All JAE Automation guarding is reviewed with a safety engineer with respect to Ministry of Labour Regulation 851 for Industrial Establishments and CSA Standards applicable to the equipment involved in the project.
Items to consider when designing a fence guard system around a cell
- Access to equipment inside the cell
- How much room is needed for work in process; i.e. pallets or slip sheets
- How much room is needed for specific maintenance activities
- The ability to get into the cell with a lift truck for changing out motors or heavy pieces of equipment
- Future expansion possibilities
- A review of the current plant LOTO system and how it applies to a new robot cell needs to be considered
- Locks may not be required in the robot cell because of the safety system used, however, if other equipment in the plant requires locks and different procedures it may be confusing
- Panels in the fence and supporting columns should be placed to allow removal of panels if a large piece of equipment needs to be removed
- During installation; wire & cable runs, pneumatic pipe or tubing runs, must be considered to allow the ability to remove the above mentioned panels
- Good mechanical guard components must be selected so that after a period of time the system still maintains it mechanical integrity
