Posted By Pat Burns MIOSH - SpDipEM - AMIQA Jim Sent on e-mail for you on this.

Posted By Bob Baynes Most of our machines were aquired via an expansion grant in 1973. We have fitted interlocked chuck guards to the lathes and interlocked table edge guards to all our milling machines. Additionally, we trialled leadscrew guards which were rubber sheet roller blinds. These were supposed to act as deflectors to prevent accidental entrapment of clothing. They worked until the containers were run into the end of the lathe, trapping the blind material. We have had to remove them. We have some Bridgeport machines which give us more problems than the other machines. The table edge guards, if high enough to be effective, interfere with the ability of these machines to be used like a pillar drill - guards with removeable sections to allow this to continue are available. Some Bridgeport machines have unguarded, letter box sized slots on each side of the head to allow the belt to be moved to different pulleys and hence give various speeds. We made hinged guards, not interlocked but arranged so that only authorised, trained personnel could open them. I suspect that marking of controls, type of start and stop buttons may not meet current regs. I do not know what your working environment is, we are a college of further education, industrial use may be a different kettle of fish. Hope this helps.