Video Series Educates Viewers About Protective Guarding

Barriers and guardrails can protect pedestrians from hazardous equipment. © VisualProduction – stock.adobe.com

The Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association offers this free online resource to share best practices with students and businesses.

Contributor: ProGMA

Among the top 10 causes of serious, disabling workplace injuries are falls to a lower level, falling items, being caught in machinery and pedestrian/vehicle incidents. Together, these four types of accidents cost employers $15.79 billion, according to the 2023 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.¹ Implementing protective guarding solutions in manufacturing and distribution operations, however, can reduce the risk of these costly injuries by keeping workers safe. To help facility and safety managers learn more about their options, the Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA) is offering a series of educational videos about the different protective guarding solutions and their use.

Eight videos are currently available online and are free to view. Each has a run time ranging from 90 seconds to 4 minutes. Each explores the best practices for shielding personnel in specific work environments and from potentially dangerous equipment in a facility. Featured guarding solutions include:

• Steel Mesh Panels for Industrial Storage Racking
• Guarding for Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors
• Protective Guarding for Pick Modules
• Barriers and Guardrails to Protect Pedestrians Inside Industrial Facilities
• Indoor and Outdoor Loading Dock Door Protection
• Netting to Capture Items Falling from Overhead Conveyors
• Safety Barriers for Robotic and Automated Workcells
• Products for Safeguarding Elevated Work Platforms

Each video gives a brief overview of the inherent danger associated with a particular application. In “Essential Safety Barriers for Automated / Robotic Workcells,” for example, the voiceover explains, “…potential hazards from a machine, or accidental contact with moving equipment must be eliminated or controlled.” The video goes on to explore the safety benefits of wire mesh partitions, welding curtains and light curtains.

NEWEST VIDEO DETAILS PROGMA’S ANSI STEEL CONTAINMENT PANEL STANDARD

The group releases one to two new videos annually, noted ProGMA Chair Ken Parrott, Product Manager at member company Impact Recovery Systems. His is one of 23 member companies of ProGMA, an industry group within trade association MHI.

“ProGMA members are the industry’s leading suppliers of fixed protective guarding products designed to protect personnel, equipment and inventory in industrial facilities,” he explained. “We promote the benefits, advantages, and use of protective barrier and guarding equipment in the workplace. We also advocate for general safety and health of people who work with — or in the vicinity of — mechanical equipment and material storage.”

Producing the videos and making them freely accessible is part of ProGMA’s mission, noted Parrott.

“The most recently released video details ProGMA’s new American National Standards Institute ANSI MH31.1, which applies to steel mesh containment panels used in vertical storage systems, such as pallet rack,” he said. “The video introduces the use of these panels to protect personnel, products and property. It also explains the standard’s guidance on design, use and testing practices, which helps purchasers as they assess different panels’ quality, consistency and durability.”

UPCOMING VIDEO COVERS PROGMA’S ANSI GUARDRAIL TESTING STANDARD

ProGMA is currently developing its ninth video in the series, continued Parrott. He anticipates its release later this year.

“The next video will educate viewers about ANSI MHI31.2, which provides a standardized testing methodology to assess the performance of industrial guardrails and barrier posts in an industrial truck impact,” he said. “These guardrails and barriers are typically used to create a safety zone around pedestrian walkways or equipment. Therefore, it’s important for purchasers to understand how a solution’s impact rating has been determined.”

In addition to educating persons tasked with creating safer industrial workspaces, the videos can also be used in the classroom, added Parrott. “Teachers and professors are welcome to use the videos to reinforce their students’ learning and understanding about where protective guarding should be used as part of creating a safer workplace,” he concluded.

All ProGMA videos can be viewed at www.mhi.org/progma/videos. WMHS

About ProGMA

The Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA) members are the industry’s leading suppliers of fixed protective guarding products designed to protect personnel, equipment and inventory in industrial facilities. Member companies meet regularly to review, discuss and revise the standards for design and performance of protective guarding products used in the material handling industry. ProGMA member companies are committed to the development, maintenance and publishing of industry standard specifications for these systems. Learn more at: www.mhi.org/progma.

About MHI

MHI is an international trade association that has represented the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry since 1945. MHI’s over 970 members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers and third-party logistics providers. MHI offers education, networking and solution sourcing for their members, their members’ customers and the industry as a whole through programming and events. Learn more at www.mhi.org.

ANSI MH31.1-2019

Steel Mesh Containment Panels Used in Pallet Rack and Vertical Storage System Applications: Performance and Testing Requirements

This standard serves as the guide for designers, manufacturers, sellers, installers, owners, users and governing bodies of steel mesh containment panels used in pallet rack and vertical storage system applications, and to achieve the following objectives: to provide guidelines for the design and testing of steel mesh containment panels used in pallet rack and vertical storage system applications; to promote the understanding of the respective responsibilities of manufacturers, sellers, installers, owners, users, and governing bodies associated with steel mesh containment panels used in pallet rack and vertical storage system applications; and to provide a uniform means of testing steel mesh containment panels used in pallet rack and vertical storage system applications.

The standard is available at: https://webstore.ansi.org/standards/mhia/ansimh312019