| Research leader: Paul-Émile Boileau
Coordinator: Denis Turcot • Research projects
• IRSST publications
• Scientific publications and communications
• Tools
• Prévention au travail articles Context
In Québec, approximately 8% of all work accidents compensated annually involve all types of machines. The injuries associated with their operation and maintenance represent 15% of all compensated injuries and payments by the CSST. Manual workers involved in production, handling and maintenance activities are the most affected. They are found in a wide range of industrial sectors (metal and electrical products, commerce, transport equipment, mines, forestry and sawmills, textiles, furniture, pulp and paper, etc.). The needs expressed relate to corrective measures, protective devices, assistance in safe design, and the identification and estimation of machine risks. The research work involving the IRSST in industrial tool, machine, and process safety is very diversified and can be grouped under eight headings: machine risk assessment, lockout, maintenance, safe design of machines and tools, control systems and automation, forklift ergonomics and safety, slipperiness of floors, and mine safety. Objective
The objective of this field is to contribute to the development and application of knowledge involving methods and tools for risk assessment and reduction and reliability evaluation, and to the design of solutions to reduce the risks associated with industrial machines. The aim of the new knowledge thus generated is ultimately to better equip companies, regulatory agencies, preventionists and researchers for guiding the actions to be taken to reduce and even eliminate machine accidents. Research orientations Machine risk assessment; Machine risk reduction: Development of methods for integrating safety into design; Machine risk reduction: Development of guards or protective devices; Design, development and validation of methods for ground control. Favoured orientations The research work is grouped into eight thematic programs: Machine risk assessment: This program involves the theoretical and practical analysis of tools for assessing the risks associated with hazardous machines, the identification of criteria to be used in selecting risk assessment tools, the evaluation of the variability of the interpretations related to the application of the different methods for risk evaluation and estimation, as well as the related training. Lockout: This program involves the evaluation of the different lockout procedures, the analysis of their applicability and limitations in workplaces, the definition of selection criteria for the different methods, as well as possible alternatives to lockout. Maintenance: This theme comprises the different facets of maintenance-related safety problems, which are different from those encountered when machines are in production. Also recognized is the difference in safety between preventive and corrective maintenance activities. Safe design of machines and tools: This theme includes as many aspects involving the integration of safety during design as on the development of evaluation tools and protective devices for making machines safer. Control systems and automation: This theme comprises all of the safety problems related to the implementation of automation and robotics, including remote control systems, etc. The aim of the studies is essentially to identify safety-related roles and limitations of control systems. Forklift ergonomics and safety: This program consists of the ergonomic study of the operators' activity and working conditions that can lead to forklift rollover, as well as the modeling of vehicle and operator behaviour in rollover situations. Slipperiness of floors: This research theme involves the study of slipperiness mechanisms, including the effect of food and chemical contaminants, and the evaluation of the impact of floor wear and maintenance on slipperiness. Mine safety: The research essentially involves the development of tools and the evaluation of the strength and stability of mining backfill, with the ultimate aim of defining the safety factors for underground structures. High-pressure water jet cleaning: Evaluation of the safety related to high-pressure water jet cleaning work, the effectiveness of protective accessories for workers, and the impact of preventive maintenance of equipment on risk elimination. Our means
The IRSST's machine safety laboratory is equipped with an industrial plastic injection press which is the key component that must be the basis for the construction of a mini-plant for applying different risk analysis tools, evaluating and developing lockout procedures, and studying safety related to control systems. Various other industrial machines, including a metal press and a metal lathe, are some of the equipment on which different safety devices can be studied. The laboratory also has pedagogical modules to illustrate different safety concepts and systems, including lockout/interlocking devices as well as guards. Partners
Two partnership agreements have been signed with INRS-France for sharing resources in order to pursue work on processes for assessing the risks associated with industrial machines as well as on forklift ergonomics and safety. Several studies are being carried out jointly with university partners from the UQTR Industrial Engineering Department, the UQAM design school, as well as the Mechanical Engineering Departments of the Université Laval, ÉTS, the Université de Sherbrooke, McGill University and the École Polytechnique, among others. The researcher network also includes collaborators from different disciplines, including ergonomics, work organization and adult education. Close ties to the researchers in the "Work content and OHS" field also exist. Impacts
The research work carried out at the IRSST has resulted in professionals being better sensitized and trained in recognizing risks related to industrial machines and in identifying possible solutions. This work furthermore supports the action plan launched by the CSST in the spring of 2005 in companies on intolerable hazards related to worker access to moving machine parts. The research results are being used mainly in the development of national and international standards, while the involvement of personnel in this work ensures the appropriation and transfer of knowledge at this level. Participation on different CSST technical committees is also ensured, mainly the technical subcommittee on remote controls in mines, the lockout subcommittee of the review committee for the regulation respecting occupational health and safety (RROHS), the forestry sector's joint sector-based prevention committee, and the RROHS technical committee on safety. The work carried out also resulted in the launching of an international conference on the safety of industrial automated systems in Montréal in 1999, which has been held every 2 years since that time. Important participation has also been provided in the training of university students and trainees, as well as of CSST inspectors on different aspects involving risk analysis and machine safety.
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Safety of industrial tools, machines, and processes
