Entrapped safety system February 1st 2009 The Gordon Institute of
Technical and Further
Education, in Geelong,
Australia has installed safety
interlocks from Fortress to
ensure the safety of staff and
students in its carpentry
area.
Two dust extraction units
remove sawdust from
machines in the area.
Frequent blockages occur in
the extractors requiring
personnel to access the units
and clean them out; a
serious accident could occur
should someone power up
the machinery while they
were being cleaned.
When this safety concern
was highlighted, technician,
Stephen Humphries,
proposed an entrapped key
safety system to safeguard
the area.
Fortress installed 3 CL S
units and a key exchange.
To access the hazardous
area, keys are removed from
the machine shop lockout
and dust extractors 1 and 2,
which power off and isolate
all machinery. These 3 keys
are inserted into the key
exchange releasing the
'system isolated' key which
is taken by the person
accessing the dust extractors.
This key guarantees their
safety while they are
unblocking the extraction
units, and, once it is
removed from the key
exchange, a light flashes to
signal the machine status. More articles from Fortress Interlocks Ltd: |