VERTICAL DOWNSTROKE BALERS Produced by: Professional and Specialized Services, Ontario Ministry of Labour Alert I160/0196 ISSN 1195-5228 HAZARD SUMMARY A young part-time worker was killed in a department store after raising (opening) the loading gate of a vertical downstroke baler during its upstroke. On these machines, the upstroke is the return, or retraction, stroke, while the downstroke is the compression stroke, with the ram moving down and compacting a load of cardboard. The worker apparently put his head and upper body into the space above the compacting head, or "platen", of the ram. This is the part of the ram that contracts and presses down the load. It is much wider than the rest of the ram and there is a space above it. The worker's neck was caught between the raised loading gate and the upper surface of the platen. Investigation revealed that during the upstroke this machine was not guarded to prevent access to the space above the platen. The loading gate did guard against the downstroke: it could not start when the gate was raised, and if the gate was raised after a downstroke had begun the downstroke was reversed. However, raising the loading gate during the upstroke did not stop the upstroke. Thus the gate did not prevent access to the space above the platen while the ram was rising. On vertical downstroke balers, guarding is invariably provided for the downstroke. However, as this fatality demonstrates, they must be guarded to prevent access to any moving parts or pinch points that may endanger a worker. Any machine that is only partially guarded is UNGUARDED. LOCATIONS AND SECTORS Stationary balers and compactors, both mechanical and hydraulic, are primarily used in waste disposal and recycling operations in the retail sector, but may be found in many industrial sectors. APPLICABLE SECTIONS OF THE REGULATIONS This fatality could have been prevented if the baler had been guarded in accordance with section 24 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments (R.R.O. 851/90), which states: "Where a machine or prime mover or transmission equipment has an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker, the machine or prime mover or transmission equipment shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the moving parts." RECOMMENDED PRECAUTIONS 1. Examine all balers and compactors for all hazards. These machines are usually more complex than they appear, and some hazards are not easy to spot. To detect all hazards, observe the entire operating cycle of the machine until it is completely understood. 2. Examine the function of the loading gate (or of any other equivalent device) to determine if it prevents all access to hazardous moving parts. If a worker can gain access to hazardous moving parts -- for example to the space above the "platen", or compacting head, while the ram is rising -- the machine is NOT GUARDED. Any such machine must be interlocked or otherwise modified to: - prevent access to this space while the ram is rising, or - cause all movement of the ram to stop whenever the loading gate is raised (or whenever another equivalent device is opened or otherwise made unable to prevent access). Some baler manufacturers offer retrofit kits to achieve this. 3. Keep the following points in mind while examining these machines: - The loading gate, or any other equivalent device, has two functions: permitting access to the baler for loading and preventing access to the moving parts. Each must be performed properly: the way the loading gate (or other device) performs one function should not limit or compromise the way it performs the other. - Besides allowing access to moving parts, a poorly designed loading gate (or other equivalent device) may itself be a hazard. - With some machines there is no hazard until the platen is very close to its highest position. For example, in a non-fatal accident similar to the one outlined above, a worker was carried up on the upper surface of the platen until he was crushed against stationary parts of the baler. - Beware of the false sense of security given by the slow movement of the ram. 4. During maintenance work in which a worker will put hands or any other part of the body into any space between or near hazardous parts, proper lock-out and blocking procedures must be followed. 5. All workers operating balers and compactors must be fully trained in their use, in potential hazards and in safe working procedures. 6. Although this Alert has focused on vertical downstroke balers, similar precautions must be observed for other balers and compactors. References to the "upstroke" and to the ram "rising" should be taken as applying to any return, or retraction, stroke on balers and compactors, whatever its direction. REFERENCES ANSI Standard Z245.5-1990, "Baling Equipment -- Safety Requirements", especially sections 5.2.2.2 and 5.2.2.3.