Industrial safety is seen universally as a necessity, above all because a safe workplace results in a comfortable, motivating climate. The current playing field in the realm of safety is made up of both increasingly stringent laws and regulations and the need for increased production capacity and for faster production speeds.

This leads workers to operate machinery faster and at greater risk. For example, with regard to machinery safety, both equipment manufacturers and equipment operators are placing great emphasis on engineering and on the application of international standards. On the whole, the efficacy of a safety system is not based solely on technical and regulatory aspects, but also on an in-depth functional analysis of the organization, of production processes, and of the human factor.

In the past, machinery safety was largely considered a cost. Today, safety technologies may be seen as an investment in business productivity. Products such as safety switches and relays have become fairly common. With the adoption of integrated technologies and approaches to safety, PLCs and safety mechanisms, too, have enjoyed widespread use while having a limited impact on system engineering and planning.

The overall landscape of instrumentation components and programs features solutions that are able to control everything concerning the potential risks inherent in the systems and machinery in both production and transformation processes. In sensors, for example, fire and smoke detectors allow for automated intervention in order to eliminate the causes of fire and combustion, while detectors for gases and other airborne compounds protect the workspace around the equipment.

Safety PLCs are able to inhibit improper movements and prevent the transit of unauthorized personnel through hazardous areas. Generally speaking, the use of accurate, reliable devices and instrumentation is a priority in order to reduce the levels of risk.

Functional, Electrical, Intrinsic: the 3 domains of safety Thinking of safety in generic terms can be ambiguous, especially in relation to the global analysis of the causes of accidents and related preventive measures. As such, it can be helpful to summarize the three recognized types of industrial safety and point to the main safety laws and regulations, even though it will be impossible to provide an exhaustive picture of such a vast landscape.

The first concept in safety is functional safety, This type of safety depends on the proper functioning of a system or machine in response to its initial electrical, electronic and programmable parameters. The main standards that govern functional safety are ISO 13849 (Safety of machinery – Safety-related parts of control systems), IEC 62061 (Safety of machinery – Functional safety of safety-related electrical, electronic and programmable electronic control systems), IEC 61508 (Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems), and IEC 61511 (Functional safety – Safety instrumented systems for the process industry sector).

• It is important to note that the standard ISO 13849-1 requires that, in order to assess the performance of a safety-control system, the probability of dangerous failures per hour (PFH d) is to be calculated.
• This indicator is calculated based on the random failure rate of all components used in a system.

ISO 13849 is particularly important for PLCs in that it describes the safety functions and general requirements for the design and protection of control systems. In order to design automated systems that are totally safe for production and personnel, the reference standards are the Safety Integrity Level (SIL, i.e.

IEC 62061) and Good Automated Manufacturing Practice (GAMP). Also of note is the standard ANSI/ISA-99, developed in line with existing international standards and which defines the safety levels, on a scale from 0 to 4, of the various equipment used in production processes and in operations. The second type of safety that is of strategic importance in industry is electrical safety.

Electrical safety is achieved by designing and constructing electrical machinery so as to avoid any direct contact with electrical cables or other electrically conductive parts. Manufacturers must also seek to avoid hazards caused by indirect contact with a ground or other conductor that happens to be under tension.

• The main families of standards in the field of electrical safety are EN 60204 (Safety of machinery – Electrical equipment of machines), EN 60947-5 (Low-voltage switchgear and controlgear), and NFPA 79 (Electrical Standard for Industrial Machinery) for the US market.
• Within the scope of these standards, the prevailing Machinery Directive bases the assessment, elimination, or reduction of risk as a principle of integrating safety in the design and construction of machinery and references ISO 12100 (Safety of machinery – General principles for design — Risk assessment and risk reduction).

Finally, intrinsic safety, based on the ATEX directives 2014/34/EU and 1999/92/EC, is also to be taken into account. Intrinsic safety is the technical principle of preventing the risk of fire or explosion caused by electrical devices and electronic instrumentation.

1. At the level of power and circuitry, this safety is provided by galvanic isolation and Zener barriers,
2. In order to create protected workspaces, photoelectric barriers, i.e.
3. Electro-sensitive devices that also ensure high levels of machinery and system productivity, are used.
4. To choose the right electrical device to be used, we need to know which group of explosive substances the flammable compounds that may be present belong to.

For all types of fire protection, the electrical devices to be installed in an area at risk of explosion must be divided into temperature classes from T1 to T6. The device manufacturer must be able to achieve the highest safety levels for each individual device by way of specific fire-protection methods.

What are the types of safety in industry?

Types – There are 2 main types of industrial safety systems in process industry:

• Process safety system (PSS) or process shutdown system (PSS).
• Safety shutdown system (SSS): This includes (ESD) and emergency depressurization (EDP) systems.

A third system also exists which acts as a barrier and contains the spray out of hot oil & gases from flanges, valves & pipe joints. These systems are popularly known as safety spray shields and flange guards. The use of spray guards is mandated by,

What are the 5 types of industrial hazards?

Main Types of Industrial Safety Hazards – Several types of industrial safety hazards can threaten the physical wellbeing of your workers. Five types of risks in the workplace—physical, chemical, ergonomic, biological and safety—could cost your workers their health while decreasing the uptime and productivity of your facility.

What do you mean by industrial safety?

Industrial Safety is a multi-disciplinary approach to developing and ensuring compliance with regulatory agencies, safe working practices, and maintaining the health and well-being of those employed in a particular occupation or workplace.

What are the different types of OSHA safety?

OSHA standards fall into four categories: General Industry, Construction, Maritime, and Agriculture.

What is PPE in industrial safety?

Overview – Related Safety and Health Topics Pages What is personal protective equipment? Personal protective equipment, commonly referred to as “PPE”, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards that cause serious workplace injuries and illnesses.

1. These injuries and illnesses may result from contact with chemical, radiological, physical, electrical, mechanical, or other workplace hazards.
2. Personal protective equipment may include items such as gloves, safety glasses and shoes, earplugs or muffs, hard hats, respirators, or coveralls, vests and full body suits.

What can be done to ensure proper use of personal protective equipment? All personal protective equipment should be safely designed and constructed, and should be maintained in a clean and reliable fashion. It should fit comfortably, encouraging worker use.

If the personal protective equipment does not fit properly, it can make the difference between being safely covered or dangerously exposed. When engineering, work practice, and administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, employers must provide personal protective equipment to their workers and ensure its proper use.

Employers are also required to train each worker required to use personal protective equipment to know:

When it is necessary What kind is necessary How to properly put it on, adjust, wear and take it off The limitations of the equipment Proper care, maintenance, useful life, and disposal of the equipment

If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection, maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program to ensure its ongoing effectiveness.

What is need for safety in industry?

Objectives of Industrial Safety – The various goals of industrial safety are discussed below:

There is a requirement of industrial safety in order to prevent any kind of incident resulting in the accidents causing loss of life and permanent disability of the employees in the organization, damages to machines and material which can cause the organizational level losses. For preventing the kind of accidents resulting in the seizing of work and loss of the production. By controlling the hazard to the minimum level, accidents in the industry can be avoided. This is also required for having lower compensation to be paid to the employees, lesser insurance premiums, and the accident cost. This is also important to aware the employees of the different safety guidelines in order to prevent industrial accidents. Improved morale of the manpower can also be obtained by it. Having improved human relations in the industry is quite helpful. It is necessary for having improved production tools to higher living standards.

What is industrial safety management system?

A safety management system (SMS) is defined as an organization-wide process designed to manage safety risk in the workplace. A safety management system can be created to fit any business type and/or industry sector. Generally, effective SMS processes and procedures: Define how the organization manages risk.

What are the different types of OSHA safety?

OSHA standards fall into four categories: General Industry, Construction, Maritime, and Agriculture.

Jack Gloop