie maual or auto-washig. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 111 of 187

112 Health ad Safety Where presses are used for log-ru work, adjustable ip bars ca be used to guard the gravure/impressio itake ad impressio/back impressio (boule) rollers. These should be desiged so that they ca be adjusted to withi a maximum of 6 mm from the surface of the cyliders ad are ofte best mouted off the doctor blade carrier. Safe systems of work will eed to be implemeted to esure the ip bars are always used correctly. Where presses are used for short to medium rus, guardig should be provided i the form of iterlockig guards. These ca either be fitted alog the side of the presses or over idividual prit uits. Give careful cosideratio to the eed for doctor blade wipig. Slots ca be cut i the guards which allow the doctor blade to be wiped with a log pecil but prevet figer access to the hazardous parts. Alteratively, you may be able to reduce the eed for wipig doctor blades by itroducig reformulated iks - cotact your supplier. Make sure all equipmet is suitable for use i potetially explosive atmospheres (see Explosio risks i flexo ad gravure i Chapter 7). Table 11 summarises the safeguardig requiremets for the prit uits of gravure presses. Gravure - log-ru presses I-ruig ips betwee gravure ad impressio cyliders Nip bars adjusted to withi 6 mm of the gravure/impressio ad impressio/back impressio (boule) cyliders which are desiged to allow adjustmet for the full rage of gravure cylider diameters. Uexpected start-up Gravure - short-ru presses I-ruig ips betwee gravure ad impressio cyliders Cotiuous slow crawl should be supplemeted by a emergecy stop (or stop lock ) cotrol at each prit uit. If wipig of the doctor blade is required durig the prit ru, provisio for safe access should be made. The safe system of work should cosider other aspects icludig lightig ad provisio of a purposedesiged tool. Pre-start audible warig device. Iterlockig guards fitted either at each prit uit or alog the legth of the press which allow limited ich ad hold-to-ru slow crawl oly whe ope. If wipig of the doctor blade is required durig the prit ru, provisio for safe access should be made either by meas of a slot i the iterlocked guard, or by meas of a adjustable ip guard. The safe system of work should cosider other aspects icludig lightig ad provisio of a purpose-desiged tool. Uexpected start-up durig multi-operator cleaig Pre-start audible warig device. Table 11 Safeguardig gravure presses As these presses are usually multi-operator, audible pre-start warig devices must be fitted. Use hold-to-ru cotrols for make-ready, cleaig etc ad develop safe systems of work for make-ready, cleaig ad webbig-up etc. Remember that may of the accidets that occur i pritig happe whe it is ecessary to itervee o a machie i these ways. Safe systems of work are listed i Table 12 for the various cleaig tasks likely to be required. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 112 of 187

113 Health ad Safety Task Risk factors System of work Gravure Wipig doctor blades Cleaig gravure/impressio cyliders mid-ru, sigleoperator cleaig Cleaig gravure/impressio cyliders mid-ru, multioperator cleaig Cleaig gravure/impressio cyliders at ed of ru Approach close to i-ruig ips at productio speed Use of purpose-made tool ad properly adjusted ip bar or slot i iterlocked guard. Accessibility to i-ruig ips whe iterlocked guard raised Ich-stop-clea. Forward slow crawl cleaig oly if ip bars ad emergecy stops are provided ad a guard checklist completed. Accessibility to i-ruig ips whe iterlocked guard raised Ich-stop-lock-clea. Forward slow crawl cleaig oly if ip bars ad emergecy stops are provided ad a guard checklist completed. Gravure cylider removed from press Off-machie maual or auto- washig. Table 12 Safe systems of work for cleaig gravure presses Safeguardig scree pritig presses The mai risks from scree priters are from: crush risks from either the scree rise ad fall mechaism or squeegee movemet; i-ruig ips from feeder ad delivery mechaisms; shear poits from gaps o lower cyliders o cylider-type presses; hazardous substaces, such as iks or varishes, either whe i use, whe curig or whe cleaig screes. Most scree prit operators add ik or varish while the press is movig. Although this is ot iheretly dagerous, it prevets perimeter guardig from beig used to prevet scree crush ijuries. Scree crush risks There are several situatios which ca create a risk of crushig the upper body or figers: Whe the frame holdig the scree is raised to allow access uder the scree it must ot be possible for the frame to desced, crushig the upper body. O some machies, light beams are provided, but these ca sometimes be ieffective as it is possible to reach over the beam without iterruptig it. It is ofte ot practicable to exted the beam over the whole area as machie compoets may iterrupt it. Sesitive edges may be a practical solutio, or light curtais i frot of the machie to detect the operator s legs rather tha the upper body. Safe systems of work must be used to isolate the machie before eterig the area below the scree. The squeegee rise ad fall mechaisms ca provide crush poits for figers. Provide a fixed guard aroud them. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 113 of 187

114 Health ad Safety The oscillatig squeegee carriage ca create a crush or shear poit as it moves to the ed of its travel. While this could quite easily have bee desiged out, it is geerally ot practicable to shield these. Semi-automatic presses O semi-automatic flat-bed machies, take precautios to miimise the likelihood of the reciprocatig table strikig the operator, by providig sesitive edges, presece-sesig devices or chai rails to prevet access. The traps betwee the vertically reciprocatig frame-holder ad the four mai machie pillars will also eed to be guarded. Cylider type machies These machies ca pose a risk whe makig ready, though this risk is removed i ormal operatio. The risks occur from: shear poits betwee gaps i the cylider (by the grippers) ad the fixed structure. Safe systems of work must be i place to address this risk ad it should ever be ecessary for the operator s figers to be i this area; i-ruig ips betwee exposed drive gears ad the fixed structure. These gears ted to have teeth large eough to trap a figer. It may be desirable to icrease the gap betwee the gear ad the structure so that a figer is ot draw i. Higed presses with power closure Higed or clam-type scree process pritig machies with power closure should be fitted with efficiet trip guards aroud the three edges of the scree (uless the closig force is less tha 300 ewtos ad there are o sharp edges). These will stop the scree or make it retract if ayoe becomes trapped. Regular testig of the safety devices should be carried out to esure they cotiue to operate effectively. Safeguard the crushig poit betwee the squeegee ad scree frame by adjustig the stop gauge to esure a miimum 25 mm gap. If the descedig squeegee creates a crushig risk, make sure that the liftig path is as short as possible. Feed ad delivery i-ruig ips Belt drives o may machies have iadequate ip guards where they pass over rollers. Belt tesios ted to be low which reduces the potetial severity of the ijury, but ip guards should be provided. Hazardous substaces Where UV-cured iks or varishes are used, appropriate cotrols must be provided to limit ski cotact. Emptyig ik from screes at the ed of the ru ivolves movig a sigificat amout of ik ad appropriate precautios should be take to prevet cotamiatio. Also, great care must be take whe washig screes usig water jettig techiques to avoid sprays of UV-cured iks hittig the operator. Vertical strip curtais, similar to those provided i doorways for fork-lift trucks, ca be used to both prevet the spray from hittig the operator ad to make ay local exhaust vetilatio more effective. For more iformatio see Scree pritig ad cleaig i the Hazardous substaces sectio i Chapter 4. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 114 of 187

115 Health ad Safety Figure 31 Higed or clam-type scree pritig presses with power closure should be fitted with safety trip bars Label pritig machies Presses with twi side frames should meet the stadards laid out uder the headigs Web offset ad/or Flexographic earlier i this chapter. Label presses of the catilever type should meet the followig stadards. The gear wheels ad i-ruig ips o cyliders ad rollers of the prit uits o catilever label pritig machies should be safeguarded, for example with: higed or rise ad fall iterlocked guards; or removable eclosig iterlocked guards. Higed or rise ad fall iterlocked guards are ofte desiged to cover all prit uits with oe guard. This ofte prevets operators from beig able to make adjustmets or add ik o the ru so provisio should be made for these adjustmets by extedig cotrols/ik troughs through the guard. Removable eclosig iterlocked guards ca be used to safeguard each prit uit idividually ad, if properly desiged, allow adjustmets ad toppig up of ik while the press is ruig. Detailed iformatio o their desig is give uder Flexographic earlier i this chapter. Some older machies may be provided solely with adjustable ip bars as guardig. They are usually foud to be removed or icorrectly adjusted ad are therefore ot adequate. Pacig/draw rollers should be provided with eclosig iterlocked guards or suitable ip bars where access is possible to i-ruig ips created by cotrarotatig rollers. As well as the eclosig guard o flexographic prit uits, a fixed ip bar should be provided at ay i-ruig itake betwee ailox ad duct roller as these rollers ofte have a auxiliary drive to prevet the ik from dryig whe the press is stopped. The distace betwee this ip bar ad the surface of the cylider should be o more tha 6 mm. Low powered drives may also be acceptable if they prevet ijury. O some presses a chamber doctor blade arragemet may be fitted. Adequate procedures should be laid dow for the safe hadlig of doctor blades. Fiishig sectio The hazardous parts of the fiishig sectio of label pritig machies must be safeguarded. These sectios will comprise some or all the followig uits: rotary diecuttig uits, flat-bed die-cuttig uits, slittig kives, trim removal/rewid, puchig uits, perforatig (cross ad ilie) etc. Combiatios of fixed ip bars ad iterlockig guards eed to be used to guard these fiishig/processig statios. It is importat to The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 115 of 187

116 Health ad Safety esure that the guardig arragemets are adequate for all web paths icludig the differet trim/label strippig paths. These areas ofte produce a lot of dust ad high oise levels so the guardig arragemets should take these hazards ito accout. To facilitate make-ready ad cleaig, label pritig machies may be fitted with hold-to-ru cotrols to allow operatio of the press at slow crawl speeds with guards opeed. Table 6 uder Flexographic earlier i this chapter details appropriate safe systems of work for cleaig. I-lie folders, sheeters, die-cutters etc All i-ruig ips ad other mechaical hazards o folders ad other i-lie processig equipmet eed to be guarded. Guard desig may eed to take accout of other hazards such as oise ad dust. O ew ad recetly istalled folder istallatios, the folder should be totally eclosed with fixed ad iterlocked guards. Guard lockig devices should be fitted where there is a high risk of severe ijury (ie chopper folder) ad the press has a rudow period of more tha 10 secods eve after actuatio of the emergecy stop cotrol. Totally eclosed folders should be provided with arragemets for the remote cotrol of folder settigs either by electrical/electroic or direct mechaical meas. The bedig rollers ad delivery area are likely to be outside the eclosed area. The bedig rollers eed to be provided with a ose guard at the base of the former (kite) ad adjustable guards for the portio of the bedig rollers behid the former. The delivery area must be adequately guarded. However, a hold-to-ru guard override cotrol butto may be provided for the delivery tuel guard. Depressio of this hold-to-ru cotrol will allow operators to ope the guard at speeds up to 8 m/mi to allow removal of the first icomplete product copies. All-eclosig guards may ot be practicable o older folders ad localised guardig of the hazardous parts should be provided. I these circumstaces the followig areas eed to be safeguarded: the ippig/pichig rollers, cross-associatio rollers, foldig drum, cuttig cyliders, cross-perforatig cyliders, jaw cylider, quarter folder etc. Hazardous ips betwee delivery belts ad pulleys should also be guarded. O sheetig uits the mai areas of dager are the draw rollers ad the rotary kife. The draw rollers should be guarded by either fixed ip bars or eclosig iterlocked guards. The rotary kife is a high-risk area ad o a large istallatio should be guarded by a high-risk iterlockig arragemet (ie dual-circuit iterlockig) ad with the provisio of guard lockig if the rudow time is log eough to make it ecessary. Make sure that precautios have bee take to cotrol employee s exposure to oise ad dust (see Chapter 4). Busiess forms presses The hazardous parts of fiishig sectios of busiess forms presses must be safeguarded. These sectios ad the meas used to guard them are the same as those for label pritig machies. If wader leads are provided, allowig access to parts with guards ope, they should be of a simultaeous two-had cotrol type. These may allow speeds i excess of 10 m/mi where specified by the maufacturer ad where there is appropriate guard zoig. Where, o busiess forms presses, the web is delivered by a spiral folder as i a zig-zag folded cotiuous statioery pack, the delivery guard may be fitted with a The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 116 of 187

117 Health ad Safety eable guard override cotrol butto. This operates as a hold-to-ru cotrol allowig the guard to be opeed at slow ru speeds to facilitate removal of the first icomplete copies. A miimum gap of 25 mm should be maitaied betwee the spirals by the provisio of adjustmet stops. Where the spirals eed to be closed to less tha 25 mm, a local guard prevetig access ito the ip must be provided. Fixed guards must be provided for the spiral drive gears. Publishig rooms Types of coveyors, couters, stackers, tyers ad strappers vary cosiderably so the followig guidace is geeral. Coveyors Effective meas for stoppig ewspaper coveyors which eter the publishig room should be provided for use i emergecies. Where dump gates are provided at folders to divert copies, it should be possible to stop the isert coveyor leadig to the publishig room without stoppig the press. Where dump gates caot be fitted, it may be ecessary to provide stop buttos i the publishig room which stop the press as well as the coveyors where these are mechaically liked. Normal press stops should be carried out from the press room, ad a sigallig system provided so that publishig room staff ca request that the press is slowed dow or stopped. Overhead coveyig mechaisms out of reach, ie safe by positio will ot ormally require additioal guardig. However, access may be possible to these mechaisms while they are ruig so some localised guardig may be required. Operators have bee kow to use ladders or moveable steps for copy or blockage removal etc. Hazardous parts associated with coveyors such as belt ad chai drives must be safeguarded icludig those situated below the coveyors. Lift-up coveyors o these uits should be arraged so that access to hazardous parts is ot possible whe the coveyor sectio is raised, usually achieved by iterlockig the coveyor sectio. Where coveyors eter the publishig room from below, adequate barriers ad toe-boards should be erected aroud the coveyor ad floor opeig. Copy pick-up poits should be desiged to prevet access to hazardous parts by providig fixed or iterlocked guards. Couter stackers Couter stackers should be provided with guards prevetig access to hazardous parts, for example rotatig collectio hoppers. Safety reach distaces to prevet hazardous parts beig accessed will apply (see BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs). Where guards have to be opeed by operators, they should be iterlocked to the couter stacker drive. Otherwise they should be fixed i positio ad require a tool for removal. Strig-tyers ad strappers Coveyor-fed automatic strig-tyers ad strappers may be divided ito two groups: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 117 of 187

118 Health ad Safety those with a low-pressure clamp ot capable of iflictig ijury, eg less tha 300 ewtos ad where a elastic bottom plate cover has bee provided; those with high-pressure clamps. Machies which fall ito the secod category should be provided with a combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards prevetig access from the sides, i-feed ad delivery eds. Safety reach distaces i BS EN 294: 1992 apply. Lift-off guards ad guards that eed to be opeed frequetly for cleaig jams, replacig strig etc will eed to be iterlocked, icludig ay lift-up coveyor sectios. Some strappig machies may have force-limitig devices, eg slip clutches o the clamp as well as a resiliet rubber facig, ad may have o other associated hazardous parts. Gravity-fall crucifix-tur devices ca become hazardous whe lade, ad scree-guardig should be fitted. This may require iterlockig if access to other hazardous parts is possible. Where you rely o force-limitig devices, these should be regularly tested usig a load-cell pressure gauge or other suitable istrumet. Figure 32 Coveyors, couters, stackers, tyers ad strappers i publishig rooms eed to be safeguarded Isertio equipmet The risks posed by isertio equipmet are primarily those related to i-ruig ips or pich poits from movig equipmet. O moder equipmet, these are either housed behid fixed or iterlocked guards or are above 2 m from the floor. Equipmet must ot be ru with the guards removed or iterlocks overridde. Regular checks must be ru to test the cotiued correct operatio of the iterlocks. Where it is ecessary to ru the equipmet with the guards ope durig make ready, the it must oly be possible to ru it usig a hold-to-ru butto ad at crawl speed. Systems of work must restrict such operatios to appropriately traied persoel. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 118 of 187

119 Health ad Safety Systems of work must be i place for elevated work, eg maiteace, ear isertio equipmet or their associated coveyors. Such work must oly be carried out with this equipmet isolated ad locked off. Equipmet is ormally autoomous ad so you eed to isolate isertio equipmet ad coveyors separately. Automatic isertio disc equipmet Cotrol statios should ot be located i the path of automatically movig discs of isertio material. Make sure there are o accessible shear traps betwee the movig discs ad cotrol/electrical paels ad separate movig discs ad persoel. Esure trip wire/pressure-sesitive edge devices provided o the disc carriages give adequate protectio to operators ad that these are maitaied i full workig order. The itegrity of the iterface betwee the guardig devices ad the programmable cotrol systems for the disc carriages should be assessed. Disc carriages should stop safely, without trappig operators or ejectig their load. Isertig ad stitchig drums Frot ad ed covers of isertig ad stitchig drums should be iterlocked so that whe they are ope oly movemet by hold-to-ru slow crawl is possible. Adequate safeguardig should be provided at the rear of the drums to prevet ijury whe removig misfed copies. Iterlocked or fixed guards should be provided to prevet access to hazardous parts from steps, workig platforms or other areas. Accidets have occurred whe operators have attempted to clear blockages by reachig over iterlocked guards by stadig o pallets ad short steps. Overhead chai drives should be safe by positio or guarded. Full-legth guardig may be more practical tha multiple localised guards. Stitchig heads should be fitted with iterlocked hood guards where otherwise accessible, eg from work platforms. Web paths (Webbig-up ad safeguardig) Folder (oise ad safeguardig) Vaway (trasport safety) Soud have (oise) Prit uits (safeguardig ad zoig of cotrols) Reelstads (safeguardig) Reels (maual hadlig) Coveyors (safeguardig) Figure 33 Newspaper productio - pritig ad publishig operatios Tyig, strappig ad coveyors (safeguardig) Loadig (maual hadlig) Evelope-makig machies There are two broad categories of evelope-makig machie, blak-fed or web-fed. Both types of machie usually cosist of pritig uits, gummig statio, widowpatchig statio, foldig ad gluig statio, a collator drum ad a take-off sectio. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 119 of 187

120 Health ad Safety Blak-fed machies have a feed plate or feed pillar. Web-fed machies will have a reelstad, profile cuttig system ad rotary or flyig kife as well. The hazardous parts of these machies iclude the i-ruig roller ips, gummig wheels, kives, reciprocatig feed devices, gear wheels ad drum-related shear traps - these must be safeguarded. May of these hazardous parts ca be guarded by fittig side guards to the machies. These should be iterlocked to the machie s movemet so that opeig ay oe of these guards stops the machie. Localised iterlocked or fixed guardig ca also be used. I-ruig ips o foldig rollers where safeguarded by tuel-type guards may, i exceptioal circumstaces, have opeigs of 30 mm where the safety distace to the dager poit is 200 mm. Machies may be fitted with two-had, hold-to-ru cotrols for set up. The speed should be limited to 10 m/mi ad guard zoig provided. I exceptioal circumstaces, where the use of stroboscopes is eeded at productio speeds for fault-fidig, the followig should be provided: hold-to-ru cotrol; guard zoig; a selector switch; a safe system of work which icludes usig the slowest speed possible. Additioal local fixed, iterlocked ad adjustable guards are ecessary o may of the machie s idividual uits. The feed plate or feed pillar will eed local profiled guards for the draw, hook rollers ad ay score rollers. Ay higed gummig uits should be iterlocked to prevet them beig left out of positio, exposig hazardous parts whe ot i use. Stadards for reelstads o web-fed machies should meet those outlied uder Web offset earlier i this chapter. The prit uits o both types of machie should be guarded i accordace with the stadards set out uder Flexographic earlier i this chapter. Seal flap, widow ad bottom flap gummig uits will all require guardig to prevet access to i-ruig ips or cotact with hot glues. All-eclosig iterlocked guardig may ot be feasible as access may be eeded to the glue bottles. A combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards is ofte most successful. Thik about the hadlig of the glue bottles as this may pose a sigificat maual hadlig risk. The itakes associated with the glassie tissue kife ad tissue applicator i-ruig ips eed to be guarded. Ay shear trap betwee the delivery table ad dryig drum should be safeguarded. This may be achieved by providig fixed or iterlocked guardig or a higed table ed of at least 25 mm. Ay belt or pulley itakes should also be guarded. Delivery guardig ca usually be achieved either by fixed tuel guardig or by adjustable plates. O web-fed machies, areas of high risk iclude the profile cuttig system ad separatig kife. These must be adequately guarded by providig fixed or iterlocked guards. Guardig should take accout of the rudow times of the kives ad the frequecy of access. Noise ca cause serious problems o evelope machies so it is ofte a good idea to combie guardig ad oise-reductio measures. New machies with high oise levels should be supplied with oise cotrol measures icorporated as stadard. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 120 of 187

121 Health ad Safety Accidet A employee was fatally ijured whe his head was trapped betwee the rotatig spokes of a dryig wheel ad the fixed frame of the evelope-makig machie. The access doors to the wheel were ot secured. Fixed or iterlocked guards should be provided at both sides of the dryig wheel to prevet access to the shear hazard created betwee the rotatig wheel ad fixed machie frame. Figure 34 Suitable oise-hoods should be provided for buckle plates Sheet-fed foldig machies The dager poits o sheet-fed foldig machies must be guarded. The two mai types of machie, buckle ad combiatio, give rise to similar risks. Oe of these is oise which ca be addressed by providig suitable oise-hoods for the buckle plates. O ew machies oise-reductio measures should be provided as part of their stadard specificatio (see Noise i Chapter 4). The mai i-feed rollers should be provided with fixed or iterlocked guards with a arrow slot for sheet etry. Access to the foldig rollers should be preveted by a combiatio of guards, the machie s frame ad the buckle plates. I-ruig ips associated with drive tapes should be guarded. This ca be achieved by desigig the trasport/feed tables to fit the pulleys, ie reach to a poit o more tha 6 mm from the i-ruig belt/pulley ip, or the provisio of ip bars. Give particular attetio to the ips associated with tesioig pulleys. The hazardous parts ivolved with foldig kives should be guarded. O ew machies this may be i cojuctio with the delivery area of the buckle-foldig uit, ie a all-eclosig iterlocked guard. O older machies a more localised fixed or iterlocked guard should be provided. Perforators, creasig uits ad slitters are ofte fitted to this type of machie. The itakes associated with these devices should be guarded, icludig ay i-ruig ip created betwee them ad fixed parts of the foldig machie. Precautios also eed to be take to prevet access to the periphery of ruig slitters ad perforators. For settig purposes, iterlocked guards may eed to be opeed. I these circumstaces, the machie should oly start uder hold-to-ru cotrol with a maximum speed of 70 m/mi measured at the foldig rollers. Guards i areas outside the operator s view should be closed, a selector switch should be provided ad the ru speed should be as slow as possible. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 121 of 187

122 Health ad Safety Guilloties Power-operated paper-cuttig guilloties are potetially the most hazardous machies i the pritig idustry. They must be adequately safeguarded, regularly checked by both operators ad competet guillotie egieers, ad operators must be properly traied. Further guidace o the guardig, maiteace ad testig of guilloties is available i the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee booklet The guide to safe use of poweroperated paper-cuttig guilloties. This publicatio also cotais iformatio o traiig ad kife chage procedures. Figure 35 Guillotie fitted with photoelectric curtai ad simultaeous two-had cotrols Commo accidets Amputatios followig double strokig of the kife due to faulty brakes ad poor maiteace (icludig top dead cetre cams). Crush ad amputatio ijuries by the clamp particularly whe the dyamic gaugig force exceeds 500 ewtos. Amputatio ijuries caused by trappig figers i the screw adjustmet holes of the clamp whe the clamp returs. Trappig accidets betwee the movig backgauge ad clamp. Accidets due to icorrect guard positioig or guards beig defeated. Accidets durig kife chagig. Photoelectric (electrosesitive) safety systems Photoelectric safety systems for guilloties should meet certai miimum stadards with full fuctio moitorig (FFM) as the lowest acceptable level for old machies. Newer machies will eed to meet more striget stadards. I geeral, guilloties supplied before 1974 with origial photoelectric curtais will require upgradig to meet the stadards i The guide to safe use of poweroperated paper-cuttig guilloties. Guilloties supplied betwee approximately 1974 ad 1987 should have electrosesitive safety systems desiged ad operatig to full fuctio moitorig (FFM) stadards. However, o some guilloties, certai modificatios will eed to be carried out such as the removal of the fully automatic facility. A competet guillotie egieer should be able to advise you. Guilloties supplied after 1987 should comply with BS EN : 1998, IEC : 1997 Safety of machiery. Electro-sesitive protective equipmet. Geeral requiremets ad tests. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 122 of 187

123 Health ad Safety Guilloties supplied after 1 Jauary 1995 should be CE marked ad comply with the Supply of Machiery (Safety) Regulatios 1992 as ameded. It is extremely importat that the photoelectric curtai (light curtai) is located correctly. Serious ijuries have occurred whe the curtai has bee icorrectly mouted ad operators have accidetally reached over or uder the curtai without breakig the beams. As a geeral rule, the outermost beam should be approximately 635 mm from the cuttig stick ad o more tha 185 mm above the table. Where ew machies have a usable pile height of more tha 185 mm, the outermost beam may be at a positio 610 mm miimum ad 700 mm maximum from the cuttig stick ad o more tha 205 mm above the table. A electrosesitive protective device (additioal beam) should also be provided at a distace of betwee 400 ad 550 mm from the cuttig stick ad at a height of betwee 0 ad 205 mm above the table. A additioal beam should be fitted o all ew machies fitted with fully automatic cuttig operatio. Where the machie desig is such that the curtai exteds dow to the machie table, the outermost beam should be at least 400 mm from the cuttig stick if the beam is less tha 38 mm from the table. The separatio distace of the curtai from the cuttig stick must be cosistet with the overall stoppig performace of the machie. Older machies will geerally have a distace of at least 460 mm betwee cuttig stick ad curtai. Six key poits to check o photoelectric safety systems: The system meets the required stadards ad is upgraded if ecessary. The photoelectric curtai is located correctly. Two fial switchig devices are provided for fully automatic machies. Simultaeous two-had cotrols are fitted. The dyamic gaugig force of the clamp is less tha 500 ewtos. Suitable rear table guardig is fitted (see Iterlockig guards below). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 123 of 187

124 Health ad Safety Not more tha 185 mm from the cetre of the outermost beam to the machie table mm from the cetre of the outermost cell of the light barrier to the cuttig plae mm Housig to be as low as practicable 610 mm or greater from the cuttig plae to the outermost edge of the light barrier housig or its extesios Not more tha 185 mm from the cetre of the outermost beam to the machie table At least 635 mm Cuttig plae 205 mm Housig to be equal to or less tha 165 mm to the machie table 550 mm betwee the lowest poit of the cuttig plae ad the outermost edge of the light barrier housig or its extesios 400 mm Frot table 500 mm At least 850 mm from the cuttig plae to the outer edge of the side table Not more tha 185 mm from the cetre of the outermost beam of the machie table At least 635 mm Not more tha 150 mm Figure 36 Positioig of the electrosesitive protective devices (beams) ad curtai housig The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 124 of 187

125 Health ad Safety Body push guards Body push guards fitted to guilloties are o loger cosidered adequate safety devices. Guilloties fitted with body push guards should have bee withdraw from service. Figure 37 Guilloties with body push guards should o loger be i use Iterlockig guards Four key poits to cheek o iterlockig guards: The guard prevets access to the dager zoe (ie you should t be able to reach over, aroud or beeath the guard whe it is i the dow positio ad liftig of the guard stops the machie before you ca reach the blade or clamp). The iterlockig arragemet is of the required stadard (this will ormally eed to be a dual-chael cotrol system - your supplier should be able to cofirm this). Simultaeous two-had cotrols are fitted. Suitable rear table guardig is provided which prevets access to dagers created by the movig clamp, blade or backgauge. Automatic sweepaway guards These are desiged to push operators hads away from the cuttig area before they ca be ijured by the kife or clamp. Five key poits to check for guilloties fitted with sweepaway guards: The guard sweeps towards the operator to a poit 500 mm from the face of the clamp before the clamp or kife have desceded 50 mm. You may fid it useful to put a mark at the 500 mm poit o the table to help you check this. Additioal guard bars/mesh are provided to prevet access over/through the guard. Side access to the dager zoe at the frot of the machie is preveted whe the guard is exteded, eg by providig large side tables or fixed guards. Simultaeous two-had cotrols are provided. Suitable rear table guardig is provided. Guilloties with sweepaway guards should ot be supplied secod-had or sold o. Sweepaway guards should ot be chaged for electrosesitive systems if a o-fail-safe brake is fitted. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 125 of 187

126 Health ad Safety Sweepaway guard i exteded positio (side guards omitted for clarity) A uacceptable sweepaway guillotie Figure 38 Automatic sweepaway guards Commo requiremets for all power-operated paper-cuttig guilloties Modificatios to guillotie safety systems should oly be carried out by competet guillotie egieers, maufacturers or suppliers because of the complexity of the systems ad the potetial dagers resultig from iadequate modificatios. Simultaeous two-had cotrols should be fitted to all machies other tha those with high-itegrity, all-eclosig iterlocked guards. These would have crossmoitored dual-chael cotrol usig two guard positio switches operatig i opposite modes. Older machies may eed their cotrols upgradig. The two-had cotrol should meet the followig basic stadards: both buttos should be operated withi approximately 0.5 secods of each other before the machie will operate; if oe cotrol is released, both buttos should have to be released ad re-operated for re-iitiatio; the cotrols should ot be capable of beig spaed by oe had; if oe or both cotrols are released, the machie should stop or retur to top dead cetre. The above guidelies are very geeral ad the detailed requiremets of idividual machie types ad models should be checked with the maufacturer/supplier ad agaist the guidelies i the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee booklet The guide to safe use of power-operated paper-cuttig guilloties. Operators should carry out daily tests ad checks of guilloties fitted with electrosesitive (photoelectric) safety systems or iterlockig guards. These checks should also be carried out after kife chagig. Sweepaway guards o guilloties should be checked by operators o a mothly basis. All tests should be recorded. The checks should also be carried out after kife chagig. Six-mothly examiatios ad tests should be carried out o all guilloties by competet ad traied egieers ad cover safety compoets (eg brake ad clutches, iterlock switches ad cams), stoppig performace ad gaugig pressures to comply with regulatio 6(2) of PUWER 98 (see Chapter 8). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 126 of 187

127 Health ad Safety Further iformatio ad example test forms ca be foud i the Pritig Idustry Advisory Committee booklet The guide to safe use of power-operated paper-cuttig guilloties. The itegrity of guards ad brakig systems o guilloties ca oly be maitaied by regular testig ad examiatio - failure to maitai a guillotie could result i a serious ad avoidable icidet. Kife chagig Special precautios are ecessary to prevet ijury whe kives are chaged. The guillotie maufacturer s istructios should be followed. These usually etail procedures ivolvig devices such as kife hadles or slides ad supports for safe removal, moutig boards for safe trasport ad storage, ad the use of a assistat whe chagig kives o larger machies. Precautios should also be take to keep others away durig kife chagig, eg by usig barriers ad a table ear the frot of the guillotie. Other cuttig machies Three-kife trimmers These usually cosists of three guillotie blades or kives (the head ad tail kives ad the forage kife). The kives reciprocate automatically throughout the ru. Guardig for the blades ad other hazardous parts is essetial. Access to the blades with the guards ope will be required for kife chagig ad adjustmet. Three-kife trimmers must be adequately guarded. This is usually achieved by providig fixed or iterlocked guards. Maually fed machies Provide iterlocked tuel-type guards to prevet access to the kives from the rear of the machie. Feed-side guardig should icorporate trip devices, for example a tripped flap ruig the legth of the feed opeig or tripped side guards or both. The trip devices should operate at miimal deflectio ad should istatly cut power ad movemet of hazardous parts if a operator s hads are carried ito the feed opeig. Provide adjustable feed-side guards where book sizes vary. These will eed to be maitaied i the correct positio to allow feedig of the work but prevet operator access to the dager area. Frot table dimesios may eed extedig to give operators extra protectio by keepig them further away from the feed opeig. Simultaeous two-had hold-to-ru cotrols should be provided o ew maually fed machies. Similar stadards should be provided o older existig equipmet. Automatically fed machies Guardig usually takes the form of a slidig tuel guard or a large hood split ito two sectios higed at the middle. These should be iterlocked. Commo provisios Opeigs i the guards should comply with the safety reach distaces i BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs. Photoelectric curtais ca also be used to provide protectio at the feed-side. Emergecy stop devices, icludig lift-up bar devices at certai older machies, are ot a substitute for the trip devices referred to i the previous paragraphs. You will eed safe systems of work for kife chagig ad settig, icorporatig the use of kife covers. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 127 of 187

128 Health ad Safety For settig purposes, two-had-cotrols should be provided which do ot allow ruig or joggig of the trimmer sectio with the guards ope. Operatig the twohad cotrol with the trimmer guards ope should allow o more tha a sigle stroke by the trimmer blades however log the cotrols are actuated, ie if the cotrols are operated ad held i for several secods the trimmer blade should do o more tha oe stroke ad the come to a complete rest. Where operatio of the kives is ot restricted to a sigle cut with the trimmer guards ope, machies should be desiged to allow ecessary ruig adjustmets with guards closed. Loose kife puchig machies Maually operated loose kife puchig/cuttig machies have caused figer ad had ijuries whe operators have ot withdraw before the plate desceds or have attempted to repositio a topplig kife. Access should be preveted durig the stroke by a combiatio of a slidig frot feed table, simultaeous two-had cotrols ad either iterlocked/fallig scree frot guards or self-adjustig tuel/ scree frot guards, together with either localised fixed guardig for the sides ad rear, or perimeter-type fecig. Cutter balacig sprigs should be used to stop small cutters fallig over. Automatic machies eed a higher stadard of safeguardig as the two-had cotrols oly offer protectio for the operator durig the iitial strike o. The feedside should be safeguarded by either a higed iterlock guard or a electrosesitive safety system. You should esure that the safeguardig arragemets at the feed-side comply with BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs. Locate the photoelectric curtai icorporated i this system correctly to prevet people reachig the dager poits or beig able to stad betwee the photoelectric curtai ad machie. The sides ad rear ca be safeguarded by a combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards. Shear ad trappig poits o the paper feed ad take-off systems should be either desiged out or safeguarded usig trip devices or other methods. Figure 39 Example of guardig a loose kife puchig machie usig a fallig scree guard The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 128 of 187

129 Health ad Safety Flat-bed cuttig ad creasig machies Cuttig ad creasig machies come i two forms: purpose-desiged machies; coverted pritig presses. The Heidelberg Origial Cylider is a typical example of a coverted machie. The mai risks are: movig compoets with associated crush or shear poits. Cuttig ad creasig machies have a iheret oscillatig motio, ad movemets may be sudde. Access (icludig direct or idirect, eg via the waste chute) to the movig parts should be preveted by meas of guards or other devices that stop all dagerous motio before ijury ca result; weights of dies o larger machies; oise from larger machies, particularly those fitted with trimmigs extractio systems; crush poits at the outfeed of larger machies. Purpose-desiged machies The feed-ed of machies is similar to that of sheet-fed pritig presses. Foot crushig risks from descedig pallet tables should be avoided by havig a maual system for the fial 100 mm, or alteratively, higed flaps that raise the operator s foot away from the trappig poit. Trasfer mechaisms from the product pile eed to be adequately guarded to cover ay i-ruig ips or shear poits as i-feed devices oscillate. The cuttig/creasig ad strippig areas must be guarded usig either fixed or iterlocked guards. If you eed to be able to ich the machie with the guards ope, the audible pre-start warigs must soud before the machie is moved, ad the movemet must be limited. It must ot be possible to access the itermittetly movig trasport chais with the guards ope. Remove trimmigs so that they do ot accumulate. Vacuum extractio is ofte used, but the oise from the airflow ad trimmigs movemet ca exceed 85 db(a) i may machies. Miimise the level to which the operators are exposed. Delivery-ed pallets ca sometimes have poor access. It is ofte impractical to prevet access to this area but durig ormal operatio it should ot be ecessary for persoel to eter the area where the pallet desceds. Safe systems of work must be i place for the chageover of pallets or their carriage plates, statig that the machie must be isolated if access is required to the pallet descet area. Where machie parts or higher level platforms are positioed so that the operators may hit their heads durig uloadig operatios, the these parts must be adequately padded. Housekeepig ad eighbourig equipmet must ot cause a obstructio whe removig product o pallet trucks. Whe chagig dies, appropriate equipmet or systems of work must be provided to miimise the risk of ijury through maual hadlig. Extedig rails may be provided to eable the die to be removed from the machie ad equipmet or systems must address the movemet to or from these rails. Coverted machies Typical machies have the feed ad delivery at the same ed. Guards must be provided over the forme at the other ed ad these should be iterlocked rather tha fixed to facilitate chageover of dies. The risks from ikig rollers are usually overcome by removig these with presses dedicated to cuttig ad creasig. The shear trap caused by the gap i the cylider as it passes fixed machie parts must The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 129 of 187

130 Health ad Safety be guarded by either a fixed or iterlocked guard. A commo method of fixig such a guard is to use U-bolts or similar devices roud the cross tie bar. Risks caused by oscillatig delivery figers must be cotrolled by esurig that these are telescopic. Most presses were desiged this way, but damage durig use may have jammed the telescopic actio. Autoplates Automatic sheet-fed plates were ot origially supplied with guards for the reciprocatig plate or the ikig rollers. At the very least, users eed to esure that fixed side ad rear guards are provided ad that, where still used, ikig rollers are guarded. Safeguardig by meas of iterlocked gates or pressure-sesitive mats at the frot of the machie should also be cosidered. It is particularly importat that operators are properly traied ad supervised. Had-fed plates used for cuttig ad creasig Had-fed plates have resulted i may serious accidets, icludig a umber of fatalities. The mai dagers are had ijury due to late feedig or takig out whe the machie is i cotiuous (timer cotrolled dwell) operatio, ad body trappig due to accidetal operatio of the plate while makig ready or clearig waste. All electro-magetic ad electro-peumatic machies should have: a U-shaped trip guard which closely surrouds the plate to withi 12 mm o three sides; a trip bar or pressure-sesitive edge o the frot edge of the movig plate; additioal side guardig i the form of 1 m wide pressure-sesitive mats extedig 250 mm beyod the back edge of the fixed plate or fixed/ iterlocked side tables; a cotrol system ad guardig circuits suitable for a high-risk applicatio, eg dual-circuit cross-moitored. A rise ad fall guard may be provided o the frot edge of older plate machies to esure the miimum gap is maitaied betwee the movig plate ad the trip guard. Where timer-cotrolled operatio or a dwell device is fitted, the dwell period must ot exceed 12 secods. A maximum of 6 secods dwell should be used for most operatios. The safe operatio of had-fed plates is critically depedet o their coditio i use - deterioratio of the safeguards will put the operator at sigificat risk. You eed to esure that regular ispectios are carried out by a competet perso at least aually to comply with regulatio 6(2) of PUWER 98 (see Chapter 8). Machies with mechaical (positive) clutches These machies caot be provided with all of the safeguards detailed uder Had-fed plates used for cuttig ad creasig uless they are completely refurbished ad provided with a suitable electro-magetic clutch/brake uit. You should pla to upgrade or replace these old machies. Some machies were fitted with a treadle coversio kit to discoect the foot pedal from the clutch o operatio of the U-shaped trip, prevetig accidetal operatio. However, this measure was difficult to maitai ad was ot eough o its ow. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 130 of 187

131 Health ad Safety Maiteace of had-fed plate guards The safeguards o all had-fed plates eed to be checked ad tested o a daily or shift basis. Both of the tests outlied below should be carried out by properly traied operators to esure that proper performace of the U-shaped trip is maitaied. Testig should also be doe periodically by a member of maagemet or a egieer. All tests should be recorded ad all records held. Test 1 The actual trippig poit should be tested by turig the machie over by had. (This may ot be feasible o larger machies.) Whe operated, the trip device should esure a gap of o less tha 175 mm is maitaied betwee the edge of the plate ad the forme. O machies with a travel of less tha 350 mm, trippig must occur ot later tha half way i the travel. Test 2 Test 2 should be carried out whe the machie is cold as well as whe it is warmed up. The operator should carry out the tests but oly followig proper ad careful istructio. A suitable test piece would be a 12 mm cardboard tube. The stoppig effect of the trip device should be tested with the machie ruig. The plate should come to rest o less tha 90 mm from the forme, or o machies where the trippig distace may be less tha 175 mm, o less tha 65 mm. Figure 40 Testig a had-fed plate Accidets The operator of a Rabolii mechaical clutch had-fed plate had his figers from both hads amputated whe he was clearig out stops. He iadvertetly stood o the foot pedal, causig the machie to stroke ad override the U-shaped trip. Two brothers were seriously ijured while removig the forme from a large Strumber plate. The U-shaped trip had bee pushed ito the rear positio but the plate had ot bee isolated. Workig o either side of the machie, the forme was supported with their hads betwee the plates while the securig screws were udoe. Aother employee the iadvertetly operated the partially shrouded foot pedal, causig the plate to stroke. He immediately operated the sesitive edge but ot before both brothers were trapped. Ivestigatio revealed that the U-shaped trip had bee provided with a sigle positively operatig positio switch which was ieffective because the grub screw securig the cam was loose. No side guards had bee provided ad o guard checkig was beig doe. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 131 of 187

132 Health ad Safety Label puchig machies Where regular access is required for maual feedig, make sure that the feed opeig for the material to be puched is safeguarded by a iterlocked guard or photoelectric device. Discharge opeigs should be desiged i accordace with the reach distaces specified i BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs. O ew machies, whe feedig the material requires regular ad routie access to the dager poit, the safety-related parts of the hydraulic/peumatic cotrol system should satisfy Category 3, ad the safety-related parts of the electric/electroic system Category 4, of BS EN Safety of machiery. Safety related parts of cotrol systems. Electrosesitive protective devices should satisfy the requiremets of Type 4 of BS EN ad BS EN Safety of machiery. Electro-sesitive protective equipmet. Geeral requiremets ad tests. Roud corerig machies Make sure that access to the trimmig kife or saw is preveted by a adjustable trasparet guard ad that the cuttig operatio ca oly start oce the material has bee fed usig a presece-sesig device. Operatio of the cutters must be uder the cotrol of a hold-to-ru device, which ca be either had- or foot-operated. Fixed or iterlocked guards should be provided at the rear ad o both sides of the machie. Folder gluer machies used i box makig This sectio covers smaller folder gluers used for cardboard box makig; it does ot cover corrugated carto maufacture. The mai dager poits o smaller machies are rotatig shafts, i-ruig ips ad traps caused by parts movig close to each other. Guardig may comprise idividual fixed guards at each ip poit, eclosig iterlocked guards or photoelectric guards. Power-drive shafts should be safeguarded by self-adjustig telescopic guards. If automatic format settig is power-drive, hold-to-ru cotrol or a maximum settig speed of 0.5 m/mi should be provided. O moder machies, check with your supplier that the followig stadards have bee achieved: Feeder I-ruig ips at the feed/pull rolls should be safeguarded by fixed guards such as cheek plates. The clearace betwee the lower edge of the moveable side lay ad the feedig belt should be o more tha 6 mm. Further movemet of the side lay should ot be possible uless residual pile moitorig is provided. Foldig ad gluig sectio Safeguard i-ruig ips betwee the upper ad lower roller tracks or foldig belt by esurig that the first roller allows 25 mm deflectio ad the remaider of the rollers have fixed guards o both sides. Raisig ad lowerig of roller tracks uder power should oly be possible uder hold-to-ru cotrol. Guard the traps created by foldig hooks usig fixed or iterlocked guards. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 132 of 187

133 Health ad Safety Make sure that the i-ruig ip betwee the glue applicator ad blak is safeguarded; this is ofte achieved by the positio of the gluig uit itself. Foldig belt The ips betwee this belt ad pulleys should be guarded by fixed guards. The ips betwee the belt ad hold-dow rolls should be guarded by rolls which have a miimum 25 mm deflectio, fixed or iterlockig guards or photoelectric devices at least 850 mm from the trappig poit. Pressig sectio Safeguard the ip betwee the upper ad lower pressig belt by limitig the pressig force to 500 ewtos ad esurig a deflectio of at least 120 mm by off-settig the upper ad lower pulleys. Nips betwee the pressure rollers ad the belt itself should be safeguarded by fixed guards or the rollers allowig a 120 mm deflectio uder a 100 ewtos cotact force. Bidery Hadwork Guards are required o edge-gummig machies with ippig rollers ad o the i-feed belts of edge strippig machies. Some machies used i metal comb (spiro) bidig work ca be hazardous - guards o the powered bar or plate of the machies which close the comb must be properly adjusted ad kept i positio. Adhesive (perfect) bidig The hazardous parts associated with the opeig/closig ad idexig of book clamps o adhesive bidig machies should be guarded. This ca ofte be achieved by all-eclosig iterlocked guardig, though additioal localised fixed ad trip devices may be ecessary at had-feedig statios. The millig cutter eeds to be well guarded, typically by a iterlocked all-eclosig guard ad a self-adjustig/adjustable local guard. You ca deal with cutter rudow time by usig braked motors or guard lockig. Miimise risks from hot melt adhesives by providig temperature cotrol with limit moitorig together with suitable screes or covers ad remote methods for refillig the adhesive. Provide extractio to cotrol fume. Machies usig polyurethae hot melt glues should be provided with local exhaust vetilatio to cotrol isocyaate exposure (see Chapter 4). Where the cover hopper is had-fed, the separatig elemets should be desiged to prevet traps ad residual pile moitorig provided. Automatically fed machies should be provided with tuel guards at least 550 mm log. Access to traps caused by the movemet of book carriages at the delivery should be preveted by tuel guards at least 550 mm log. Make-ready operatios may require iterlocked guards to be opeed. Where this is ecessary, a hold-to-ru cotrol should be provided at the slowest speed possible. Also, such operatio should oly be possible if the iterlocked guards for dager zoes outside the view of the operator are closed. If maual feedig is eeded durig set up, the hold-to-ru speed of the bider must be limited to a maximum of 10 m/mi wheever the iterlocked guards are ope. Stad-aloe stitchig machies Power-operated stitchig machies should have a guard for the stitchig head to prevet access whe the work is i place. Guards desiged for flat stitchig are ot The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 133 of 187

134 Health ad Safety effective durig saddle stitchig. Either two separate guards should be provided or, alteratively, reversible guards (ofte supplied by the maufacturer) should be used. Reversible guards are desiged to be tured ad secured i positio depedig o the type of stitchig beig carried out. Operators should be traied to use guards correctly. Figure 41 Guards for flat ad saddle stitchig Gathererig, stitchig ad trimmig Serious accidets have resulted at gatherer-stitcher-trimmers (GSTs), collatorstitcher-trimmers ad gag-stitcher-trimmers, particularly through cotact with the trimmer kives ad the icorrect operatio of wader lead cotrols. Gatherig Fixed ad iterlocked guards should be provided for hazardous parts of the gatherer/feed statios. Iterlocked guards ormally take the form of higed perspex lift-up guards, either for idividual feed statios, or as a sigle guard coverig all the feed statios. Iterlockig is ormally achieved through the use of positively operatig cam switches. Users eed to carry out regular guard checks to esure safety is maitaied. Uder o circumstaces should iterlock switches be removed or defeated. A sigle guard coverig all feed statios ca easily be redered ieffective if oly a sigle cam switch is provided ad this moves out of aligmet. It is the possible that the machie ca be operated with the guard raised. I such circumstaces, upgradig to provide a secod cam switch operatig i the opposite mode, mouted by the side of the origial switch, would achieve a higher stadard of safety. Access should ot be possible through or aroud guards to hazardous parts. BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs should be applied. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 134 of 187

135 Health ad Safety Figure 42 Fixed ad iterlocked guards should be provided for all dagerous parts of GSTs Stitchig Fixed ad/or iterlocked guards should be provided for hazardous parts associated with the stitcher sectio icludig the stitchig heads ad calliper roll. Guardig may take the form of a sigle higed perspex guard fitted with a sigle cam-operated iterlock switch. Ay iterlock switch should operate i the positive mode. Access should ot be possible through or aroud guards to hazardous parts. Trimmig Eclosig guards should be iterlocked by meas of positively actig iterlock switches. The switches will ormally be cam-operated. Care must be take to esure that the cams do ot move out of adjustmet - upgradig as outlied above may be appropriate. Regular guard checkig is recommeded. Opeig of the guards while the blades are i motio must stop hazardous movemet before a had ca reach a dager poit. Fixed guardig is usually ot a suitable alterative to iterlocked guards because of the eed for frequet access. Opeigs i the guards, icludig feed ad delivery opeigs, should ot allow access to hazardous parts. Where access is foud to be possible through the delivery or other opeigs, guardig should be upgraded to prevet access. Trasmissio machiery should be securely feced. Stadards for fixed or iterlocked guardig should take accout of the frequecy of access. Machies should be desiged so access is ot required to hazardous trasmissio machiery o a frequet basis. Precautios should be take to prevet risks from liftig higed guards fallig uder gravity. Settig ad adjustmet of GSTs Local two-had hold-to-ru cotrols or a two-had hold-to-ru wader lead ca be provided which allow operatio of the GST with oe guard ope. Sigle-butto cotrols are ot acceptable. Two-had-cotrols should meet the followig coditios: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 135 of 187

136 Health ad Safety They should require simultaeous operatio i lie with BS EN : 1993 Safety of machiery. Electrical equipmet of machies. Specificatio for geeral requiremets ad be suitably positioed to prevet spaig by oe had. Cotrols that fail to meet this stadard should be upgraded. With the gatherer/feeder statio or the stitcher guard ope (but ot the trimmer guard) the machie may, i exceptioal circumstaces, ru at speeds of more tha 10 m/mi although the speed should be set as low as possible. Settig, maiteace ad kife chage operatios with the trimmer guards ope should be a oe-perso operatio carried out by a traied operator who should be i cotrol of ay ich or pedat cotrols. Accidets have occurred whe two operators have bee workig together ad oe has operated the wader lead while the other has had their hads i the trimmer sectio (see Three kife trimmers earlier i this chapter). Book sewig Automatic/semi-automatic machies should be provided with a combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards to prevet access to hazardous parts. Fit had-fed machies with adequate trip guards to guard the sewig heads. These guards should be effective durig threadig up ad ormal ruig. Sigature presses Make sure that the trap betwee the movig press plate ad material supply ad the itermediate plate are safeguarded usig a hold-to-ru cotrol. Book presses Safeguard ay trap betwee the moveable ad fixed pressig plates or the formig bar with a trip device. The movemet of the trip should be greater tha the stoppig distace of the pressig plate. O presses where several pressig plates ca be moved idepedetly, a guard should be provided betwee the plates to prevet a shear trap. The gap betwee the guard ad the pressig plate should ot exceed 6 mm. Backliig ad headbadig Where book sigatures are trasported betwee vertically mouted coveyors, guard feed-side i-ruig ips with tuel guards of at least 550 mm. Glue rollers ad ay hot melt parts should be safeguarded with iterlocked guards ad warig sigs affixed. The gauze cuttig kife should be safeguarded by fixed guards ad the i-ruig ips of the gauze uwidig sectio by fixed ip bars. Access to hazardous parts at the head badig sectio ad couter pressure sectios should be preveted by fixed or iterlockig guards. Book ippig (smashig) Safety o had-fed book ippig or smashig machies ca oly be achieved by providig guardig ad safe systems of work. You eed to fit adjustable accesslimitig guards. O horizotally movig plates where the book is fed from the top, a sprig-loaded guard ca be used where the back of the book displaces the guard so that it covers the gap betwee the book ad the plate. Alteratively, letterbox-type guards which have a slot opeig of the same dimesios as the book ca be used, but the plate side of the guard must overlap the frot edge of the plate. O vertically movig plate machies, adjustable plates should be fitted which are adjusted to the book size for each productio ru. These will prevet operators from leavig their figers o the upper surface of the book. The outside edge of the plate should exted beyod the plate edge to prevet a secodary trap. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 136 of 187

137 Health ad Safety Roudig ad backig Automatic machies should be provided with a combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards to prevet access to hazardous parts such as i-ruig ips o the feed ad delivery belts, traps o the tippig sectio, traps ad hot parts o the preheater sectio, ad traps ad shear poits o the preformig, roudig ad backig sectio. O had-fed machies, access is required to feed the book to the feed/roudig rollers but must be preveted durig powered movemet. You ca prevet access to the shear trap by usig sequetial two-had cotrols ad iterlock guardig. Case makig ad casig-i O most types of case-makig ad casig-i machies, the hazardous parts ca be adequately guarded by providig all-eclosig guards iterlocked to the machie s drive. The feed ad discharge parts of the machies should be outside the guarded area, with opeigs desiged to meet the reach distace requiremets of BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs. Access to i-ruig ips ad traps betwee fixed ad movig parts eed to be preveted o case makig machies, especially the traps betwee the rotatig picker head ad adjacet fixed parts o older machies. For these machies, a combiatio of fixed ad iterlocked guards fitted to the outside edge of the machie frame are suitable. Where cover cloth is had-fed to a cylider, ay i-ruig ips should be guarded. O casig-i machies, hazardous parts iclude i-ruig ips at the cover bedig sectio, crushig ad ip poits ad hot machie parts at the heated formig sectio, crushig poits at the casig-i sectio, i-ruig ips at the gluig sectio ad i-ruig ips at the couter-pressure sectio. Pictograms warig of hot parts should be provided i the viciity of heated book-cover crease-formig devices which are accessible oce the iterlockig guards have bee opeed. At the book sigature feed ad delivery poits, tuel guards at least 550 mm log should be provided to prevet cotact with traps betwee the book trasport figers ad fixed parts of the machie. Traps o the book cover feeder caused by separatig elemets ad trasport devices should be preveted by desig or where blaks are fed from the bottom of the pile, safeguardig ca be achieved by residual pile moitorig. Blockig machies The trap betwee the closig plates (oe of which is ofte heated) o foil blockig machies is very hazardous ad must be guarded. O automatic machies this ca be achieved by the provisio of all-eclosig iterlocked guards. O had-fed up-strokig or dow-strokig machies, the rear ad sides of the plates ca be guarded by fixed/iterlocked guards. The frot feed table should be provided with a adjustable (ofte rod type) pivotig guard, which trips if the bottom of the guard is pushed i, or a trip device ad simultaeous two-had holdto-ru cotrols. Book productio lies Make sure that the i-ruig ips o the feed ad delivery coveyor belts are safeguarded usig i-fill blocks. Traps created by separatig elemets o the book cover feeder should be safeguarded. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 137 of 187

138 Health ad Safety Check that fixed or iterlocked guards have bee provided to prevet access to hazardous parts at: the preheater. Iterlocked guards should be supplemeted by suitable pictograms warig of hot parts. Oce iterlocked guards are opeed, the preheater should oly operate uder hold-to-ru cotrol; the back roudig ad pressig sectios; the glue sectios. Glue repleishmet should be possible durig the productio ru without the eed to ope guards. Hot melt pas should have temperature cotrol ad limit temperature moitorig; the kife ad gauze clamps. Nip bars should be fitted at ay remaiig i-ruig ips at gauze uwidig rollers oce the iterlocked guard has bee opeed; the head badig ad backliig sectio. Nip bars should be fitted at ay remaiig i-ruig ips at head badig uwidig rollers oce the iterlocked guard has bee opeed; the cover bedig ad roudig sectios; the casig-i sectio. After opeig ay iterlocked guards, it should oly be possible to operate the lie with a limited ich of 75 mm or a hold-to-ru maximum crawl speed of 5 m/mi. If a higher crawl speed is required, this should oly be possible usig a combiatio of two-had cotrol ad esurig: all other iterlockig guards are closed; a selector switch for this operatio has bee provided; ad the hold-to-ru speed is the slowest possible ad does ot exceed a maximum of 20 m/mi. Check that emergecy stop buttos are provided at least o each mai cotrol pael. Where overall visio of the productio lie is restricted, make sure a pre-start warig device has bee provided. Paper drills The stroke of maually fed paper drills should be uder hold-to-ru cotrol ad a workpiece support provided. Whe the hold-to-ru cotrol is released, the drill or workpiece should retur to its start positio. Make sure the shatter ad trappig hazards o drills ad chuck jaws are safeguarded by a fixed or iterlocked guard. Multi-drill machies should have fixed or iterlockig guards to prevet cotact with the rotatig chuck jaws. Make sure the distace betwee the workpiece support or guard ad chuck jaw is at least 25 mm. Accidets Book sewig A experieced operator crushed their idex figer betwee the bottom plate ad the book as the top plate compressed the book. No guardig had bee provided. A operator amputated the tips of two figers while pushig books through the cotiuously strokig press. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 138 of 187

139 Health ad Safety Accidets Roudig ad backig machies A employee crushed his had betwee the roudig rollers ad backig jaw whe he iadvertetly started the machie cycle. A operator bruised ad lacerated his figer i the pressig plate of a roudig machie. A guard was provided but ot used. Fiishig machies Coaters Check: with your supplier, where routie ad regular access is required to dager poits, that the safeguards are of the right itegrity (the safety-related parts of the hydraulic/peumatic cotrol system satisfy at least Category 3 of BS EN 954-1: 1997 Safety of machiery. Safety related parts of cotrol systems, ad the safety-related parts of the electric/electroic cotrol system satisfy at least Category 4); where overall visio of the coater is restricted, a pre-start warig device has bee provided; web-threadig devices are provided for webbig up. Reel uwidig ad rewidig uits eed to be safeguarded (see Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this chapter). Esure that the followig i-ruig ips are safeguarded: betwee the guide rollers ad guide rollers/fixed machie parts by esurig a miimum separatio of 120 mm, or with fixed/iterlocked guards or ip bars; at the dosig gap with fixed/iterlocked guards or ip bars; betwee the coatig roller ad coolig roller/coatig roller with fixed/iterlocked guards; at the Teflo belt (where hot melt polyethylee is beig used) with fixed/ iterlocked guards. Prevet cotact with parts associated with hot melt material usig fixed guards. The traversig movemet of the coatig rollers or coatig roller ad coolig roller should be safeguarded by meas of a hold-to-ru speed of 5 m/mi or iterlocked guards. Accessible i-ruig ips betwee the coated, tear-resistat web ad guide rollers where there is a wrappig agle of 45 o or more should be protected by fixed guards. For precautios relatig to fire risk o coaters, see earlier i this chapter. Cotiuous flow dryers Check with your supplier that the dryer meets the requiremets of BS EN 1539: 2000 Dryers ad oves i which flammable substaces are released. Safety requiremets if the coatig material you use geerates flammable substaces. It is importat that the trap created whe closig the upper ad lower parts of the dryer is safeguarded usig a hold-to-ru cotrol. Automatic closig should oly be possible for the last 300 mm of movemet ad safeguarded by trip bars. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 139 of 187

140 Health ad Safety Igitio of the web i the dryer should be preveted usig a air wiper/cushioed curtai to keep the web at a adequate distace from the heat source. If hydraulic or peumatic cyliders are provided for opeig the dryer, make sure these have safety-rated check valves which ca be overridde. I additio, a mechaical scotch should be iserted durig ispectio work. Esure emergecy stop buttos are provided at each operator positio. Lamiators with adhesive foil Reel uwidig ad rewidig uits eed to be safeguarded (see Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this chapter). Make sure the followig i-ruig ips are safeguarded: at feed ad delivery belts by ifillig betwee the belt ad roller; betwee guide rollers ad guide rollers/fixed machie parts by esurig a miimum separatio of 120 mm, or with fixed/iterlocked guards or ip bars; accessible ips betwee the lamiated, tear-resistat web ad guide rollers where there is a wrappig agle of 45 or more by fixed or iterlocked guards; at the lamiatig roller usig fixed or iterlocked guards. If the material thickess exceeds 18 mm, the opeig should ot be more tha 30 mm ad the safety distace at least 200 mm. The traversig movemet of the lamiatig rollers for make-ready ad cleaig should be safeguarded by meas of a hold-to-ru speed of 5 m/mi or iterlocked guards. I hot foilig work, prevet cotact with the lamiatio rollers by usig fixed guards. Esure cuttig devices are safeguarded by iterlockig guards. Check that emergecy stop buttos are provided at least o each mai cotrol pael. Lamiators with glue applicatio Where isocyaate-cotaiig adhesives are used, cotrol of employees exposure is crucial. See Chapter 4 Use of isocyaates ad the booklet Safe use of isocyaates i pritig ad lamiatig. O ew machies, where routie ad regular access is required to dager poits, check with your supplier that the safety-related parts of the hydraulic/peumatic cotrol system satisfy at least Category 3 of BS EN 954-1: 1997 Safety of machiery. Safety related parts of cotrol systems, ad the safety-related parts of the electric/electroic cotrol system satisfy at least Category 4. Where overall visio of the lamiator is restricted, make sure a pre-start warig device has bee provided. Web-threadig devices should be provided for webbig up. Reel uwidig ad rewidig uits eed to be safeguarded (see Reel uwids ad rewids earlier i this chapter). The feeder ad delivery uits eed to be properly desiged ad safeguarded (see Pile liftig ad lowerig devices earlier i this chapter). Check that the followig i-ruig ips have bee safeguarded: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 140 of 187

141 Health ad Safety o belts usig fixed or iterlocked guards; betwee guide rollers ad guide rollers/fixed machie parts by esurig a miimum separatio of 120 mm, or with fixed/iterlocked guards or ip bars; accessible ips betwee the lamiated, tear-resistat web ad guide rollers where there is a wrappig agle of 45 or more by fixed or iterlocked guards; o the sheet feed rolls by esurig that the rolls have a displacemet of at least 25 mm or roller cotact is by their ow weight; at the glue rollers ad o the dosig gap usig iterlocked guards; betwee the lamiatig rollers usig fixed or iterlocked guards. If the material thickess exceeds 18 mm, the opeig should ot be more tha 30 mm ad the safety distace at least 200 mm; betwee pressig rollers ad guide rollers ad pressig belt by fixed guards, or by esurig rollers are held i positio by their ow weight ad have a displacemet of at least 120 mm; betwee the upper ad lower pressig belts at the ifeed poit. Use either fixed or iterlocked guards with a safety distace of at least 850 mm from a opeig aperture of at least 120 mm to the poit where there is at least 10 mm betwee the belts, or pressig rollers capable of displacemet to a create a gap of 120 mm ad with a maximum pressig force of 200 ewtos at the 850 mm poit. Make sure rotary kives are fully eclosed usig fixed guards which preferably do ot have to be removed for tool chage. Check that the opeig ad closig movemet of the lamiatig rollers is safeguarded if the travel path is more tha 6 mm by meas of hold-to-ru cotrol ot exceedig 5 m/mi or iterlockig guards. Check that dager poits o the sheeter are ot accessible by meas of iterlocked or fixed guards. Make sure that the crushig poit betwee the package stop ad trasport belt is safeguarded with iterlocked or fixed guards if the maximum closig force exceeds 200 ewtos. Esure that shearig poits betwee the turig belt ad trasport belts are safeguarded with fixed guards. See Chapter 7 for fire precautios relatig to lamiators. Balig machies Machies used for balig waste paper ad board have caused fatal accidets ad amputatio ijuries. Large machies typically cosist of a horizotal or vertical balig chamber which is coveyor fed. These machies will have a automatic or semiautomatic bale wirig mechaism, icorporatig wirig eedles that pass through slots i the face of the balig ram. Fatal accidets have occurred whe people have falle from the coveyor ito the chamber while the baler is i operatio, for example whe followig a usafe system of work for clearig blockages, ad whe they have gaied access to the area behid the ram i its forward positio for ruig repairs, ad the ram has retracted. Amputatio ijuries have bee caused by people gaiig access to traps created by movig parts such as the ram, wire tyig mechaism or wirig eedles. O large machies, distributors may also costitute a dager. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 141 of 187

142 Health ad Safety At small compactors there may ot be a high risk of fatality, but precautios will be eeded to prevet amputatios, crushig ad similar major ijuries. A high stadard of iitial safeguardig is eeded at all machies, combied with regular checks o the operatio of the safety devices ad maiteace. Follow safe systems of work to deal with occurreces such as blockages, ad maiteace activities. Such systems should iclude lock-off isolatio procedures for both coveyor ad baler. Iitial safeguards will iclude a high stadard of fixed ad iterlocked guardig, emergecy stops ad trip wires, fixed ladders (with hoops as appropriate) ad workig platforms for access to high levels of the machie. Waste is usually loaded oto the coveyor usig vehicles. Guard the edge of the coveyor or pit as far as possible ad make the exposed area for loadig clearly idetifiable, for example by usig robust overhead idicators. Access oto coveyors should be strictly cotrolled by a safe system of work icorporatig a effective isolatio procedure. The meas of electrical isolatio should be readily accessible ad lockable. It must isolate both the coveyor ad the balig machie. Fit coveyors with emergecy stop devices which stop both the coveyor ad the balig mechaism. Emergecy stop buttos should be readily accessible from all operatig statios. Emergecy stop buttos or trip wires should also be provided o the iclied sectio of the coveyor. They ca either be fitted to ru up the side (preferably o both sides) or they ca be positioed like goal-posts horizotally across the coveyor ad hug with vertical cords for ease of operatio. Persoal detectio systems ca be used as well as but ot as a alterative to safeguards. If frequet blockages occur i the hopper above the baler the a permaet platform (at least 1.1 m below the top of the hopper) with a fixed access ladder should be provided. If it is ot possible to provide a fixed access platform, haresses with achorage poits may be ecessary i additio to the safe system of work ad isolatio procedure described above. Figure 43 A uacceptable balig press The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 142 of 187

143 Health ad Safety Accidets A operator was attemptig to clear a blockage i a baler. Paper was fed automatically from the shredder to the baler. Whe the paper level reached a magic eye the ram operated. The operator had climbed ito the chute bolted to the baler. Whe the baler operated, his foot was badly crushed by the ram. A employee was crushed to death whe he became trapped by the returig ram of a large horizotal paper balig machie. He had gaied access to the balig chamber via the rear of the ejector ram whe the ram was i the forward positio. The machie had ot bee isolated ad the ram retracted. A employee was killed whe he fell ito the balig chamber ad covered the magic eye which activated the ram. The employee had bee clearig a blockage at the top ed of the coveyor. The machie had ot bee isolated. Effectively guard all opeigs (eve small oes allowig had access) i the viciity of the balig chamber ad the compactor/ejector ram. Access paels may be fixed i positio if ifrequet access is required ad this should be made through a permit-to-work system icorporatig a isolatio procedure. Where access is required more frequetly, a iterlocked guard should be provided. The stadard of the iterlockig required depeds o the ature of the risk. If head or body access is possible the iterlockig to a high stadard will be required, for example, guard-ihibited power iterlockig or a key exchage system. Alteratively, use a dual-chael system with iterlocks ad cross-moitorig. O hydraulic machies, dual-chael iterlockig ca use a differet cotrol medium for each chael, ie oe hydraulic ad oe electric. Where whole-body access is possible, provide protectio to prevet iadvertet closig of the guard pael/door while a perso is iside the machie. Key exchage systems provide this protectio. A equivalet stadard of protectio will be eeded if other types of iterlockig are used. Where head or body access is ot possible, iterlockig by meas of a sigle positively iterlocked switch may be acceptable as log as it is properly maitaied. Access to the movig parts of the eedles ad wire-tyig mechaism should be preveted by usig fixed or iterlocked guardig accordig to the priciples described i the previous paragraphs. Needles will ofte pass vertically through the bale, with a access pit uder the machie, but they may also be horizotal. If people have to work uder the eedles durig maiteace, mechaical scotches should be provided to hold the eedles i a safe positio. Maiteace is very importat because of the heavy duty eviromet. Not oly is it essetial to esure that safety switches/devices are regularly checked, but prevetive maiteace o the equipmet is importat to reduce the eed for operator itervetio. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 143 of 187

144 Health ad Safety Figure 44 Simplified diagram of a balig machie Shredders Machies ca be had-fed either o vertical or horizotal plaes. Horizotally fed machies may have short feed-side coveyors to aid the trasfer of material to the cutters. Some machies may have a secod coveyor to deliver the shreddigs at the outru. Feed-side access to rotary cutters Access to the cuttig rollers should be preveted by suitable distace guardig i lie with BS EN 294: 1992 Safety of machiery. Safety distaces to prevet dager zoes beig reached by the upper limbs. For the smallest office-based machies, this ca be doe by usig arrow feed slots (typically arrowig to o more tha 4 to 6 mm). The slots should ot be i a direct vertical lie with the i-ruig ip created by the cotra-rotatig cutters because of etaglemet hazards to operators hair, jewellery or clothig. Where residual risks remai, suitable warig labels should be placed i promiet positios to alert operators of the potetial hazard. Where waste paper etc is fed ito a shredder via a top-feed chute, the chute should exted far eough to prevet the operator s had or arm accessig the rotatig cutters through the chute. You ca also use higed iterlocked flaps fitted with sigle positively operatig cam switches. Opeig of the flaps while the cutters are i motio should stop hazardous movemet before a had ca reach the hazardous parts. Feed chutes should be fixed i positio or iterlocked usig positively operatig switches which stop movemet of the cutters before access ca be gaied. The type ad method of iterlockig should take accout of cutter rudow times where applicable. Cosider guard lockig for machies with log cutter rudow times. Where machies are fed horizotally usig feed tables (ofte fitted with small itegral feed coveyors), the feed table should act as a distace guard. Suitable side paellig ad/or fixed or iterlocked tuel guardig should be provided to prevet access to hazardous parts from the sides of the feed table. Safety reach distaces should comply with BS EN 294: Where higed sectios are provided i the guardig arragemets, these should be iterlocked usig positively operatig iterlock switches. Outru access to rotary cutters Shreddig machies are usually provided with a reversig drive for the rotary cutters The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 144 of 187

145 Health ad Safety to aid blockage removal. The reverse facility results i the otherwise out-ruig ips at the delivery side of the cutters becomig hazardous i-ruig ips. Access to these hazardous parts while they are i motio should be preveted by meas of localised fixed guardig (foud o some smaller machies, particularly vertically fed machies); suitable tuel guards (fixed or iterlocked); or iterlocked guards. Localised fixed guards or tuel guards should comply with BS EN 294: 1992 safety reach distaces. I exceptioal circumstaces reversal by meas of a two-had hold-to-ru cotrol placed out of reach of hazardous parts may be acceptable for strictly solo operatig practices. Such cotrols should be desiged to provide limited ich movemet oly. The cotrols should require simultaeous operatio ad comply with BS EN 60204: 1993 Safety of machiery. Electrical equipmet of machies. Specificatio for geeral requiremets. Two-had-cotrols are ot cosidered acceptable if the cutters are capable of automatic reverse ruig. Some machies may be fitted with over curret sesors which automatically reverse the directio of the cutters (ad of the feed table coveyor) if the machie is electrically overloaded. After about five secods of reverse motio, the machie switches itself off. Provide fixed or iterlocked guardig where there is a possibility of automatic reversal. Where there are hazards after iterruptio of the power supply, cosider iterlockig methods icorporatig brakig ad/or guard lockig, for example where cutters or other hazardous parts have log rudow times. Systems should be desiged to icorporate a device to either cause the hazard to be elimiated as the guard is opeed (by applyig a brake), or prevet the guard from beig opeed util the risk of ijury from the hazard has passed (guard lockig). Where shredders are combied with itegral balig mechaisms, ay access door provided at the rear of the shredder/top of the baler should be iterlocked usig at least oe positively operatig iterlock switch which prevets movemet of both the shreddig cutters ad the balig ram as soo as the access door is opeed. Hydraulic or peumatic operated balig rams should block ad dump their supply o operatio of the iterlock. Provide a trip mechaism i the form of tripped access flaps or a full-legth trip bar as well as distace guardig where there is ay possibility of a operator becomig etagled ad dragged towards the cutter blade. Accidet A operator was feedig a paper shredder with old ewspapers whe her figer touched blades through a opeig i the machie. The feed opeig had ot bee restricted. A operator severed the tip of a idex figer i the cutters of a paper shredder while checkig for a fault. A fixed guard had bee removed from over the cuttig head. Closig the electrically iterlocked door of the waste sack bi had activated the cutters. A operator lost parts of three figers whe they were sheared off by oe of the compactig rams o a shredder baler machie which makes shredded ewspaper ito bales for aimal beddig. Blockages o the machie were a regular occurrece ad were frequetly cleared by isertig a arm through a slot i the machiery housig while the rams were i motio. No fixed or iterlocked guard was i place before the accidet. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 145 of 187

146 Health ad Safety Acquirig machiery ad other work equipmet The law Supply of Machiery (Safety) Regulatios 1992 (ameded 1994) These Regulatios impose duties o the maufacturers, suppliers ad importers of ew machiery ad are iteded to provide protectio for the users of the equipmet as machiery which complies with these Regulatios should be safe. The requiremets of the Regulatios were volutary for ew ad secod-had machies from 1 Jauary 1993 util 1 Jauary 1995 (if they were ot followed the machiery still eeded to comply with the health ad safety provisios i force i the Uited Kigdom). The requiremets of the Regulatios became compulsory from 1 Jauary Duties o maufacturers or their resposible persos Esurig that the machiery or safety compoet satisfies the relevat essetial health ad safety requiremets (EHSRs). Esurig that a appropriate coformity assessmet procedure has bee carried out i accordace with the Regulatios. Esurig that the machiery or safety compoet has bee issued with either a Declaratio of Coformity or a Declaratio of Icorporatio. Esurig that the machiery or safety compoet has bee CE marked to show that it satisfies the EHSRs (uless it is has a Declaratio of Icorporatio ad is goig to be icorporated ito a machie or assembly of machies that will be CE marked as a whole). Esurig that the machiery or safety compoet is safe. Carryig out research ad testig to determie that the machiery is capable of beig erected ad put ito service safely. Duties o suppliers (where the supplier is ot the maufacturer or the maufacturer s appoited resposible perso) Esurig that the relevat machiery or safety compoet is safe. Duties o users If you directly import ay machiery (secod-had or ew) from outside the Europea Ecoomic Area, the the Regulatios regard you as supplyig the machiery to yourself ad impose the duties of a supplier uder the Regulatios. Examples of matters covered by the essetial health ad safety requiremets iclude: priciples of safety itegrity; lightig; desig of machiery to facilitate hadlig; safety ad reliability of cotrol systems; prevetio of risks related to movig parts; requiremets for guards ad protective devices; protectio from hazards (icludig temperature, electricity supply, static electricity, fire, explosio, oise, vibratio, radiatio ad dusts); markigs; ad istructios. Provisio ad Use of Work Equipmet Regulatios 1998 (PUWER 98) Duties o users/employers These Regulatios apply to buyig or hirig machiery. As a employer you must esure that the work equipmet you provide is suitable ad safe for use. These Regulatios also require you to check that ay equipmet you acquire coforms to the relevat Commuity Directives, eg the Supply of Machiery Regulatios. For practical purposes, you ca start by esurig that: The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 146 of 187

147 Health ad Safety machiery supplied from 1 Jauary 1995 comes with a copy of the maufacturer s Declaratio of Coformity which states the maufacturer s ame ad address, the machie model ad type etc; the machie complies with the essetial health ad safety requiremets (EHSRs); the machie is accompaied by istructios for use ad is CE marked. Sometimes, if the machiery is goig to be icorporated ito other relevat machiery, eg at ewspaper presses, it will come without CE markig ad a Declaratio of Coformity, i which case you should ask to see the maufacturer s Declaratio of Icorporatio. Oce the equipmet is assembled, the assembly as a whole will eed to meet the EHSRs to be CE marked ad you or the perso assemblig the plat will eed to draw up a Declaratio of Coformity. Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974, sectio 6 This sectio of the Act places duties o desigers, maufacturers, importers ad suppliers to esure, so far as is reasoably practicable, that ay articles for use at work are safe ad without risks to health ad are accompaied by adequate iformatio for use. Word of cautio Whe purchasig or hirig ew or secod-had machiery ad work equipmet, take special care to esure that ay associated risks have bee assessed ad that you are complyig with the law. You should check that ay cotract deals with health ad safety ad that there is o misuderstadig about the coditio of the machie ad its guards. The law applies ot oly to guardig, but to other aspects which may affect health ad safety, such as oise geerated by machiery, solvet vapour emissio, ad protectio agaist fire ad explosio. Situatios may arise where CE marked equipmet is ot etirely safe as the markig ad declaratio process is a self-certifyig oe ad maufacturers or suppliers may have failed to fulfil their obligatios uder the Regulatios. It is your duty as a employer to make sure that machiery is safe before it is brought ito use. Employers are obliged by law to carry out ad act upo their ow assessmets of health ad safety risks (see Plaig ad risk assessmet i Chapter 1). Assess both ew ad existig machiery ad brig them up to required stadards. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 147 of 187

148 Health ad Safety Chapter 6 Electricity See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Electricity Relevat legislatio The Electricity at Work Regulatios 1989 require precautios to be take agaist the risk of death or ijury from electricity at work. The memoradum of guidace o the Electricity at Work Regulatios 1989 (HSR25) has further iformatio. Electricity ca kill, at ormal mais voltage of 230 V ac ad eve at voltages cosiderably less tha this. Each year about 1000 accidets at work ivolvig electric shock or burs are reported to HSE, aroud 30 of which are fatal. Fires started by poor electrical istallatios ca cause deaths ad ijuries. Explosios ca be caused by electrical apparatus or static electricity igitig flammable vapours or dust. Geeral hazards ad precautios Check that: all electrical wirig is istalled to a suitable stadard by a competet perso such as a qualified electricia. Poor workmaship ca be dagerous ad dagerous istallatios are illegal. (All ew electrical work should be ispected ad tested before beig put ito use.) BS 7671: 1992 Requiremets for electrical istallatios gives guidace o suitable stadards; power cables to machies are isulated ad protected, eg sheathed ad armoured or istalled i coduit. All coectios should be i good coditio. Switches, fuses ad circuit-breakers should be labelled to idetify the circuits they serve; there is a switch or isolator ear each (fixed) machie to cut off power i a emergecy; plugs, sockets ad fittigs are adequately protected ad suitable for the workig eviromet; wheever practicable, flexible cables ad wires do ot trail o the floor. They are more liable to damage, ad may cause a trippig hazard; flexible cables have a suitable plug with the flex firmly clamped to stop the wires (particularly the earth) pullig out of the termials; wherever reasoably practicable, eough socket outlets should be provided for the umber of appliaces to be used at ay oe time. Whe this is ot possible a fused extesio lead with a multiway socket block ca be used i appropriate locatios; frayed ad damaged cables are replaced completely. Joi legths i good coditio oly by usig proper coectors or cable couplers - chocolate-block coectors do ot provide the stregth or protectio required for a joit i a cable ad are ot suitable for this purpose; access is preveted to electrical dager, eg by keepig isolator ad fuse box covers closed, secured ad, it is strogly recommeded, locked, with the key held by a resposible perso; fuses, circuit-breakers ad other devices are correctly rated for the circuit they protect; home appliaces such as fires, radios ad kettles are ot brought i for use at work; there are o overhead cables that could be accidetally struck i areas where lift trucks operate. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 148 of 187

149 Health ad Safety Particular hazards ad precautios for pritig Some precautios relate to the special coditios to be foud i pritig. These iclude: ot usig portable fa heaters or hair dryers i dark rooms or i wet coditios - they are ot desiged for use i such eviromets ad ca cause electric shocks; makig sure that the power to high-pressure water-jet machies is supplied through a 30 ma residual curret circuit-breaker which is regularly tested by operatio of its test butto. This precautio will provide added protectio agaist electrical shock; esurig electrical equipmet is of suitable explosio-protected costructio if it is to be used i a potetially explosive atmosphere. Potetially explosive atmospheres may, for example, arise i solvet storage areas ad i some process areas such as i the viciity of flexographic ad gravure presses, ad ik mixig areas. You may eed specialist advice to choose the correct equipmet. Low voltage equipmet, eg 12 V, gives o protectio agaist the risk of igitio i such eviromets. Static electricity ca also be a source of igitio i such eviromets. This is a particular problem i flexographic ad gravure pritig. Importat precautios iclude: the use by operators of ati-static footwear to prevet the build-up of electrostatic charges which might cause a spark. Where this is a hazard, operators also eed to avoid wearig clothig made of ma-made fibre (this ca have the additioal advatage of reducig the severity of burs i the evet of a fire); the use of closed metal cotaiers whe carryig flammable liquids such as solvets; the bodig ad earthig of metalwork as ecessary to prevet accumulatio of static where flammable liquids such as solvets are trasferred by pipe or poured. See Chapter 7 for further advice o fire ad explosio. Ispectio ad maiteace All electrical equipmet, wirig istallatios (icludig battery sets), their coectios (icludig fixed items of machiery) ad portable electric tools must be maitaied so far as is reasoably practicable to prevet dager. You will eed to carry out ispectio ad testig to check the coditio of the equipmet, ad follow this up with repair or replacemet where ecessary. The frequecy of the ispectio ad testig will deped o the equipmet you use ad where you use it. You may fid it helpful to keep records of ispectio ad testig. Take suspect or faulty equipmet out of use, label it DO NOT USE ad, where appropriate, remove the plug ad keep the equipmet secure util a competet perso cofirms that it is, or has bee made safe to use. Make sure your employees kow how to report ay damage or defects they discover ad who they should tell. Do t overlook hired or borrowed electrical equipmet or equpmet such as floor polishers which may be used after the premises have closed. Check to esure that ay electrical equipmet that cotractors brig oto site is safe to use. Check that residual curret circuit-breakers work by operatig the test butto regularly, i accordace with the maufacturer s advice. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 149 of 187

150 Health ad Safety Ayoe carryig out electrical work must be competet to do it safely. This may mea brigig i outside cotractors. If you do eed to use electrical cotractors you should use those who belog to a recogised trade orgaisatio which checks their work such as the Natioal Ispectio Coucil for Electrical Istallatio Cotractig (NICEIC). Your ow staff must also be competet if you do the work i-house. If you do use electrical equipmet i flammable atmospheres, make sure that special maiteace requiremets for explosio-protected equipmet have bee writte dow ad that someoe with eough traiig is resposible for carryig out the work, ad records that they have doe so. The maufacturer of the equipmet should be able to give you advice o this. No oe should be allowed to work o or ear exposed live equipmet. I exceptioal circumstaces live workig may be permissible, but oly if this ca be doe i full compliace with regulatio 14 of the Electricity at Work Regulatios 1989 ad the perso doig the work is competet to udertake the specific task(s) ivolved. If i doubt, ask your health ad safety ispector or eforcig authority for advice. Electric shock Would you kow what to do if someoe received a electric shock? Kowig what to do should be part of your emergecy procedures ad first-aid arragemets. Thik about displayig a copy of the Electric shock placard which shows you what to do. Accidet A mider received a electric shock whe he touched a metal table beside his machie. A damaged cable ruig alog the floor was i cotact with the table, makig it electrically live. The ma was off work for oe week, but the accidet could have had far more serious cosequeces. A maager was killed while usig a pressure washer. A electrical fault o the washer made its frame ad lace live at 240 V. Earthig was iadequate ad o residual curret device was fitted i the supply. A 16-year-old traiee priter received a 240 V electric shock ad burs to his figers whe he touched a switch, the cover to which had bee removed ad ot replaced. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 150 of 187

151 Health ad Safety Figure 45 Electric shock placard The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 151 of 187

152 Health ad Safety Chapter 7 Fire ad explosio See the Refereces sectio at the back of the book for details of publicatios which relate to Fire ad explosio Relevat legislatio Requiremets to assess ad cotrol fire ad explosio risks ca be foud i the followig pieces of legislatio: Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 Workplace (Health, Safety ad Welfare) Regulatios 1992 Provisio ad Use of Work Equipmet Regulatios 1998 (PUWER 98) Supply of Machiery (Safety) Regulatios 1992 (as ameded) Chemicals (Hazard Iformatio ad Packagig for Supply) Regulatios 1994 (CHIP) Highly Flammable Liquids ad Liquefied Petroleum Gases Regulatios 1972 (HFL&LPG) (to be replaced by Dagerous Substaces ad Explosive Atmospheres Regulatios (DSEAR)) Equipmet ad Protective Systems for Use i Potetially Explosive Atmospheres Regulatios 1996 Electricity at Work Regulatios 1989 Petroleum (Cosolidatio) Act 1928 (to be ameded by DSEAR) Fire Precautios (Workplace) Regulatios 1997 (as ameded) (FPWR) Fire Precautios Act 1971 Several hudred fires occur every year i the pritig idustry. There have also bee a umber of explosios. I some icidets people have bee killed or ijured; i may others there has bee extesive damage to buildigs, equipmet ad materials. Explosios ca occur at dryers used i associatio with flexographic presses ad whe blaket washig o heat-set web offset presses (see BS EN 1539: 2000 Dryers ad oves i which flammable substaces are released - Safety requiremets ad pr EN Thermal cleaig systems for exhaust gas from surface treatmet equipmet - Safety requiremets). They occur whe flammable substaces, such as solvets, blaket wash etc are used or stored icorrectly, ad the vapour forms a explosive mixture with air. Risk assessmet The Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 ad The Fire Precautios (Workplace) Regulatios 1997 cotai explicit risk assessmet requiremets i relatio to fire safety coverig both geeral fire precautios ad process fire precautios. Fire risk maagemet Maagemet arragemets are eeded to esure that fire risks are adequately cotrolled. These should iclude arragemets to esure that: the risk of fire occurrig is reduced to the absolute miimum; the risk of fire spreadig is miimised; adequate fire-detectio ad warig systems are i place; everyoe is able to escape from the buildig quickly ad safely. The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 152 of 187

153 Health ad Safety It might be appropriate to desigate a seior member of the maagemet team to have specific resposibility for fire-risk maagemet ad staff traiig. A thorough fire survey is likely to be ecessary to properly assess the fire risks from materials ad processes, the actios ecessary to reduce the risk of fire occurrig ad arragemets that are eeded i the evet of fire breakig out. The actio pla i Figure 47 deals with both idetificatio ad follow-up actio. A example is give i Figure 46. Figure 46 Example of a pla prepared durig a fire assessmet The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 153 of 187

154 Health ad Safety Figure 47 Actio pla for fire risk maagemet The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 154 of 187

155 Health ad Safety Geeral fire precautios These are iteded to facilitate the uaided evacuatio of premises i the evet of a escalatig fire, eg fire-alarm systems, sigage, meas of escape ad firefightig equipmet. The Fire Precautios (Workplace) Regulatios 1997 (FPWR) require employers to take accout of geeral fire precautios icludig fire-fightig, fire detectio, emergecy routes ad exits ad their maiteace. The FPWR also itroduce requiremets for competet assistace to deal with geeral fire safety risks, provisio of iformatio to employees, co-operatio ad co-ordiatio with others ad provisio of comprehesive iformatio o fire provisios to outside employers (eg the emergecy services). See Fire safety: A employer s guide i the Refereces sectio. Your local fire authority, rather tha HSE, will give you advice o this. You may eed a fire certificate for your buildig - this will deped o the kid of busiess you ru ad the umber of people employed i your buildig. The mai pieces of legislatio are the Fire Precautios Act 1971 ad the Fire Precautios (Workplace) Regulatios 1997 (as ameded). A fire certificate issued by the appropriate eforcig authority is geerally required if more tha 20 people are at work i the premises at ay oe time or if more tha te people are at work at ay oe time elsewhere tha o the groud floor. It details the geeral fire precautios required at the premises. A fire certificate may also be required if explosive or highly flammable materials are stored or used either i, o or uder the premises. Fire certificates are tailored specifically to idividual premises. They may demad requiremets for maitaiig the meas of escape ad associated fire precautios, traiig the workforce, limitig the umber of people who might be i the premises at ay oe time ad other precautios that have to be observed. Normally the occupier of the premises is resposible for esurig all requiremets of a fire certificate are met. The law states that fire certificates are kept o the premises to which they relate ad are available for referece or ispectio at all times. If ay of the followig are proposed, the fire authority should be iformed i advace: you ited to udertake structural alteratios to the buildig; you ited to reorgaise the iteral arragemets of the premises, eg move iteral walls ad/or doors; you ited to store, use or icrease explosive or highly flammable materials o site. You eed to check that: everyoe kows what to do i case of fire. Display clear istructios ad have a fire drill periodically; people kow how to raise the alarm ad use the extiguishers where appropriate; arragemets are i place for callig ad meetig the fire brigade followig ay suspected outbreak of fire; eough exits are provided for everyoe to get out easily; fire doors ad escape routes are provided which are clearly marked ad uobstructed; fire escape doors ca be opeed easily from the iside wheever ayoe is o the premises - do t forget out of hours workig; fire doors are ever wedged ope - they are there to stop smoke ad flames spreadig; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 155 of 187

156 Health ad Safety if a wall is meat to be fire-resistig, it has o holes or gaps (eg aroud pipework) ad the wall cotiues above ay false ceilig; fire alarms are checked regularly ad work. Ca they be heard everywhere over ormal backgroud oise? eough fire extiguishers are provided ad they are of the right type (ad properly serviced) to deal promptly with small outbreaks. Process fire precautios These are iteded to prevet a fire startig. They relate to special precautios i coectio with ay work process, icludig the use ad storage of material coected with that process, to prevet or reduce the likelihood of fire breakig out ad cotrol its itesity. Mai fire hazards The mai fire hazards are: poor housekeepig/accumulatio of waste material; hadlig/storage of flammable liquids, solids ad gases, eg solvets i litho ad letterpress pritig; heatig ad dryig equipmet, eg ultraviolet curig uits, gravure dryers; poorly maitaied or usuitable electrical equipmet; frictioal heat, eg from hot bearigs; frictioal sparks, eg from usig tools; electrostatic sparks; weldig ad cuttig; smokig materials; arso ad horseplay The Fire Triagle Each poit of the triagle represets oe of the three elemets essetial for fire: fuel, oxyge ad a source of igitio. Fire ca be preveted by avoidig all three of these elemets existig simultaeously. For example, it is importat to esure that combustible materials such as paper, board ad iks do ot come ito cotact with potetial sources of igitio, eg hot surfaces, static electricity, cigarettes, battery chargers. FUEL OXYGEN IGNITION Figure 48 Fire triagle Storage ad use of flammable liquids Flammable liquids i this cotext iclude those materials defied by the CHIP Regulatios as Extremely Flammable, Highly Flammable ad Flammable (see HSG51 The storage of flammable liquids i cotaiers ad HSG140 Safe use ad hadlig of flammable liquids for defiitios). The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 156 of 187

157 Health ad Safety The mai hazard i the storage of flammable liquids is fire ivolvig either the bulk liquid or escapig liquid or vapour. Most vapours are heavier tha air ad ca travel over a large distace. Igitio ca occur for as log as the vapour cocetratio exceeds the lower explosio limit (LEL). This is the cocetratio (percetage, by volume, of the material i air) below which the mixture is too lea to udergo combustio. Figure 49 Flammable liquid stores should be secure ad have suitable markigs, vetilatio ad spillage retetio Some flammable liquids ca be elimiated or substituted by substaces that are less flammable or o-flammable ad do ot require the same specialist storage arragemets. Where this caot be achieved, flammable liquids should be kept i suitable cotaiers i: a safe positio i the ope air (where ecessary, protected from direct sulight); or a storeroom that is i a safe positio; or a fire-resistig store; or if the total quatity is less tha 50 litres, i the workroom i a suitable fireresistig cupboard or bi. All storerooms, cupboards or bis should be marked to idicate the ature of their cotets, eg highly flammable. Storerooms should also have adequate vetilatio. All storage facilities should have spillage retetio, eg budig. Further guidace o the storage of flammable liquids ca be foud i HSG51 Storage of flammable liquids i cotaiers ad HSG176 Storage of flammable liquid i taks. Some of the key steps for the safe use ad cotrol of flammable liquids are to: miimise the amout kept at the workplace; dispese ad use them i a safe place with adequate atural or mechaical vetilatio; keep cotaiers closed, eg always replace the cap after use or use safety cotaiers with self-closig lids; cotai spillages, eg by dispesig over a tray ad havig absorbet material hady; provide a safe procedure for dealig with spillages should they occur; esure that all electrical equipmet istalled or brought ito areas where flammable liquids are stored or used is suitable, eg itrisically safe or flameproof where appropriate; cotrol igitio sources, eg aked flames ad sparks, ad make sure that o smokig rules are obeyed; The Priter s guide to health ad safety Page 157 of 187