shields for a Detroit broach

OSHA is pushing to have shields put on all our machines that have moving parts. These shields will be using micro switches to lock out the machine if the shields are not properly positioned. Has anyone here had to deal with this type of retrofit shielding? The two suggestions are, a hinged flip up type or a two piece sliding panel that telescopes. I think it will all suck, but I will need to use them regardless of the type. I will need to remove three different storage racks to make the machine accessible for the new shields and that alone will make life a little more difficult.
Any suggestions?
Steve

This may help. Usually much easier physical installation than mechanical shields, no moving parts, and simple logic interface into machine control circuitry. Several other brands also available. Good luck!
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Look into light curtains.

Oh, it's gets even better than that, first you will have to to a risk assessment and a stop time measurement, after that you will know what route you can try for, you may have to have locking interlocks on the guard doors, and what control category you will have to meet for the electrical controls.
This is what I mainly do and have done for years, and I will tell you right now that OSHA regulations are only going to get more restrictive, and OSHA just loves when this is done wrong in house and something happens, first group of machines I am working on now get 25 pairs of light curtains, this can get really involved, these all have to category three when done.
Good luck, shop around and find good parts, sure will be sticker shock for safety rated devices, I mainly use Banner light curtains or Keyence.
One of the companies we use when we need guards built to fit a machine is Yale mechanical, I believe they call it Yale mechanical machine guarding solutions, they are always busy from what I see, and I think they try to keep things quiet because they can hardly keep up, they told me they just started building 82 guards for a new customer last week.

Another company has been hired to install the guards and he is having another company build them. I am looking for what might be the best solution for my application. This person had two suggestions and I had hoped that someone here might have another option that would be better. This individual will be at our shop on Wed. and Thursday. I will mention the light curtains to him. Our Plant Superintendent is pushing for him to get them done.
Thank you
SDE

Don't you love it when OSHA decides that a machine that has been perfectly OK, and safe to use for YEARS, is all of a sudden unsafe? Over the years I've heard of them coming in and doing crap like this that leaves the machine nearly impossible to use, and often more "unsafe" to use than it originally was as a result.

Not to be left out, I've heard of MSHA doing the same thing to heavy equipment in the mines too.

As another suggested, you might take a look at light curtains as an option. I get quite a few trade magazines, and see them used pretty regular to retrofit older machines where physical guarding isn't practical.

This won't help the OP, but it is a prime time to remind all that this kind of nonsense is exactly why virtually all USA manufacturing has ceased and has been sent overseas. The government and associated minions are your enemies, not your friends.

You are exactly right, many companies try to meet the requirements and then they can't use then they can't use the
equipment, after spending thousands to figure that out, most of these "guarding companies" don't have employees that
know anything about how the equipment is actually used, I only wish I could show you guys what I spent the last two days
working on, and the machine operates the same as before, and with a couple modifications it will produce more parts, can't
wait for them to figure that out.
There is from what I can find very few guarding companies out there, and most do a poor job, they just come in and sell
you junk and leave you to deal with it after they leave, got a call today from a company that had a company called
Lovegreen sell him some stuff that doesn't work, but had to tell him it would be a while before I could even think of heading
down to look over the controls with everything going on, if you can do this and have it work and be compliant there are
plenty of companies out there, it's all I have done for at least 10 years, been all over the country, even NASA, it's crazy.

I worked on a lot of automation, and we used light shields a lot.

As far as safety issues causing jobs to leave, I seriously doubt it. More it is about wages. The new minimum wage in Mexico is $5 per day, or 63 cents per hour. Hard to beat that.

The only way major industries will employ folks here, is thru subsidies. Sometimes known as tax breaks.

First, check if the original machine builder is still in business or has been bought out by someone still in business. If they are still around, you should be able to request either guards, detailed drawings of guards or concept sketches from the original manufacturer. Some will furnish complete sets guards free of charge. You can also Google other broach manufacturers to see how they guard their new machines.

Are you looking for guards that will be opened and closed every cycle, just during maintenance, or both? Guards are easy to do, they were usually assigned to new hires just out of school, but good simple easy to use guards can take some trial and error to do well. You might be ahead to hire someone that knows what they are doing to do the first machine and then use that as a model for other machines.

Expanded metal, 16ga and 10ga sheet metal and 1/4 inch thick polycarbonate (GE Lexan) are popular materials for guards. Piano hinges, keyhole slots, quarter turn screws, counter balances, linear bearings and quarter turn latches are all standard off the shelf components that can make guards easy to open and close. Allen Bradley, Cutler-Hammer, and Schmersal (spelling?) were several switch manufacturers from the past.

Forty years ago the hardest part of installing machine guards was getting past the "P&Ming" about having to do it. If you do a good job, people don't mind them.

If cost is a factor, remember an ambulance ride is now well over $1000, walking into an emergency room is over $500 and an operating room costs $Thousands per hour.

Good luck.