6 Ways To Maintain Safety In High-Tolerance Metal Working

Be it a custom garage/workshop, or a robust manufacturing facility, producing high-quality metal products is not all about tolerances, machines & calibration. It has to do most with eliminating the probability of human error on the shop floor. That implies observing safety regulations like a hawk.

It’s also a legal duty to ensure workers are not at risk of the challenging working conditions in a metal manufacturing unit. CAV Tool, whose sole objective is to provide you with premium quality of high-tolerance products in Atlanta, GA, knows what safety tips matter the most when working as a team or going solo on your custom metal fabrication job!

1. Shop Floor Risk Assessment

This does not mean ‘making the rounds’ on the shop floor to check on how everyone is working. It’s a procedure to find potential risk areas. The list is extensive: moving machinery, overhead cranes, tool racks, welding stations, metal-working machines (lathe, milling, CNC, etc.), flammables, electrical outlets, motors, etc. & electronics! The hazards are noted, operator feedback taken, and an SOP for working safely in the shop is developed.

2. Operator Training

It’s a given that you will find apprentices, new professionals, and experienced operators in metallurgical workshops. They should not be left to their devices after a precursory orientation to the job. Short bursts of regular training, prep-talks, safety checks & machinery operation/calibration training should be dispensed as revision. This ensures everyone is aligned with the goal of the following custom order and works in tandem with safety protocols & tolerances.

3. Visible Guide & Hazard Signs

Kanban is an effective workflow management technique that utilizes simple symbols, charts, or pictograms to highlight risk areas, directions, guides, warnings, caution, and specific machine operations to ensure clear objectives in the workplace & prevent injury. Ensure any charts on the shop floor are visible, clean, and concise as per the workers-bay.

4. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Once again, it does not matter whether the workshop is small or a factory; safety gear is cardinal to error-free, quality workmanship. Gloves, goggles, protective overalls, hardhats, welding face-shields, ear-plugs, steel-toe traction boots & a tool belt are not fashionable items, but they can be the difference between life and a couple of appendages short of a limb.

5. Air Filtration Units

In a facility where punching, dies, welds, fabrication parts on jigs, parts pulled apart for reverse engineering, and fine tooling is the norm, contaminants are drifting in the air, if not striking against your face shield. Flume extraction & air filtration systems are to be taken seriously. Air-borne pollutants can trigger pulmonary distress and even react with unfinished metal parts to compromise high-tolerance finishes.

6. Daily Safety Inspections

A suitable workshop is where everyone cleans up after themselves, gives their workstations nice oiling, and sweeps up the filings before calling it a day. Regular inspection, documentation, & recalibration of sensitive electronic machining equipment must be conducted by authorized personnel and all hazards checked before everyone clocks out.

If you are wondering who even endorses that much safety precaution in a metallurgy facility, then our best bet is that it’s the reactive OHSAS 18001 & proactive ISO 45001 guidelines!

At CAV Tools, it’s not our top-notch designing, fabrication, & machining equipment that gets the job done. It’s our highly trained, experienced machine operators who excise caution around hazards that get the job done to a standard unmatched by our competitors! And that is why our clients refer us all around Atlanta, GA!

Get a free estimate on dies, buttons, punches, or any custom tool you would like to have machined!

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