November 1 2018
As a manufacturer of machinery for the plastics industry, one of our main concerns when designing, engineering, and building these machines is to always keep safety in mind. Operating machinery can always carry the risk of injury. Workers can be struck by moving parts, trapped between rollers, belts, and pulleys, and cut or punctured by sharp edges. That’s why safety standardization efforts are developed to define, for example, the type of guarding, fencing, or torque limitation. Safety standards will often include requirements for both the manufacturer and user of the machinery.
Currently, the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) who is accredited by ANSI to develop, approve, reaffirm, revise, or withdraw American National Standards and Technical Reports, is seeking additional participants for efforts related to machinery safety. They are particularly in need of voting members that are not primary equipment manufacturers.
Current projects of interest include development of standards for safety of film and sheet winding machinery, granulators, strand pelletizers and dicers as well as review of the robot integration safety standard. The Machinery Safety Technical Committee serves as the consensus body for all B151 standards activities and any other technical standards work related to machinery safety. Voting on PLASTICS standards will be done on a company basis.
Each company that is interested in becoming a voting member on the technical committee must complete a membership application. There is no fee for participation in PLASTICS standards development efforts. Most of the work will be done via teleconference, web conference or email, although an occasional in-person meeting is possible. As an active member of the Machinery Safety Technical Committee, Parkinson Technologies feels that a diverse collection of viewpoints and experiences allows for the development of comprehensive, yet practical safety standards.
If interested, please contact Megan Hayes ( mhayes@plasticsindustry.org) or fill out the application available on the PLASTICS Machinery Safety Standards Website.
