- Thread starter Parm
- Start date
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
have it on to record, not seen it yet though.
on a similar h and s note, i can remember being in Germany during my apprenticeship on a trip to view some new robots that had been built for us. No guarding on them at all while they were running, workers moving between them. When one of the more senior leccies asked about h and s he was told that they have no need for it in their factory as all their workers are trained in order to minimize danger...
on a similar h and s note, i can remember being in Germany during my apprenticeship on a trip to view some new robots that had been built for us. No guarding on them at all while they were running, workers moving between them. When one of the more senior leccies asked about h and s he was told that they have no need for it in their factory as all their workers are trained in order to minimize danger...
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
i think it was more that the Germans knew when to duck lol. Bearing in mind the final robot in the line carries 6 fully assembled hgv air brake calipers, i would prefer to be out of the way completely when its running
- Messages
- 22,268
- Location
- Birmingham
One of the ABB engineers saw something similar in a German Ford plant (Duren?) where the robots were only protected by black/yellow floor markings, when he mentioned to German engineer that would not be safe in the UK the German said "but we are not British" says it all really 
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
One of the ABB engineers saw something similar in a German Ford plant (Duren?) where the robots were only protected by black/yellow floor markings, when he mentioned to German engineer that would not be safe in the UK the German said "but we are not British" says it all really
it was ABB we were at. They were also doing an induction hardener for us which is what i was there to see
wheresmejumper
Banned
- Messages
- 2,626
http://m.youtube.com/results?q=german health and safety video&sm=1
saw this at a safety course, gave me an unexpected chuckle, given the germans sense of humour drought
saw this at a safety course, gave me an unexpected chuckle, given the germans sense of humour drought
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
safety klous is a legend. I have used his forklift video whilst giving a short induction to a lad on work experience with me before taking him into a factory. Got the point across quite well
madkayaker
Pro sparkey Pro Welder
- Messages
- 13,678
One of the ABB engineers saw something similar in a German Ford plant (Duren?) where the robots were only protected by black/yellow floor markings, when he mentioned to German engineer that would not be safe in the UK the German said "but we are not British" says it all really
we seam to have got daft at work at the moment putting barriers around pallets not as if they jump out in front of you
brightspark
Member
- Messages
- 40,186
- Location
- yarm stockton on tees
yea but u only need some dopey git to catch his leg and trip and before u know it hse and claims direct are down on u like a ton of sh ,.//../t
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
we had a guy in work put a claim in (and win compo) after he tripped over a pallet that was left in a gangway, and he was the one who put it there. And we had a woman win compo after using a folding knife to open a tin of grease and cut into her hand even though there were 8 available tin opening tools available right next to the tin.
I see more CNC mills with the switches disconnected on the doors than with them still working. You can't see through the windows on a CNC with the windows covered in coolant and need to check the job. So I think it's justified on those.
Scares me more to see injection mould machines with them turned off though. Not particularly highly trained people come in contact with them coupled with anything into the thousands of tonnes clamping force + molten plastic + possible robots = a def H&S issue.
Scares me more to see injection mould machines with them turned off though. Not particularly highly trained people come in contact with them coupled with anything into the thousands of tonnes clamping force + molten plastic + possible robots = a def H&S issue.
Last edited by a moderator:
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
when i am in work tonight i will take a photo of the interlock switches on one of the okuma lathes i run. It has been disconnected via a keyed switch, but has also been jammed in the 'door closed' position in order to speed up production. Unfortunately it doesn't as i refuse flat out to open the door until the spindle is at complete stop and i have put machine lock on. This adds about 30 seconds to each cycle, and i have even had managers tell me not to do it. I have always responded with, if the h and s manager will come and run it in an unsafe condition then so will i. Never once has h and s been out to see it.
Last edited by a moderator:
Lawnmowerboy
Member
- Messages
- 2,165
The key/plate on our lathes and mills is held in with a couple of m4 cap heads. We just take the screws out and put the key in the interlock switch. It's no different to operating a centre lathe having the doors open. Still e.stop buttons inside and out on our mazaks and haases.
brokenbiker
Member
- Messages
- 10,436
- Location
- Llanbobyll, south wales
i don't consider a cnc lathe carrying out 32 operations in sequence the same as operating a centre lathe. When im operating a centre lathe i am in control of the carriage and cross slide, the tail stock and the tool post. When i press start on the okuma, or mazaks as i occasionally run 3 of those with bar feeders, or wickman 6 station machines, i have no control over anything it does. It carries on regardless of whether a tool breaks, the part comes loose, or if someone is daft enough to get caught in it. There may be e stops all over the place but when you have an arm caught i doubt you would be able to fin, ,d one. I can see why in certain scenarios having the doors open is necessary but during production runs when you are having to do 15 things at once to check, clean and box the parts along with loading a bar feeder or machine chuck it is very easy to open a door at the wrong time (which i have done and been covered in suds and swarf). This is what interlocks are designed to protect against. While i worked in the works tool room nothing had guarding, no interlocks or light curtains, just a single e stop, which was fine as my mind was always on the task at hand, but running production my mind is very rarely on on single task.
anyway, back to the op, i have just watched it and found it quite fascinating
I see where broken biker is coming from. But on a injection mould die plate it could be machining for 10 hours on a CNC with downloaded cutter paths & multiple tool changes and being able to have a look that it's going OK is quite necessary especially when the plate may have cost a couple of grand just for the material. Opening the doors and the machine stops with cutter paths being download will totally mess things up - hence overriding the door safety.
