I assume you are talking about Reg 11 - guarding of dangerous parts.

It may or may not be a breach of the regulation.

You would need to show that each step of the guarding hierarchy had been followed to the extent 'practicable' before going to the next lower level of protection.

That was a very interesting demonstration Ron, thanks for posting the video link.

The video was "time lapsed" here and there but I got the feeling the artist/operator was adjusting the speed of the lathe.

Is there a risk of an accidental speed increase in your process John? Resulting in hot glass from groin to gullet. Can a restraining bolt or lock be put on a lathe to firmly limit the speed? Never used one apart from a small wood lathe making a pen, so I don't know.

As for hot guards, make them out of insulators, they need to stop glass not metal???

More questions than answers, sorry bud.

Jeff

John
Before recommending a 'foot' dead-man's handle, I suggest you watch your glassblowers in action and talk to them. If they need to move around while they are glass blowing, the idea may be dead in the water. You may make the situation for them more dangerous if they have to keep one foot still while hopping the other one around to get a good view or change the angle of application of the torch. They need to be able to keep their hands in very tight control, so any difficulty with their feet could cause considerable problems. They also have to work for extended periods to do a joint; keeping one foot very still would not be good from the ergonomic point of view.

From my recollection, I think the glassblower does need to move about a bit to observe and feed in heat from different angles. It is crucial that the lathe does not stop while they are glassblowing, because the workpiece would probably be destroyed (and workpieces tend to be expensive both in time and money).

I was taught glassblowing in the 60's, when we used asbestos string and asbestos paper! I did not graduate to using a lathe, but there was one in the workshop. I'm not surprised that there is no readily accessible guidance - it is a skilled and very specialist trade.

Scientific. The Chemistry Dept that I was in when learning glassblowing had two glassblowers (five year apprenticeship). The Physics Dept that I am in now used to have one (retired recently and not to be replaced).

Its interesting how many of us have been involved is this quite specialist art.

i was at one time responsible (H&S) for Fisons Scientific Factory where we had nearly 20 glassblowers

I seem to remember most of them ate their sandwiches at their workstations; they were happier amongst the asbestos wool, asbestos dust and a big bottle of hydrofluoric acid.

Ahh! the good old days!