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Due to economic conditions, many companies are downsizing and
consolidating. They are getting lean and keen. This can mean plant or
facility consolidation and asset relocation.
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| There are a few key questions that need to be asked and answered before
relocating production equipment: |
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How many machines should be relocated? |
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What are the decision criteria to select one machine over another?
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Typically, the following are considered:
1. Machine production rates
2. Machine uses - how versatile is the machine
3. Reliability and maintainability of the machine
4. Machine compliance with the federal and local safety
requirements. If the machines are not compliant, what is needed?
5. Cost to bring machines into compliance
Plant production and maintenance personnel can provide answers
and rating scores for the first three criteria. The remainder are best
left for machine safety experts to answer. |
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Complete solutions from
a single source
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| Machine Safety Assessment: |
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Are your machines compliant?
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Following a defined process, a machine safety expert would provide
answers to these questions by:
1. Assessing all machines that may qualify for relocation based on the company's
scores to the first 3 questions.
2. Assessing all qualified machines relative to the regualtions of the destination
country.
3. Creating an assessment report that will aid the company in the decision process.
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| The report should include the following: |
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List of applicable safety standards or regulations reviewed and considered
during the assessment |
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Overview of the assessment process and method used to determine the risk
level for each machine |
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Explanation of the risk reduction requirements that should be applied based on
risk level |
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Machine identification (manufacturer, type, model number, serial number, asset
number, location, etc) |
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Description of the hazards associated with the machine |
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Risk reduction performance requirements to achieve compliance |
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Safety-related control system (safety circuits) performance requirements to
achieve compliance based on the risk level for the machine |
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Residual risk level for the machine if the recommended safeguarding measures
are installed in accordance with all applicable regulations and standards
(estimated risk level after guarding using the assessor's detailed
recommendations) |
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Risk reduction (safeguarding) recommendations with detailed written
information covering the type and location of the safeguarding measures
recommended and a description of how they will be applied to reduce the risk
to a tolerable level of risk |
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A drawing of the guarding concept and approximate location of the guards and
safety devices on the machine |
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Corrective action prioritization score for each machine assessed to establish
relocation priorities. Typically, a lower corrective action prioritization score
is comparable to a lower cost to bring the machine into compliance. If six
like machines are qualified for the relocation, but only two are actually going
to be relocated, selecting the two with the lowest corrective action score will
most likely be the least costly to bring into compliance |
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And finally, the estimated cost to bring each machine into compliance
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While all components in the report are important, two are key for
making the decision on which machines should stay or go - the
corrective action score and corrective action costs. Remember,
selecting the machines with the lowest corrective action score will
save yo-money. With this information, management can make a well
informed decision in minutes instead of weeks or even months. They
are ensured of selecting the most cost effective solution every time.
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| The cost for this type of machine safeguarding relocation assessment should
average $250.00 to 350.00 per machine being assessed, not including travel and
related expenses. |
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