Machine shops are the site of many injuries in Minnesota. These injuries are some of the most serious that an employee can face. Thankfully, employment law and company regulations have advanced to the point where individuals can work safely on a machine shop floor. By knowing the many kinds of machine shop injuries and the way that employees and visitors can avoid them, machine shops can end up becoming much safer areas to work in.
Types of injuries
There are a number of operations that occur every day on a machine shop floor. Many of them can cause serious harm to people working on machines. Injuries can come from several different sources. They may be caused by the devices used to run machines or the operation that the machine is supposed to perform. Users can fall or run into machines and injure themselves in a way that can lead to workers’ compensation claims. Choke points and other areas can pinch, cut, and crush different parts of operators and other individuals in the shop. These injuries can range from scrapes and bruises to serious internal injuries and those requiring amputations.
Ways to reduce injuries
Many machine shop injuries can be avoided in most instances. Training and careful work are key. For instance, employees should never work on a machine they have not been trained on.
They should avoid all situations where safety gear and shutoff valves have been removed. Workers and visitors should read all signs and pay attention to all warnings present on the machine shop floor. Care, vigilance, and following established procedures are all essential to reducing the potential for an injury for workers.
