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Abstract: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) mechanical power press standard (29 CFR 1910.217) protects employees from injuries that result from working with or around mechanical power presses through the use of machine guards (prevents hands in danger zone) and through limitations on initiation of a press cycle (either two-hand or foot operated). A presence-sensing device (PSD), typically a light curtain, initiates a press cycle only when the system indicates that no objects, such as a hand, are within the hazard zone. OSHA adopted the use of presence-sensing device initiation (PSDI) on mechanical power presses believing that the provision would substantially protect workers and improve productivity. However, OSHA requires PSDI systems to be validated by an OSHA-certified third party, and no organization has agreed to validate PSDI installations. OSHA performed a lookback review of PSDI and determined that the current ANSI standard permits PSDI without independent validation but includes other provisions to maintain PSDI safety.
Based on its completion of the look-back review of PSDI (69 FR 31927), OSHA is planning to revise and update the standard on power presses, which currently covers only mechanical power presses. OSHA will base the revision of the 2001 or later edition of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard on Mechanical Power Presses, ANSI B11.1. Further, OSHA is considering expanding the standard to cover other presses such as hydraulic and pneumatic power presses and to include the latest guarding techniques. This revision will provide the first major update of the Mechanical Power Presses Standard since it was originally published in 1971.
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