One of our engineers has purchased a 'tip grinder' which is fundamentally a pneumatic driven vertical grinder, fixed to an hydraulic arm, which operates on a pivot mechansim over a jig/bed grinding the relevant component fixed on the jig. The grinder itself is a desoutter, with a deadman's lever, which to operate (obviously from a hand held perspective). There are other switches which to press (operator aware), but to trigger the grinder itself, the deadmans switch needs to be activated. However, it isn't regarded as a 2 hand operation, so the arm is swung using the left hand and the right is not used. The grinder is on the right hand side of the body and kept in the on position by a clamp. My issue, is that due to the device (grinder) being a bolt on, that the deadmans switch/safety lever, should not be shortcutted by use of a clamp, and de-activated by the removal of the clamp or E-stop. The machine's pneumatics can be stopped by the left hand E-Stop. I'm not sure whether the entire device carries a CE mark - I think it does (haven't gone this far yet); but believe this to contravene PUWER Reg 11, as this is the incorrect safety device for the grinder and is easily shorted out of the system and is not handled at all, due to pressure issues when applying the grinder to the components surface. Any comments appreciated!!!

Ken You guessed partly right, the grinder is attached to the hydraulic arm on the right of the operator. The operation is controlled mainly by the left hand bringing the arm toward and away over the component which is being ground. It started off as a 2 hand operation, with the trigger being activated by the right hand, but this is an ergonomic issue, as is the applied pressure. Therefore, somone has fitted a clamp to it and the machine, once set can repeatedly run and operated using the one hand. My solution is to replace the deadmans switch/safety lever on the desoutter grinder - it isn't needed as there is a E-Stop accessed by the left hand of the operator. Thanks

Ken Agree in principle, and it was what I want to drive, however the operator states that it is not manageable to operate 2 handed, due to issues with pressure on the blade from the right hand and potential movement of the hand too; added to the ergonomic issues. The clamp around the safety lever on the handle of the grinder is my main concern. My first thought is to replace the grinder with just a positive action e.g. on / off switch or button, as it isn't 'safety critical' as the operator is operating the arm with the left hand. The pneumatics are de-activated by the e-stop too, and does the same as disengaging the lever on the grinder. The ideal scenario, would be that the grinder doesn't need individual activation and can be controlled from the end of the arm. Thanks