Abstract

Workers in curd cheese factories work with their hands in close proximity to the extremely sharp rotating blades of mobile cheese choppers. Protective equipment for these choppers does not exist, but both the equipment distributor and a CSST-inspected factory have expressed interest in improving the safety of these machines. This project determined the number of companies using mobile choppers and asked distributors if safety equipment was available. Functional requirements, user expectations, safety needs, and avenues of research and development were identified.