Ensuring a much safer working environment

for operators of a hand-fed platen (die cutting) press

With the Health & Safety Executive about to commence on-site inspections of hand-fed
platen presses, users of this high-risk machinery need to ensure that their presses meet
the required safety standards. By working closely together, two companies have
developed a novel, high integrity safety solution for a hand-fed platen press, which uses
an array of light beam sensors and a modular safety control and monitoring system.
A collaborative development project between two UK-based companies has resulted in a
much safer working environment for operators of a hand-fed platen (die cutting) press.

Refer to the two pictures: High integrity safety solution for hand-fed platen press, based
on Pilz's PNOZmulti modular safety system.
In November 2009, machinery safety specialist Pilz Automation Technology and SCA
Display UK, a manufacturer of Point-of-Display (POD) products for retail customers,
began working together to improve the safety of a hand-fed platen press at SCA
Display's production plant in Shenstone.
Part of SCA, SCA Display UK's Shenstone plant employs around 80 staff and
manufactures a wide variety of point-of-sale and POD products, mostly custom designed
products made from cardboard. The factory uses a wide range of machinery, including
digital and silkscreen printers, die cutters, folding & gluing machines and platen presses.
Most of the die cutting uses semi-automatic presses, but one of the presses is hand-fed,
which is used for short runs and one-off customer specials.
Ian Clews, Facilities Manager at Shenstone, has been working with platen presses for
more than 30 years and SCA are members of the Confederation of Paper Industries,

where machinery safety is high on the agenda. "Quite frankly, the use of these machines
has been a concern for many years, particularly in the dwell mode. With two fatalities in
the UK in recent years, users of these machines need to review their safety systems."
"A typical hand fed platen press closes with a tremendous force, often with the operator's
body in close proximity. This means that operator safety is extremely critical. At
Shenstone we have a continual improvement policy which instigated further upgrades to
our platen press to ensure that additional operator safety measures."

HSE Safety Alerts and Inspections

Ian Clews is not alone in his views on the need to improve the safety of hand-fed platen
presses. In the UK, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has recently issued safety
alerts to users of hand-fed platen presses. It is estimated that in the UK alone, there are
between 1,000 and 2,000 such presses that require safety upgrades, mostly operated by
companies in the printing and packaging industries. Most of the high-risk machines fall
into the 1.4m to 2m-width range.
The HSE is currently considering issuing alerts to users in order to raise awareness of
the potential dangers of whole body access between the platens of these machines
when operating in the 'dwell' mode. The alerts are in response to two fatalities since
2008 in the UK, where operators were crushed between the platens as they intervened
during normal production. In both cases, the hand-fed machine was being used in the
dwell mode and the power to the platen was not isolated before the intervention occurred
and so the safety devices fitted to the machine did not prevent the platens closing on the
operator.
"During the setting process, waste removal, replacement of lay stops or mis-feed
retrieval, even with the most safety conscious operators may try to beat the dwell and
climb onto the platen press bed or lean into the machine. Whilst between the fixed and
moving platen beds the operator is not detected by any of the usual safety systems,"
explains Ian Clews.
According to the HSE, the latest hand-fed platen presses are much larger than their
predecessors and many users now use the machine's dwell mode to either give them
more production flexibility or to speed up the machine's output, as this mode can often
double the speed of operation. On most hand-fed platen presses, climbing onto the
platen from the normal operating position in front of the machine can be done without
operating the safe edge that is normally fitted to the leading edge of the lower platen.
This means that if a safe system of work is not followed, including isolating the machine,
the platen may then continue to cycle if it is being used in the dwell mode and the
protective devices will not automatically be triggered.
Further investigation by the HSE has showed that standards of guarding and working

practices on many existing, larger hand-fed platen presses need to be improved

significantly. HSE has announced that it will commence on-site inspections of hand-fed
platen presses in October 2010.
In his presentation to a group of machinery safety suppliers at the HSE's Birmingham
offices on 12th July 2010, Tim Small, HM Principal Inspector at the HSE, stated: "The
HSE deems hand-fed platen presses as high risk machines. Enforcement action will be
taken against any UK firms that aren't taking appropriate action to meet these new safety
expectations."

Employee Safety-Driven Approach

In November 2009, SCA Display UK decided to improve the safety of its hand-fed platen
press at Shenstone to better protect employees. Ian Clews contacted Pilz Automation
Technology to discuss possible safety solutions. "By this time, I had already devised
several concepts for upgrading the safety of the platen press, but needed to talk to a
machinery safety specialist supplier such as Pilz about how the solution could be
realised from a technological viewpoint. I also wanted the solution to be modular,
enabling a best option for employee protection rather than a cost option. It was critical
that we worked with a supplier that had in-depth knowledge of current machinery safety
legislation and standards, but with the ability to then apply that knowledge to developing
the most appropriate safety system for our machine," says Ian Clews
Chris Sloan (Area Sales Engineer) and Stewart Robinson (Consultant Engineer) at Pilz
Automation Technology have worked closely with Ian Clews on the platen press project
since early 2010. Chris Sloan says: "Initially we visited Shenstone to assess and analyse
the platen press and to discuss safety issues and potential solutions. SCA wanted a
working solution based on a modular safety platform that would include all the necessary
hardware and software, tailored to suit the machine."
Stewart Robinson adds: "One of Ian Clews' favoured concepts was to use an array of
light beam sensors that would monitor the side and platens in order to detect any
violation of the machine's danger zone whilst the press was closing. As far as we are
aware, the solution we've developed is the only one of its kind in the UK, where light
beam sensors are being used to monitor the area directly above the moving platen."
The overall safety solution is based on Pilz's PNOZmulti modular safety system.
PNOZmulti is multifunctional, freely configurable and is ideal for monitoring safety
functions such as Emergency-Stop, safety gates and light barriers, as well as performing
standard control functions. Rather than hard wiring, safety circuits can be generated on a
PC using PNOZmulti's intuitive configuration software. This configuration can then be

stored on a memory card and downloaded to the PNOZmulti base unit.

The solution incorporates a PNOZmulti base unit, with input and output expansion
modules to control all aspects of machine safety and control. "We wrote a functional
specification for the press, then engineered a solution based on these functional safety
requirements. We supplied all the hardware, including the light beam array and safety
controller, as well as writing all the software code for the application," states Stewart
Robinson.
The hand-fed platen press at Shenstone is fitted with a number of general purpose
safety devices such as trip bars, interlocked guards, right and left hand emergency
stops, safety mat, front safe edge, lumbar bar, safety gate key switch, left and right side
light curtain. All these devices have the same functional safety requirements, which are
to prevent all hazardous movement by ensuring that the clutch safety valve is deenergised and that the main motor is stopped, and to prevent unintended restart. The
target safety integrity level for each General Safety Function is SIL 3 (EN 62061),
equivalent to PLe according to EN ISO 13849-1.

SCA's Safety Solution

The machine now uses an array of PSENop4S light beams supplied by Pilz. As Ian
Clews explains: "We did have a few teething problems based around alignment of the
sensors, but this was down to the original machine mountings, which were not robust
enough to provide a solid foundation for the light beam sensors. We quickly resolved this
issue by developing more robust bearing mountings, which enable the sensors to be
adjusted more easily. We also developed an infra-red sighting device that simplifies the
alignment of the sensors."
The light beam array now detects a violation of the danger zone whilst the press is
closing. This is achieved by sequentially muting the laser beams as the press closes. If
any beam is broken before it has been muted, the press clutch safety valve is deenergised immediately bringing the hazardous movement to a stop. Once the final beam
has been broken (press closed) the beams remain muted until the press cam switch has
operated, signalling that the press is at the 'home' position. The muting points are
derived from the simulation of press position carried out within the PNOZmulti control
system. The application also includes checking that the press cam switch operates
correctly in each press cycle.
For further information, e-mail: v.smith@pilz.co.uk or view website: www.pilz.co.uk Refer to page 33

http://www.thejournalofindustryandtechnology.biz/page95.html

ANALISA
penggunaan mesin hand-fed platen press berisiko tinggi perlu memastikan bahwa mereka memenuhi
standar keamanan yang diperlukan
Dengan bekerja sama,kedua perusahaan yaitu With the Health & Safety Executive telah
mengembangkan suatu perubahan yaitu solusi baru dari hand-fed platen press, yang menggunakan
sebuah sensor sinar array dan modular safety control dan monitoring system. Ini bertujuan agar
terciptanya lingkungan kerja yang lebih aman
SCA Display UK's mempekerjakan sekitar 80 staf dan memproduksi bermacam-macam produk dan
produk POD, terutama produk yang dirancang khusus terbuat dari karton. Pabrik ini menggunakan
berbagai mesin, termasuk digital dan silkscreen printers, die cutters, folding & gluing machines and
platen presses. Sebagian dari die cutting menggunakan semi-otomatis presses, tapi salah satu
penekanan adalah hand-fed. Sebuah hand fed platen press memiliki kekuatan yang luar biasa. Ini
berarti bahwa keselamatan operator adalah sesuatu yang sangat penting.
HSE Safety Alerts and Inspections
HSE saat ini sedang mempertimbangkan akan mengeluarkan peringatan kepada pengguna dalam
rangka untuk meningkatkan kesadaran akan potensi bahaya akses seluruh tubuh antara platens mesin
ini ketika beroperasi dalam keadaan 'diam'
Menurut HSE, hand-fed platen presses menekan jauh lebih besar dari para pendahulu mereka dan
banyak pengguna sekarang menggunakan mesin dwell agar lebih cepat dalam proses produksi barang
atau untuk mempercepat output mesin. Pada sebagian besar hand-fed platen presses, pelat memanjat
dari posisi operasi normal di depan mesin dapat dilakukan tanpa operasi yang aman tepi yang
biasanya dipasang ke tepi terkemuka dari pelat yang lebih rendah. Ini berarti bahwa jika sistem yang
aman dari pekerjaan yang tidak diikuti, termasuk mengisolasi mesin, pelat kemudian dapat terus siklus
jika digunakan dalam modus diam dan perangkat pelindung tidak akan secara otomatis akan dipicu.
Penyelidikan lebih lanjut oleh HSE telah menunjukkan bahwa menjaga standar dan bekerja pada
banyak praktek yang ada, hand-fed platen presses perlu ditingkatkan secara signifikan
Employee Safety-Driven Approach
Stewart Robinson mengatakan: "Salah satu konsep disukai Ian Clews 'adalah menggunakan sebuah
array sensor sinar cahaya yang akan memantau sisi dan pelat untuk mendeteksi setiap pelanggaran
zona bahaya mesin.

KESIMPULAN
penggunaan mesin hand-fed platen press berisiko tinggi perlu memastikan bahwa mereka memenuhi
standar keamanan yang diperlukan. Karena masih adanya kecelakaan yang disebabkan oleh hand-fed
platen press, sehingga dibuat lagi mesin baru dengan tujuan lebih meminimalkan kontak antara mesin

dan operator. Tetapi pada mesin tersebut masih muncul kendala karena masih harus melakukan
pengaturan, sehingga akan dikembangkan lagi dengan menggunakan sistem infra merah.