It’s a common process in the manufacturing industry: Mechanical power presses exert mechanical force to cut or shape material using tools or dies attached to moving equipment.
Yet, from a safety standpoint, “there are many potential concerns,” says Jeff Frederick, a safety professional in the automotive manufacturing sector.
“You’re talking about large equipment with a broad footprint that expends a high amount of energy associated with its processes,” Frederick said. “Additionally, you’re talking about all of the various other components that work within that system.”
So, how can workers stay safe?
We talked with Frederick and other experts to identify six key elements of mechanical power press safety.
1- Follow piece by piece
Presses typically are made up of a frame, mechanical parts, clutches and brakes, electrical systems, tooling or dies, and safeguards.
Although power press automation has grown more widespread, experts say manual press operation remains common.
Frederick recommends looking at safe press operation through a lens of process specificity: Peeling back the layers can help “stamping operations,” as they’re frequently called, seem less complex.
For example, supervisors should first assess the hazards and controls behind loading material into the press. Next, do the same for the process behind making the parts, working with formed parts and so forth.
“When you consider those different phases,” Frederick said, “you have to be able to go through each individual process and analyze the risks that you’re going to face at an individual segment of that operation. Because they do change significantly. And who’s involved in each individual stage changes significantly.”
2- Inspect and maintain machines
OSHA emphasizes that routine inspections and maintenance are “essential” to keeping presses safe and in good working order.
This will help ensure:
- The clutch and brake mechanisms, mechanical linkages, and air counterbalances are operating and used properly.
- Air lines are free of dirt and water.
- The machine is operating at its proper speed.
“If you’re not doing a nice, full-over inspection of your presses on a regular basis, you’re probably not doing your due diligence,” said Michael Brodzik, a senior occupational safety consultant for Michigan OSHA’s Consultation Education and Training Division.
Also important: Workers and supervisors who are well-versed in maintenance protocol.
“Often, we see people getting hurt when something isn’t working right and they try to figure it out on their own, and then something goes wrong,” said Bruce Main, president of Ann Arbor, MI-based Design Safety Engineering Inc.
3- Understand regulation basics
The Department of Labor’s Fall 2024 regulatory agenda includes, for the first time in more than 40 years, a possible update to OSHA’s standard on mechanical power presses.
Released as the Biden administration drew to a close, the agenda moved an update to 1910.217 – previously listed under “long-term action” – to the pre-rule stage.
At press time, the Trump administration hadn’t released a Spring 2025 regulatory agenda. An OSHA spokesperson told Safety+Health that agency leadership currently is assessing the agenda, “and their priorities will be included” upon its release.
OSHA recognizes the American National Standards Institute standard B11.1-2009 as the industry consensus for mechanical power presses. Its most recent update came in 2020. “The B11 standard is far more current in terms of technology and means of keeping people safe,” Main said. “It doesn’t mean that the 217 standard under OSHA is wrong; it’s just that there’s better guidance available to keep workers safe in the ANSI standard.”
4- Train workers
Main considers employer-led training a “critically important piece” of mechanical power press safety.
“They need to make certain that they’ve trained their workers to understand the tasks and the hazards associated with those tasks, as well as the risk reduction measures that are in place to protect the employee so that they don’t try to bypass or defeat those,” he said.
ANSI B11.1 requires employers to:
- Train employees on safe press production system procedures.
- Ensure workers are qualified to perform the functions they’re assigned.
- Instruct all power press workers on the proper method of operation for each production setup before the system is placed into production.
- Ensure mechanical power press operators demonstrate their knowledge of the press production system.
- Instruct all die setters on the proper procedures for selecting, inspecting and installing dies appropriate to the operations.
- Ensure maintenance workers are trained on safe working procedures for inspecting and maintaining the systems.
- Ensure supervisors are trained on safe working procedures for setup, operation and maintenance of press production systems.
- Train workers, as required by assigned functions, on safe working procedures for lockout/tagout of hazardous energy sources in accordance with ANSI Z244.1.
Frederick stressed the importance of operating collaboratively within workplaces. He said numerous injuries have happened because workers “just think they’re doing the right thing” by acting to support a co-worker even though that action might be beyond their level of training and responsibility.
“It puts us in compromising positions in that way when people might not be adequately trained or experienced in what they’re trying to accomplish or the specific task they’re trying to do,” Frederick said.
5- Ensure machine guarding
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health says a lack of effective guarding and bypassing of guards are among the leading causes of power press incidents.
Operating presses without safeguards can result in amputations, broken bones and death.
“Guards between the operator and the point of operation must be designed to prevent the operator from reaching under the ram during the downward stroke,” Cal/OSHA says. “If guards are not used or not working properly, an accident is likely to occur. “Unsafe working conditions can be created if an employee attempts to bypass press guards and interlocks or reaches in to clear a part while the press is running.”
The Michigan State University Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine emphasizes equipping presses with properly designed and constructed point-of-operation guards and/or properly applied and adjusted point-of-operation protection devices. These can include light curtains, barrier guards, two-hand controls and restraints.
Brodzik references several cases in which workers attempted to reach beyond a guard or barrier to make what they said was a quick adjustment. One instance, involving a robotic welding line, resulted in a fatality. It’s vital to refrain from these behaviors and follow proper guarding protocol, Brodzik said.
6- Address pinch points
The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation says injuries involving pinch points – areas in which a worker’s body can be caught between two objects – frequently occur when machines are temporarily stopped.
The department calls on workers to practice proper lockout/tagout procedures to prevent pinches.
“Workers can follow guard policies for when the machine is running,” TDI says, “but when it’s stopped and the guard is removed, if the equipment is not deenergized, a worker is not safe.”
