Too Safe? No Such Thing!

Employees from six different divisions attend two-day safety training class

At Olympic Steel, we continuously look for opportunities to maximize our workplace safety programs. We recently held a two-day Machine Safeguarding Training Class at Berlin Metals in Hammond, IN. Hosted by Tony Dominic, Safety Director, and Terry Rohde, Vice President of Operations, employees attended from six of our divisions: Corporate office, Winder, GA, Minneapolis, MN, Schaumburg, IL, Hammond, IN (Berlin Metals), Chambersburg, PA, and Streetsboro, OH.

Tony shared his safety vision for our organization, saying this training was an important first step in increasing knowledge around machine safeguarding and OSHA requirements. Machine safeguarding creates protective barriers around moving machine parts, reduces the likelihood of an accident and protects operators and employees from hazards.

OMRON, a company that provides comprehensive safety solutions, trained everyone on operational hazards, including emergency stop devices, safety light curtains and scanners, safety switches, operator controls, programmable safety systems and more. The biggest takeaway? NEVER remove or tamper with a safeguard. They exist to protect you from making contact with moving parts.

What our team said about the training:

• Chuck LaTour, Schaumburg, IL: “I discussed what we learned with my maintenance manager and shared the guarding book OMRON supplied. Next, we will assess our present guarding to ensure we are using the most effective solutions.”

• Gene Bramblett, Winder, GA: “We will review lockout/tagout procedures and enhance them by adding clearer instructions including photos. We are also auditing our current machine guarding to improve on what we currently have.”
  

• Brent Smallwood, Chambersburg, PA: “I was able to learn about more advanced guarding and its requirements – specifically light curtains and area scanners. We will soon install an area scanner at one of our large machining centers. And we are reviewing different types of light curtains for our press brakes to replace the existing ones.”

• Joseph Morano, Minneapolis, MN: “I applied the knowledge I learned by sharing a diagnostic tool with my team for guarding options to continue to improve our safety on the floor.”



Next up? Follow-up training in November, which will be hosted in Cleveland.