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technology hAndbook

Machine

Safety

A look into the products, technologies And solutions shAping the mArket

Digital

Supplement to

MACHINE DESIGN • SYSTEMS • TECHNOLOGY

We Make Safety Simple STI Safety Solutions from Components to Consulting for Enhanced Worker Safety Poised at the leading-edge of safety solutions worldwide, Omron’s STI safety products focus on making safety work. We are aware of the many demands of automation safeguarding. Consequently, our automation safety products meet or exceed local and international safety standards.

Omron is committed to providing safeguarding solutions that meet your needs for safety and productivity. We design and engineer our products by listening to and working closely with our customers and authorized distributors.

We also provide:

• Experienced assistance

• Expert guidance in application, integration and maintenance • World-class support through Omron’s global network of 250 sales locations in 65 countries

Omron Automation & Safety www.sti.com

1 Laser Scanners

2 Light Curtains

3 Interlock Switches

Our OS32C is a very compact safety laser scanner. It has 70 zone configurations for complex guarding parameters. Safety coverage up to 4 m at 270 degrees.

The F3SG-RA global light curtain has advanced function and muting capabilities, and meets safety standards in Asia, Europe and the Americas. It has IP67 rating to meet most application needs, up to 255 beams, and a lower operating cost.

Tamper resistant switches enhance mechanical guarding methods.

OS32C

• • • • • •

4 Emergency Stop

Guardlocking switches Hinge pin switches Non-contact switches Limit switches Tongue switches Explosion-proof versions

Devices

• Enclosed and panel-mounted models available with keyoperated reset • Combination rope and push button actuated emergency stop switches • Heavy duty housing offering rope spans to 200 meters

A165E

Industry First! EtherNet/IP capable of status and measurement data reporting.

D4NS D4B-□N

D4F

F3SG-RA

D4N

ER6

8 4

4 5

3 4

3 7 5 Edges & Bumpers 5 Mats & Area Guarding Built tough for tough environments. Combine a mat with a controller to provide proven reliability.

6 Perimeter Guarding

7 Programmable

PA4600 models are available with single and multiple-beam models with an operating range to 70 meters. They’re perfect when installing fences is not practical.

Controllers 7 Monitoring Relays The NX-S Safety over EtherCAT controller offers integrated safety functionality into the Sysmac platform, suitable for mid to large sized applications.

8 Enabling Switches Provides the additional protection needed during set-up, programming and servicing of robotic and automatic equipment. • Has distinct clicks for three easily discernible positions

Choose the G9SP stand-alone controller for mid-size applications, the NE1A DeviceNet network controller for large complex applications, or safety monitoring relays for smaller applications.

NX-S

A4EG

NE1A

6022 G9SX

PA4600 G9SP

Technology handbook

Machine Safety

safe sterile and

The challenge of developing a custom guarding solution for a sterile environment CiBa Vision’s li Feng and Vickers-Warnick’s David Jones were part of a team that made sure CiBa got a safe and sterile solution for its cleanroom setting production lines.

By Michelle MorrA-cArliSle

everal years ago, CIBA Vision Sterile Manufacturing was faced with a challenge. The Mississauga, Ont.-based manufacturer of contact lens care products required a custom machine guarding solution for its manufacturing environment — an environment that must be sterile to meet stringent regulatory requirements. During a routine internal safety audit of the company’s manufacturing environment in 2010, the health and safety committee’s machine guarding team identified the need for more protective guarding for two of the plant’s production lines consisting of two machines. One of these machines sorts the empty bottles and stands them up, and the other machine fills, plugs and caps each bottle. A

4 MA • Technology Handbook Machine Safety

risk assessment flagged a few pinch points and other moving machine parts that could potentially injure a worker. CIBA needed a way to separate operator from machine for two reasons: to eliminate the risk of injury, and to further reduce the likelihood of compromising the product since human intervention is the number one source of contamination. The solution would need to have a modular design and be well planned for mechanical and electrical installation. Creating a solution of this magnitude involves several steps: design, fabrication, implementation and project management, not to mention ensuring compliance with safety laws which, in Ontario, are among the most strictly enforced in the world. Vickers-Warnick was awarded

Technology handbook

Machine Safety the project because it could fulfill all of these functions. Also, having worked with the company as a supplier of high-tech automation products and services through their distribution division, CIBA trusted that it could provide a turnkey solution with mechanical and electrical engineering and machine guarding expertise.

The process The engineers faced a challenge that is unique to the pharmaceutical and food and beverage sector: making the machine both safe and sterile — two requirements that can sometimes conflict. “You want full access to clean the equipment, so ideally it would be open; but for safety reasons, to protect the worker, you need it enclosed,” explains David Jones, director of sales and safety projects, Vickers-Warnick Ltd. The guarding had to comply with the CSA Z432-04 standard Safeguarding of Machinery. It must not impede the operators’ work or slow down production. Nor could any piece of it hinder in any way the airflow of the room’s HEPA filters in the ceiling, which, in this cleanroom environment, must generate greater than 240 air changes per hour. Vickers-Warnick proposed a complete design package: “A category 3 stop and interlock circuit to achieve CSA standard and code compliance, while maintaining machine functionality and flexibility.” To achieve compliance, this standalone interlock control system would interface with the existing line control. Time was a factor. The custom guarding solution would have to be implemented during production shutdown, which gave the company 10 days. That’s 10 days for final fabrication, installation, wiring, programming, troubleshooting, commission and startup, and operator training on the new safety interlock system. “The Vickers-Warnick team was asked to work on a second shift to avoid conflicts with other shutdown activities,” says Li Feng, CIBA Vision’s chief design engineer. Collaborating with a CIBA project team right from the start, Vickers-Warnick conducted a risk assessment to precisely identify the plant’s machine safety and guarding needs. Meanwhile, CIBA hired a Pre-Start Health and Safety Review (PSR) engineer at the start of the project. Vickers-Warnick worked with the PSR engineer to confirm requirements, risks and vulnerabilities identified during previous risk assessments, and designed a comprehensive solution that could be implemented within the tight timeframe. Normally, to custom-build a guarding solution, engineers would work right on the shop floor where the operation actually takes place. But the Vickers-Warnick team didn’t have access to this cleanroom environment and had to find another way. They had to build in flexibility that would allow them to make any necessary changes on the spot during installation. “The good thing was they worked closely with our operators to find out how they work. They even built a 2x2 wooden mockup and brought it in for the whole team to see it,” Feng says. Indeed, after the drawings were approved, engineers created a mockup for testing in order to ensure the proposed solution would meet all of the plant’s criteria. Operators were able to test it themselves and, with their confirmation, Vickers-Warnick built and implemented the solution. As managers of the entire project, Vickers-Warnick collaborated with the CIBA HSE team, engineer-

thanks to Vickers-Warnick, this machine, which sorts the empty bottles and stands them up, is now complete with a category 3 stop and interlock circuit to achieve CSa standard and code compliance, while maintaining functionality and flexibility.

ing group, production team and maintenance personnel to make sure the needs of all stakeholders were considered and satisfied.

Safe, clean and sound The new solution provides adequate separation and machine guarding on CIBA’s equipment, meeting both the safety requirement and hygienic considerations. And it has had zero negative impact on productivity — a fortunate result of involving operators in the design and consultations from day one. “We at Vickers-Warnick come from an automation background, so we don’t see a successful machine unless it is both safe and productive,” Jones says. Also, having a custom-built solution means it addresses several needs that are specific to CIBA Vision: • It maximizes operator safety without hindering productivity or access to the machines; • It does not let any part of the guarding impact airflow; • The materials used are mostly 304L grade stainless steel and Lexan to minimize the likelihood of rust; • Every element of the machine, including the guard, is easily accessible for cleaning, maintenance and changeovers; the Lexan panels located at the top of the perimeter are easily removable to allow access to the HEPA filters located in the ceiling; and • Finally, hygienic considerations for this aseptic operation comply with FDA guidelines for Sterile Drug Products Produced by Aseptic Processing, under cGMP and Health Canada GMP guidelines. Operators started using the new system in the fall of 2012. “The end result was an impressive machine guarding solution that satisfied all requirements,” says Feng, adding that the guard looks as though it originally came with the machines. Feng believes that teamwork was key to the project’s success. “Because [Vickers-Warnick] did their due diligence and got buy-in from the operators, everyone was satisfied in the end.” • Michelle Morra-Carlisle is a freelance journalist and corporate writer based in Toronto. Machine Safety Technology Handbook • MA 5

Technology handbook

Machine Safety

Machine safety

Q&a:

A look at Firestone Textiles’ approach to health and safety By MAry Del ciAncio

Kim Davie is the manager of health and safety with Firestone Textiles, based in Woodstock, Ont. Manufacturing AUTOMATION had the chance to chat with Davie about the textile manufacturer’s approach to safety, and his role in managing the health and safety of the 200-plus employees at the manufacturing plant.

terms of machine safety, what steps do you take me about the health and safety program at Ma Tell Ma into make sure employees on the plant floor are safe? Firestone, and what your role is in carrying it out. Kim Davie: I look at my role primarily [as] the conductor. I am the health and safety department; however, since health and safety is everyone’s responsibility, everybody has a level of responsibility throughout my plant — not only my managers and my staff supervisors, but also my workers as well. That’s basically how it works at this facility. I have a classic industrial environment — forklift traffic, mobile equipment challenges, material handling. I also have chemicals, because we are a polymerization plant, as well as a weaving and twisting plant. So it’s a fairly classic industrial environment. 6 MA • Technology Handbook Machine Safety

Kim Davie: Of course we’re pretty adamant on training from the operator standpoint. They go through currently about four hours of orientation before they get on the floor. That’s going to go up to about six hours in the new year. And then they go down to the floor, and they are with a person training, and they have to meet several milestones throughout the training. It’s six to 12 weeks [depending on the position] before they’re actually qualified to do the job on their own… [For] the equipment itself, any new or modified equipment will go through an equipment release process. If it’s new equipment, we’ll buy new equipment and then we’ll actually

Machine Safety

get an engineering company in to go through it once it’s in the site and installed. And then we’ll also have a management review, and a management PSR [Pre-start Health and Safety Review] release as well. So there are four stages…There’s an engineering release from a standards standpoint. And then there’s a productivity release — ensuring that it’s productive and does what it’s supposed to do. And then there’s a safety review…and a management review [where we] go through the equipment in its realm. So when equipment is installed and it’s able to operate, then we’ll do one final safety check. the past, i’ve heard the argument that sometimes Ma insafety gets in the way of productivity. how are you able to balance the two, and make sure the employees on the plant floor are both safe and productive? Kim Davie: I don’t have to balance the two, because safety will be there. And that comes from my corporate office as well, not only my management team…Both have to go hand in hand.

Technology handbook

Kim Davie: My biggest challenge is probably culture. ‘This is the way we’ve always done it.’ The plant is an older plant. Firestone Textiles has been in the community for 75 years. do you get buy-in from employees to make sure Ma how that everyone is participating in the program? Kim Davie: Well, there’s lots of ways to do it. Safety rules are number one. Bypassing guards in my facility would be a free trip to HR. And we take that very seriously. And that does go up to a termination at times, depending on the severity. But if it’s something new, if we bring in new equipment or new ideas, we will bring the employees involved with it [in] at the time it’s being developed, and then roll it out with their buyin already. So at least you have some of the employees that have bought into it already, and they’re using the equipment the way it’s supposed to be [used]. do you measure the effectiveness of your safety Ma how program?

is your key to success where occupational Kim Davie: I look at the overall picture of the facility. I look Ma What at leading indicators and lagging indicators — first aid, near health and safety are concerned? Kim Davie: The key to the success of this facility is really accountability. I have a very strong belief in my corporate level, which is in Nashville, that safety is a large value that they hold close. And that’s driven down from my CEO. So what that ultimately means is every year I have certain achievements that everybody has to make in health and safety. So every manager has a list of things they have to do. Every supervisor has a list of things they have to do. And they’re all safety-related. And there are typically about 20 to 30 items. I audit that every quarter. So basically I go around to every supervisor and staff member and manager, whether they’re my superior or not, and I audit them to make sure they’re getting done, and I report it directly to corporate. And of course I get audited, too. Everybody gets audited. But that’s holding people accountable.

misses, incidents, non-lost-time, lost-time. Another big rule of thumb for me is near-miss reporting. If I get too many near misses, I get concerned. If I get too little near misses, I get concerned. So that is a big leading indicator for me.

smaller manufacturers with fewer employees Ma For and, perhaps, less money to invest in safety, do you have any suggestions for them? Where should they start when it comes to developing and carrying out a successful health and safety program? Kim Davie: It depends on how much change you want to make. If you want big change, you have to start at the top. And if your general manager or manager has bought into safety, he’s got to be able to show it. He’s got to be able to be visible. Hands on, visible and on the floor is a big thing with a small facility, particularly. •

is your biggest challenge in making sure that Mary Del Ciancio is a freelance writer based in Toronto, Ont. Ma What your employees on the plant floor are safe? She is a former editor of Manufacturing AUTOMATION. Machine Safety Technology Handbook • MA 7

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Machine safety, the control of hazardous energy, and electrical safety are important concerns for the Canadian manufacturing industry. Get an in-depth understanding of the relevant CSA standards by taking one of these day-long interactive workshops.

CSA Z432 - Safeguarding of Machinery CSA Z460 - Control of Hazardous Energy CSA Z462 - Workplace Electrical Safety

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