top of page
Search
Writer's picturemevzuisg

Occupational Safety Precautions in Plastic Injection Machines




In production facilities where plastic injection machines are used,

In this article, we will talk about very useful improvements that you can implement within the business to make the machines safer for the user.


The mold binding part includes a separate process and a series of security measures, we will evaluate this issue in our next article. (You can send us your questions and opinions about this subject in the comments section at the bottom of the page or via e-mail.)


Nowadays, plastic injection machines are widely used with robots, but it is a method applied without robots according to operating conditions.

The machine operator faces many risky situations during the conditioning, feeding, commissioning, cleaning and standard operation of the machine.


If we talk about these issues item by item;

*Operating instructions and OHS instructions regarding the standard operation of the machines must be known to the operators.

(In these operating instructions, sections such as automatic mode - semi-automatic mode, in which situations these modes will be used and who will have how much authority should be precisely defined and known by the relevant personnel. If the definitions and information are not clear, accidents will most likely be inevitable.)< /u>


* In operations that require cleaning of hoppers or intervention in case of any malfunction, the operator or maintenance personnel will need a ladder suitable for the size of the machine to climb onto the machine.

It should be possible to climb onto the machine with a ladder with suitable railings.

Staircases must be non-slip grid type, etc. It should have steps, the stairs should have plastic anti-slip shoes and, if possible, a pin etc. It must be fixed to the machine or the ground.

In large machines (1000 tons and above), a fixed platform can be made to be used for mold tying and hopper operations.

***Original guardrail-platforms are actually sold together with the machine by the machine manufacturers, but unfortunately they are not generally preferred because they increase the cost****


*The hopper sleds must be suitable for the hoppers to be cleaned. The sleds should not cause congestion and should be able to be pulled even by a female operator.

(When tight sleds are pulled by applying sudden and hard force, if the top covers are not locked well, they will fall on the employee's head and shoulder and cause an accident.)



*Although not very frequent, work accidents occur during Hopper cleaning, the most common of these accidents being the pin holding the lid while opening the lid, etc. Lock mechanisms are worn out, they do not hold well, they get jammed, the door is left unlocked during the previous cleaning.

The best solution here is to convert the covers into hinged and clip-connected ones. With intermediate flange applications, hoppers can be provided with a suitable cover mechanism that will eliminate occupational safety risks.


*Standard safety equipment on the machine must have automatic safety switches that stop the clamp movement when the doors are opened.

(including the rear maintenance cover of the machine)


*Especially in machines of 1000 tons and above, a safety step that will be activated by weight is applied in the first step inside the machine and the same is applied in the inside area (mold) of the machine,

It is especially useful for maintenance personnel to prevent work accidents while polishing the mold inside the machine.


*Applying a pressure switch to automatic sliding doors will be of great benefit.


*Mold locks etc. on the transparent (plexiglass etc.) parts on the door. Safety glass film can be applied over plexiglass to prevent the elements from being forgotten locked and to prevent these elements from breaking off under pressure due to vise movement and breaking the transparent plastics and harming the operators.


*Adding magnetic mobile emergency stop buttons for access at any time by maintenance personnel other than the operator control panel on the machine. Thanks to its magnetic structure, the possibility of being pulled to the working area will be very useful.


*Especially in molds conditioned at 100 degrees and above, covering all open metal collectors and installations in the conditioner area with heat jackets is important for occupational safety, reducing the risk of burns, reducing the heat emitted to the environment, and energy saving in terms of maintaining the current conditioned temperature.


*During cleaning, the conditioners can be tied together (enclosed in a profile frame) to prevent them from falling to the ground when the operator pulls them left and right.


*Covering the stove area on the machine with a heat jacket.


*Closing the openings in the machine screw area, if any.


*Raw material purification is one of the phases where most accidents occur. During the ejection process, especially the raw material (screw) is increased too much from the required melting temperature by unconscious operators or other personnel, causing the raw material to pass directly from the liquid phase to the gas phase. If there is heavy smoke coming into the environment during this time, the existing fire detection system will be activated.

This is the most innocent form of problem.

The raw material emission process must be separated with a transparent plexiglass that will protect the operator from the ejected raw material. This hinged viewing window must also be connected to a safety switch so that personnel cannot perform operations while this window is open and are not exposed to raw materials.

The process of inducing vomiting of raw materials should be carried out as much as possible without personnel approaching that area, and light metal rods of at least 1.5 meters in length should be used for personnel intervention.

The resulting logs should be thrown into a separate log trolley next to the machine, using this bar.

During the raw material induction process, personnel should use minimum protective equipment;

Must wear fireproof gloves up to the elbow on both hands or short fireproof gloves + fireproof armband, full face shield, fireproof neck collar or apron. Ear protection should be used according to the results of occupational hygiene measurements related to ambient noise


*In robot work, the robot work area must be protected to prevent anyone from entering the robot area. If a fixed robot room cannot be built due to changing conditions depending on the workplace environment, mobile robot work benches that can be fixed to the ground with pins can be made when necessary.


*Gripper change etc. other than standard operation of the robot. The home position set for these situations should be known to the operators and the machine should not be left idle without an operator.


*A small material cabinet containing OHS materials should be left on the machine.


*Spray - oil etc. Appropriate waste containers should be left for the hazardous wastes that will be released after use.


With these and many similar applications, a safe working environment can be provided in injection machines, as www.mevzuisg.com We can also provide appropriate workplace solutions and risk assessments for your business.


We will be sharing an article about pattern binding soon. ;)


heat jacket
heat jacket









full face shield








heat resistant gloves short
heat resistant gloves long




heat resistant armband











45 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page