Posted By Jason Hough Does anybody know of a standard which stipulates what type of switch can be used on the guard doors of metal cutting bandsaws, I have been advised one on my machines at another site does not conform to the current standards, this was mentioned by an external contractor although they havent quoted what standard they dont meet, the limit switches in question cannot be easily defeated to let the machine operate without the guards in place. Any help or general advice greatfully recieved

Posted By Bob Baynes Is it the case that the machine cuts the electrical supply to the motor but the guards can then be opened with the blade and wheels still moving? I am vaguely aware that for wood cutting bandsaws there are requirements for them to stop within a few seconds and perhaps for the guards to not be able to open until that has happened. I would like to know what you find out on this one. I hope you will post it on here.

Posted By Mike Draper The question is whether the integrity of the safety device matches up to the scale of the risk is protects against. As Frank says, PD5304 provides useful guidance. You should pay attention not only to the selection of the switch (whether it is a safety switch, positive break, robust, etc) but also how it is wired into the control system for the saw (i.e. hard wired, redundancy in the wiring, monitoring for failure etc). You can have a high integrity switch and render it useless if the system as a whole is inadequate. Mike