Power Press Safety Stats and Facts

FACTS

Inadequate or Ineffective safeguarding and hazardous energy control practices with power presses.

1. Guards and devices disabled to increase production, to allow the insertion of small-piece work, or to allow better viewing of the operation.
2. Two-hand trips/controls bridged or tied-down to allow initiation of the press cycle using only one hand.
3. Devices such as pullbacks or restraints improperly adjusted.
4. Controls of a single-operator press bypassed by having a coworker activate the controls while the operator positions or aligns parts in the die, or repairs or troubleshoots the press.
5. Failure to properly disable, isolate press energy sources, and lockout/tagout presses before an employee performs servicing or maintenance work.

STATS

• Statistics show that over 40 % of the accidents involving mechanical press machines are the result of poor maintenance.
• Nearly half of all work-related injuries involving mechanical power presses result in amputation, statistics compiled by OSHA. Around 60% of amputations involve a worker’s fingers or arm getting caught or compressed by a press or other machinery such as a conveyer, according to data from the B.L.S.
• Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicate that about 20,000 amputations occur each year. Between 1,600 and 2,000 (10%) of these amputations have occurred among mechanical power press operators.
• Recent statistics compiled by OSHA indicate that approximately 49% of the injuries on mechanical power presses result in an amputation.
• In 2018, 58% of the non-fatal work-related amputations in the US involved some type of machinery like a power press. The impact force of a power press that punches, shears, or forms metal can also strike, crush, or sever a body part.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration calculated that power-press accidents cause about 650 amputations per year.