Coupling Guards
Coupling Guards
(OP)
I had a question about coupling guards so I reviewed OSHA 1910.219(c), 1910.219(i), ASME 15.1, API 610 and some interpretations of these. I now have a worse understanding
. Is there a good article or position paper that summarizes this for pump end-users?
Two specific questions:
1. Can a coupling guard be excluded on a pump if the pump is in a limited-access room (not locked)?
2. Do bare shafts and couplings without "snag points" require guarding? API 610 and general industry practice seem to imply anything rotating should be guarded while OSHA and ANSI don't.
. Is there a good article or position paper that summarizes this for pump end-users?Two specific questions:
1. Can a coupling guard be excluded on a pump if the pump is in a limited-access room (not locked)?
2. Do bare shafts and couplings without "snag points" require guarding? API 610 and general industry practice seem to imply anything rotating should be guarded while OSHA and ANSI don't.





RE: Coupling Guards
... and orders of magnitude less than what a trial lawyer will be able to extract from you if you omit the guard, no matter what any standard might say.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Coupling Guards
From http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_docum...
US Federal Register 1910.219(i)(2) and 1910.219(c)(2)(i) (which I suppose you have already read).
I'm no lawyer, but this seems pertinent to me:
"All exposed parts of horizontal shafting seven (7) feet or less from floor or working platform, excepting runways used exclusively for oiling, or running adjustments, shall be protected by a stationary casing enclosing shafting completely or by a trough enclosing sides and top or sides and bottom of shafting as location requires."
Although, section c explicitly talks about coupling guards, I don't think that section excuses one from this, more general, section.
My life tip: you can always exclude things, Its what happens when things go wrong that matter. A pump is rotating at least as fast and (occasionally) with more torque than a lathe... that is power to be respected.
RE: Coupling Guards
RE: Coupling Guards
Although not a lawyer I have spent many hours with them. Yuk! They dont think like engineers and charge much more.
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
---B.B. King
http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/
RE: Coupling Guards
That is not considering the moral side of the issue - could you live with the knowledge that you were the cause of a serious accident or even loss of life.
It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)
RE: Coupling Guards
Rotating shafts and clothing don't mix! That is why the whole guarding industry was developed.
AS 4024 cover it. There EN standards as well This presentation may be of help to you.
http://www.resources.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_...
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
---B.B. King
http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/
RE: Coupling Guards
Question 1 is a specific question about an existing large pump that is in an enclosure that people seldom enter. The coupling guard hinders our ability to collect thermal offset data (which may be ill-advised to do without a guard anyway). I guess I'm going to have to get creative.
Question 2 is a general question because we all have machines where we can (and sometimes do) contact the shaft. I.E. at stuffing boxes and between a seal and the bearing housing.
RE: Coupling Guards
In my apprenticeship days there was a female drill operator who climbed on her stool, un-did some bolts to a cover and put her hand in. Apparently the machine was making a noise. Well several fingers later she claimed for industrial injury and won! After that I never rely on logic & comon sense alone.
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
---B.B. King
http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/
RE: Coupling Guards
RE: Coupling Guards
{
1. Can a coupling guard be excluded on a pump if the pump is in a limited-access room (not locked)?
}
If it ain't locked, it's open. Even if it is locked, people find a way to get in. This is particularly true in out of the way plant areas where people go to seek privacy. Just because they're not supposed to be there, doesn't mean they won't be there.
{
2. Do bare shafts and couplings without "snag points" require guarding? API 610 and general industry practice seem to imply anything rotating should be guarded while OSHA and ANSI don't.
}
Loose clothing, beards, and stupid fashion accessories like neckties can easily snag a rotating shaft even if it's smooth and featureless.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA