Labor & Industries (L&I), Washington State

Machine Safety Chapter 296-806, WAC

Effective Date: 01/01/05

WAC 296-806-425 Food Processing Equipment

For printing

FACILITIES

WAC 296-806-42502

Provide locks on chamber doors of large air conditioning units

You must

• Make sure all door locks on air conditioning unit chambers, that are large enough for employees to enter, can be operated from both inside and outside the chamber.

WAC 296-806-42504

Use proper door locks on rack-type bread coolers

You must

• Make sure all door locks can be operated from both inside and outside the bread cooler.

WAC 296-806-42506

Provide see-through panels on fermentation room doors

You must

• Provide shatterproof, see-through panels, made of wire glass or plastic, on fermentation room doors.

WAC 296-806-42508

Cover exposed hot pipes

You must

• Cover exposed hot (160^o F or more) water and steam pipes with insulating material wherever necessary to prevent employee contact.

WAC 296-806-42510

Provide extension piping on stationary lubrication fittings

You must

• Provide extension piping on stationary lubrication fittings to prevent workers from reaching into the hazardous area when lubricating moving machinery.

WAC 296-806-42512

Provide hoods for pan washing tanks

Exemption: This requirement doesn't apply to dishwashers or sanitizers used in restaurants or retail establishments.

You must

• Provide power-ventilated exhaust hoods over the tank.

WAC 296-806-42514

Safeguard proof boxes

You must

1) Make sure all door locks can be operated from both inside and outside the proof box.

2) Provide guide rails to center the racks as they enter, pass through, and leave the proof box if pans, boards, or trays may be easily dislodged.

Note: Guide rails aren't required in proof boxes unless there are 2 doors with a pass through or pull through design.

 

WAC 296-806-42516

Safeguard storage bins

Exemption: This requirement doesn't apply to under-the-counter ingredient bins found in retail stores.

You must

1) Provide locks or latches to keep storage bin covers closed, and gaskets or other equivalent devices, to make sure covers are dust-tight.

2) Make sure employees lock covers in the open position when entering bins.

• Covers for bins that employees may enter must have a metal fastener (hasp) and lock that can be locked in the “open” position.

3) Provide a standard stationary safety ladder on the inside and outside of storage bins with sides more than 5 feet deep.

• The ends of ladders must be kept away from moving screw conveyors.
• Outside ladders must reach from floor level to the top of the bin.
• Inside ladders must reach from the top of the bin to the bottom of the bin.

4) Provide an electric interlock on the main entrance cover of large storage bins near the interior exit ladder.

• The interlock needs to prevent feed and unloading screw motors from operating while the cover is open.

Reference: You may need to follow other requirements found in chapter 296-809 WAC, Confined Spaces.

MATERIAL HANDLING

WAC 296-806-42518

Follow these design requirements for bag lifts (bag arm elevators) and chutes

You must

1) Make sure bag arm elevators with manual takeoff are designed to include:

• Maximum operating capacity of 7 bags per minute.
• Spacing of arms on the conveyor chain to obtain the full capacity of the elevator with the lowest possible chain speed.
• An electric limit switch at the unloading end that automatically stops the conveyor chain if any bag doesn't clear the conveyor arms.

2) Make sure bag chutes (gravity chutes for handling flour bags) that incline more than 30^o from horizontal:

• Are designed to keep the speed of flour bags as low as possible
• Provide an upturn at the lower end of the chute to slow down the bags

3) Prohibit the use of bag or barrel lifts as personnel lifts.

4) Prohibit manlifts in bakeries.

Definition: Manlift is a device consisting of a power driven endless belt moving in one direction only, and provided with steps or platforms and handholds attached to it for the transportation of personnel from floor to floor.

 

WAC 296-806-42520

Follow these requirements for chain tackle

You must

1) Mark all chain tackle with the maximum load capacity so the marking is:

• Prominently displayed
• Legible
• Permanent

2) Mark all chain tackle with minimum support specifications so the marking is legible and permanent.

3) Use safety hooks with chain tackle.

 

WAC 296-806-42522

Safeguard conveyors

You must

1) Install stop bumpers on all delivery ends of conveyors when products are manually removed.

2) Make sure all conveyors have “stop” buttons at all operating stations.

3) Provide emergency stop bars or switches at any point where both of these exist:

• The conveyor feeds into a machine
  and
• Pinch points or catching hazards exist

Reference: Additional requirements for conveyors are found in WAC 296-806-420.

 

WAC 296-806-42524

Use properly designed covers for screw conveyors (augers)

Exemption: This requirement doesn't apply to screw conveyors where there are drop or hinged bottom sections that can't remain airtight.

You must

• Design covers for screw conveyors that are:
  • – Removable in convenient sections
  • – Held in place with stationary clamps
• Locate stationary clamps at intervals that will keep all covers dust tight.

WAC 296-806-42526

Safeguard pallet jacks and hand trucks

You must

1) Make sure motorized and non-motorized pallet jacks have a lock or other device that holds the handle in the vertical position when the hand truck isn't in use.

2) Make sure hand truck casters are set back from corners:

• Locate them back from corners so they don't present a hazard to employee’s toes and heels, but not close enough to cause the hand truck to become unstable.

Reference: Motorized hand trucks (pallet jacks) are classified as powered industrial trucks. Additional requirements for powered industrial trucks are found in Chapter 296-863 WAC.

 

SPECIFIC FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT

WAC 296-806-42528

Safeguard bakery slicers

You must

1) Provide all slicers with a mechanical device to push the last loaf through the slicer knives.

2) Equip all slicers with an interlock to de-energize the motor whenever a door, panel, or other point of access to the cutting blades is open.

3) Protect employees sharpening blades by installing a barrier guard that provides an opening large enough for the sharpening stone to reach and sharpen slicer blades.

4) Provide automatic braking to stop slicers with endless band knives when the motor isn't energized.

 

WAC 296-806-42530

Safeguard bakery wrapping machines

You must

1) Extend or locate mechanical control levers that start and stop slicing machine conveyors and wrapping machines so an operator can control both machines from either location.

Note: The levers should be provided wherever necessary, but arranged so only one station can start the wrapping machine and conveyor assembly. – Set up or guard controls to prevent accidental starting. The electronic control station for starting and stopping the electric motor that drives the wrapping machine and conveyor should be near the clutch-starting lever.

You must

2) Provide a protective cover plate over electric heaters on bakery wrapping machines.

• The cover plate must be properly separated or insulated from heaters so the plate itself isn't a burn hazard to operators.

WAC 296-806-42532

Provide troughs with antifriction-bearing casters

You must

• Provide antifriction-bearing casters on troughs so operators can move and direct them with minimal effort.

WAC 296-806-42534

Follow these requirements for trough hoists and similar equipment

You must

1) Mark all hoists and similar equipment with the maximum loading capacity so the marking is:

• Prominently displayed
• Legible
• Permanent

2) Mark all hoists with minimum support specifications so that the marking is legible and permanent.

3) Provide safety catches for the chain so that it will hold the load in any position.

4) Use safety hooks with hoists.

 

WAC 296-806-42536

Follow these requirements for dividers

You must

• Enclose or safeguard the moving parts in the back of the divider with all of the following:
  • – A complete cover to enclose all moving parts or an enclosure or guard for each individual part to remove separate hazards.
  • – A limit switch to shut off the machine when the rear cover is open.
  • – A hinged guard on the back that can't be completely removed.
• If a catch or brace is provided for holding the cover open, make sure it won't release due to vibrations or minor bumping, causing the cover to drop on an employee.

Note: Dividers as discussed in this section utilize pistons, knives and blades to cut and divide large quantities of dough. This doesn't apply to small vibrating or oscillating rounders.

WAC 296-806-42538

Safeguard manually-fed dough and cross-roll brakes

You must

1) Guard the top roll with a heavy-gage metal shield that extends over the roll to within 6 inches of the hopper bottom board.

Note: The shield may be perforated to allow observation of the dough entering the rolls.

You must

2) Provide an emergency “stop” bar that includes a self-engaging brake.

• Locate it so that if the operator falls forward or gets their hands caught in the rolls, their body will press against the bar, causing the rolls to stop instantly by opening the circuit to:
• – De-energize the drive motor
• – Activate a spring-set magnetic brake
• Activate the emergency “stop” bar before each shift to make sure it's functioning properly.

WAC 296-806-42540

Provide a guard or tripping device on reversible dough brakes

You must

• Provide a guard or tripping device on each side of the rolls of reversible dough brakes.
  • – The guard or device must be designed so that it stops the machine or reverses the direction of the rolls, if moved by the operator.

WAC 296-806-42542

Follow these requirements for doughnut machines

You must

• Provide separate flues for venting both of the following:
  • – Vapors from the frying section
    and
  • – Products of combustion from the combustion chamber used to heat the fat.

WAC 296-806-42544

Follow these requirements for dumpbins and blenders

Definition: Dumpbin and blender is the part of the flour handling system where the containers of flour are emptied.

You must

1) Make sure dumpbin and blender hoods are large enough to prevent circulation of flour dust outside the hoods.

2) Provide a stop control device for dumpbins and blenders located close to the operator’s work station.

3) Position dumpbins at an appropriate height from the floor so that operators can dump flour from bags without excessive strain or fatigue.

4) Provide a bag rest stop, when the edge of a dumpbin is more than 24 inches above the floor.

 

WAC 296-806-42546

Follow these requirements for flour-handling machines

You must

• Make sure the following safeguards are used when flour-handling systems are run in electrical unity with one another:
  • – When the beginning of the system is located far from its final delivery end, make sure:
    • All electric motors operating the system have one control at each end
      and
    • Either control will stop all motors
  • – Arrange control circuits for magnetic controllers so opening any limit switch on an individual unit will de-energize all motors on that unit.

-Continued-