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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)





Mining Publication: Are your guards creating hazards? Design the hazard out of the guard!
Keywords: Fixed guards Physical barriers
This page is archived for historical purposes and is no longer being maintained or updated. Contact NIOSH Mining if you need an accessible version.
Original creation date: October 2016
Authors: JP Pollard
Non-Peer Reviewed Journal Article - October 2016
Go to Web Page
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20049252
Coal Zoom 2016 Oct; :8781
An updated version of this infographic published by NIOSH is now available.
Improperly designed machine guards can put miners at risk. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducted an analysis of injuries associated with machine maintenance and repair and identified a significant prevalence of injuries caused by metal covers and guards.
Over a ten-year period, the industry reported over 2,000 incidents caused by metal covers and guards to MSHA accounting for nearly 52,000 days lost from maintenance and repair work at surface mining facilities. These incidents included injuries to the hand caused by being caught between or struck by guards as well as over-exertion injuries sustained to the shoulders and back.
While these guards and covers are necessary to protect workers from mine hazards, they may also pose safety risks when designers do not consider their maintainability. To reduce the prevalence and severity of overexertion and traumatic injuries associated with manually handling machine guards, the mining industry should reduce the size and weight of machine guards so that they may be easily handled by one person.
Image of Are your guards creating hazards? infographicNon-Peer Reviewed Journal Article - October 2016
Go to Web Page
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20049252
Coal Zoom 2016 Oct; :8781
See Also
Development and Demonstration of the Battelle Barrier Survival System
Evaluation, Scaled Testing, and Testing Design of Active Explosion Barriers Systems for the US Underground Coal Mines
Guidelines for Permitting, Construction, and Monitoring of Retention Bulkheads in Underground Coal Mines
Results of In-Mine Research in Support of the Investigation of the Sago Mine Explosion
Seal Design
Page last reviewed: December 23, 2020
Page last updated: December 23, 2020
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program
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