National Clothesline

OSHA has issued an advisory safety bulletin (SHIB 03-07-16) concerning a pinch point hazard associated with certain semiautomatic cabinet shirt presses.

While the bulletin is not an official standard or regulation, OSHA is recommending that employers who own cabinet shirt presses check to determine whether a pinch point hazard exists.

The advisory stems from a fatal accident that occurred two years ago in a Massachusetts drycleaning plant after the press operator dressed the buck and initiated the press cycle. For unknown reasons, the operator placed her head, upper body, and right arm into the 10-inch by 48-inch opening in the dressing table and was crushed between the buck and the frame of the machine when the buck automatically returned to the starting position at the dressing table at the end of the pressing cycle.

OSHA noted that the cabinet press is equipped with a cancel button that halts the press cycle and returns the buck to the dressing position. The machine also is equipped with safety bars on both sides of the entrance to the cabinet that function as cancel buttons which stop the operation of the press and protect the operator from getting caught by the buck as it enters the cabinet.

However, the machine’s controls did not have a means to stop the automatic transfer of the buck out of the press during or after a press cycle. This creates a pinch point hazard between the buck and the end of the 10-inch by 48-inch opening at the dressing position.

OSHA said all employers who own cabinet presses with a pinch point hazard at the loading table must protect employees from pinch point hazards. Barrier guards or other safety devices that, once initiated, will render the press inoperative, stop the buck on its track, and require a deliberate action to return the buck to the starting position, can protect workers from the pinch point hazards created between the buck and the opening at the starting position.

OSHA is encouraging employers to determine if the buck on their shirt press stops on its track once any of the safety devices is tripped or if it continues its return to the starting position. If the buck does not stop immediately on its track, OSHA advises one of the following measures should be taken:

• Install a barrier guard on the opening to prevent employees from reaching in the opening;

• Retrofit the press so that if the cancel button is pressed or any of the safety devices are tripped, the press will immediately be rendered inoperative and not resume operation unless the two operating buttons are simultaneously pressed with both hands.

The employer who owned the cabinet press involved in the accident has replaced the press with a newer model, OSHA said. On the newer model, at the end of the press cycle, the cabinet press simply opens, and the machine stops until the operator initiates buck return by depressing and maintaining pressure on both of the hand control buttons. If one or both of the hand control buttons is released at any time during the buck return, the buck will stop until both buttons are again depressed and held down until the buck returns to its initial starting position.

In addition, new emergency stop and reset buttons have been added to the machine. The emergency stop ceases all machine functions and halts buck transfers at any time. The new model also has a buzzer that sounds and a red transfer light that illuminates during buck return to warn the operator that the buck is returning from the cabinet.