Power Equipment Hazard Basics
Power equipment in the workplace causes many incidents every year. Hazards exist where there is a risk of human contact with a machine’s moving parts. Movement can occur at startup, during operation, or while a machine is stopping. Many incidents occur due to malfunctioning or missing machine guarding, or to workers taking shortcuts. It is important to know the types of hazards that equipment typically creates in order to avoid incidents. This course will cover common types of hazards associated with power equipment, as well as how to identify and avoid these hazards.





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Course Details
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Identify and describe common power equipment motions and actions
- Identify common power equipment hazards, including entanglement, nip points, draw-in hazards, impact hazards, crushing hazards, cutting and puncturing hazards, burn and abrasion hazards, electrical hazards, and high-pressure hazards
- Describe common causes of machine hazard incidents
- Describe best practices for hazard identification and avoidance
Specs
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some typical equipment movements?
What are some machine actions you should be aware of when working around equipment that moves?
What are some machine motions and actions that cause common hazards?
What are some other equipment hazards?
Sample Video Transcript
Equipment in the workplace causes many incidents every year. These incidents result in irreversible injuries like crushing of body parts, amputation, electric shock, and blindness. In addition to injuries, thousands of workers are also killed on the job each year. Hazards exist where there is a risk of human contact with a machine’s moving parts. Movement can occur at startup, during operation, or while a machine is stopping. Many incidents occur due to malfunctioning or missing machine guarding or to workers taking shortcuts. It is important to know the types of hazards that equipment typically creates in order to avoid incidents. This course will cover common types of hazards associated with equipment as well as how to identify and avoid these hazards.
Additional Resources
- U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) – www.osha.gov
- OSHA Machine Guarding eTool – https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding
- MSHA Equipment, Health and Safety Hazard Alerts – http://www.msha.gov/alerts/alertshp.htm
- Electronic Library of Construction Occupational Safety and Health – http://www.elcosh.org/document/1817/d000661/Hazard%2BAlert%253A%2BOperating%2BHeavy%2BEquipment.html?show_text=1