2nd Quarter 2015

Retail Safety Solutions

Inside this issue
Baler and Compactor Safety

2nd Quarter 2015 Baler and Compactor

Safety for Retail and Wholesale Businesses

Operating

William Cooper, Sr. Risk Engineering Consultant

Modes

Current

Standards

Lockout

/Tagout

Machine

Guarding

Common
Training

Balers and Compactors may be useful recycling tools, but

with them comes the potential for serious injury.

Hazards

and Protection

Baling and compacting

equipment reduce large
amounts of solid waste
into smaller units by
using powered rams."

Introduction
Baling and compacting equipment reduce
large amounts of solid waste into smaller
units by using powered rams. Balers are
used by retail stores to compress paper
and cardboard into a bale (bound or
unbound) that can be transported as a unit
to a recycler. Compactors compress a wide
variety of refuse materials in a limited
access container, excluding hazardous
materials and contaminated material.
Baling and compacting equipment come in
many sizes and types. The machines have
one or more rams for compressing the
materials. The rams can move vertically or
horizontally. Some types of equipment
allow direct access to the compression
chamber, while others use hoppers or

chutes. Retail and wholesale business

typically access these machines intermittently
to load the chamber until it is full and
then compress it.

Operating Modes
Balers and compactors can have multiple
operating modes. Typically these modes
are; manual, semi-automatic, or automatic.
In the manual mode a worker controls the
ram motion. The semi-automatic mode, a
worker will initiate the compression, after
which the machine automatically
completes the cycle. The automatic mode
is controlled by a sensor inside the
compression chamber that signals when
the chamber is full and activates the
compression cycle.

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2nd Quarter 2015

The NIOSH Fatality Assessment and

Control Evaluation (FACE) Program has
conducted fatality investigations of
selected types of incidents since 1982.
Incident types include electrocutions, falls
from elevation, machine-related, and
confined-space-related fatalities. The
goal of the FACE Program is to prevent
occupational fatalities by identifying and
investigating work situations that involve
high risk for worker injury and formulating
and disseminating prevention strategies.
During 19922002, FACE received 20
reports of compactor-related fatalities. All
of the fatally injured workers were males
whose ages ranged from 16 to 72 and
were either caught in or crushed by
the machine.
In-depth investigations were conducted for
13 of these cases in which the victim was
crushed in the compacting chamber or
suffered amputation from being caught
between the ram and the compacting
chamber walls.
In all cases, the fatally injured worker
either reached or fell into the
compression chamber.
One or more additional risks were also
present in each case.
In five of the cases, the victim had been
in the process of clearing jammed
material from the machine just
before the injury.
In six of the cases, the machine cycled
automatically when the victim entered
the compacting chamber.
In three of the cases, coworkers
activated the machine without knowing
that a worker was inside the
compacting chamber.
Two of the cases, the fatally injured
worker was attempting to retrieve
material from the machine.

Current Standards
OSHA currently has no specific standard
for compacting and baling equipment.
However, other OSHA standards could
apply such as Control of Hazardous Energy
Sources (Lockout / Tagout) (29 CFR
1910.147) Ref 1, Machine Guarding (CFR
1910.212) Ref 2, Confined Space Entry (29
CFR 1910.146), OSHA Publication 3170
Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting
works from Amputations Ref 3, and
usage of the General Duty Clause.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
governs the employment of workers under
18. Regulations issued under the FLSA
prohibit minors under age 18, from
servicing, loading, operating, unloading, or
assisting in the operation of compacting
equipment. For more information see the
"Protecting Adolescent Workers"
section below.
American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) Ref 5, 6 publishes voluntary
standards addressing safety requirements
for compactors and balers. These
standards were last revised in 1997.
Stationary compactor safety requirements
are addressed in ANSI Z245.2 1997,
and baling equipment is addressed in ANSI
Z245.5 1997. The key points of the
ANSI standards are as follows:
Employers shall provide workers with
instruction and training in safe work
methods before assigning them to
operate, clean, service, maintain, or
repair the equipment.
The worker shall be responsible for using
the safety features on the compactor
or baler.
The worker shall ensure that all persons
are clear of the point of operation
before starting up the machine or a
compaction cycle.

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Whenever clearing a jam,

performing maintenance,
or repairing a compactor
or baler, the machine
should be de-energized
and OHSAs lockout/
tagout procedures
should be followed."

The employer shall inspect safety

interlocks, switches, and other protective
devices to ensure that they are not
disabled or bypassed. The employer shall
not permit operation of the baler unless
these devices are fully functional.
Based on the potential for serious injury
or death, coupled with power and
compressing capabilities of this machinery,
specific training, machine guarding, and
work practices and procedures, including
protection of workers under the age of
18 should be developed.
NIOSH recommends that employers take
the following procedures to protect
workers from injury:

Lockout / Tagout
Because ram motion ceases during a jam,
workers may not recognize that the
machine remains operational and the ram
could activate inadvertently unless the
power supply for the machine is
disconnected. Whenever clearing a jam,
performing maintenance, or repairing a
compactor or baler, the machine should be
de-energized and OHSAs lockout/tagout
procedures [29 CFR 1910.147] should be
followed. At a minimum, lockout/tagout
procedures should include the
following elements:
A statement of how the procedure
will be used
Training for workers in the specific
hazards of each machine
Identification and marking of
power disconnects
The steps required to shut down,
isolate, block, and secure power to
the machines
The steps designating the safe
placement, removal, and transfer of
lockout/tagout devices and the person
who has the responsibility for them

The specific requirements for testing

machines or equipment to determine
and verify the effectiveness of locks,
tags, and other energy control measures
Notification of workers by the employer
or an authorized worker before lockout
or tagout devices are applied and before
they are removed from the machine
Additional recommendations for
developing and implementing a hazardous
energy control program are included in
NIOSH Alert: Preventing Worker Deaths
from Uncontrolled Release of Electrical,
Mechanical, and Other Types of Hazardous
Energy [NIOSH 1999] Ref 4.

Machine Guarding
Compactors and balers should be
equipped with machine guards and safety
interlocks to help prevent worker injury,
and interlocks should be designed so they
are not easily by-passed. All machines
should be equipped with safety interlock
devices that will immediately stop the
machine should a worker attempt to gain
access to a ram or the travel zone of the
ram while the machine is operating.
Currently manufactured compactors and
balers conform to ANSI standards that
specify point-of-operation guards to
prevent workers from reaching into an
operating machine and interlocked control
systems that interrupt or reverse the rams
motion if the compression chamber doors
are opened. However, guards and
interlocks may be deliberately bypassed
or may not be present on some
older machines.
ANSI Z245.2, and Z245.5, and 29 CFR
1910.212 provide information about
machine guarding. These standards also
provide information about modification
of older equipment to improve safety.

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Common Hazards
A common hazard for balers and
compactors is having the control panel
unlocked / open and accessible to workers
loading the equipment. The electrical
equipment inside the control panel is
considered "high voltage". If a person
were to contact any electrical components
inside the panel, serious injury or death
could occur. Control panels should be kept
locked. Control panel access should be
restricted to qualified maintenance
personnel or manufacturer service
technicians only.
Another common hazard is stuffing
cardboard or paper into the "safety
interlock" switch. This situation can be
detected if the hydraulic cylinder and
compression plate are moving and the
protective gate (screen) is in the up
position. Crushing injuries leading to
serious or fatal injuries can occur.
Damaging or altering the "safety interlock"
switch is a violation of the OSHA Machine
Guarding standard (CFR 1910.212).
Jams are common occurrences in
compacting and baling machines.
Employers should implement standard
procedures for dealing safely with common
events such as material jams. Employers
should train their workers in safe work
procedures (Equipment shutdown and
Lockout / Tagout procedures) and strictly
enforce compliance.
Fatalities have occurred when machines
were activated while the operator was
unaware that a coworker was inside the
compacting chamber. Employers should
establish procedures requiring machine
operators to account for the location of
coworkers before activating compactor or
baler rams. Utilizing a Lockout/Tagout
procedure incorporating the use of lock(s)

on the main control panel for either the

baler or compactor, a tag attached to the
lock indicating the reason the equipment is
shutdown or out of service. If a person has
entered the baler or compactor for any
reason, a designated employee or service
contractor should standby the control
panel to make other workers in the area
aware there is a person inside the
machine, and the machine is out
of service.

Training
Employers should train workers to
recognize the hazards of operating or
working near compactors and balers.
Procedures and safe work practices
addressing problems that may develop
during machine operation should be
developed and implemented. At a
minimum, training should include the
following elements:
A description and identification of the
hazards associated with particular
machines. Baler and Compactor
Manufacturer operating instructions can
assist you in identifying the hazards
The safeguards themselves, a description
of how they provide protection, and a
list of the hazards for which they are
intended
Instructions for using the safeguards
Instructions for removing the safeguards
(these should include the circumstances
under which they can be removed and
the persons who can remove them in
most cases, repair and maintenance
personnel only)
What to do (e.g., contact the supervisor)
if a safeguard is damaged, missing, or
unable to provide adequate protection

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Protecting Adolescent Workers

Employers should not

assign workers under age
of 18 to service, load,
operate, or assist in the
operation of compacting
or baling equipment."

under the age of 18 from operating

equipment should be posted on the front
Employers should not assign workers under
of the baler and compactor. Signs should
age of 18 to service, load, operate, or
be in both English and Spanish.
assist in the operation of compacting or
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Ref 8
baling equipment. For cases in which the
governs the employment of workers under
Compactors and Balers Safety Standard
the age of 18. Regulations issued under
Modernization Act applies, employers
the FLSA prohibit minors under 18, from
should comply with all provisions of the
servicing, loading, operating, unloading, or
Act including ensuring that the
assisting in the operation of compacting
compacting or baling equipment meets
equipment. These prohibitions are
specified safety standards and that young
currently specified under Hazardous
workers are limited to loading materials
Occupations Order No. 12 (Power-Driven
into de-energized equipment. When
Paper Products Machine Occupations
training young workers on their job and
DOL 2001). The FLSA provides limited
work procedures, employers and
exemption that allows workers aged 16-17
supervisors should explicitly note
to load only (place materials in) but not to
restrictions on having young workers load
operate, or unload materials from balers
and operate compacting or baling
equipment. All workers in the work setting and compactors that meet ANSI Z245.5should be aware of any workers under age 1990 Standard for Baling Equipment and
18 and be similarly trained so that they do ANSI Z245.2 1992 Standard for
Compactors. Employers who allow workers
not assign them to work with compactors
aged 16 to 17 to load a baler or compactor
or balers and can notify the employer or
must post a notice that the machine meets
supervisor should violations of the policy
occur. Warning signs prohibiting employees the ANSI standards.

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References
OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910.147 "Lockout Tagout"
OSHA 29 CFR Part 1910.212 "Machine Guarding"
OSHA Publication 3170 - "Safeguarding Equipment and Protecting
Workers from Amputations"
NIOSH Publication No. 2003-124 "Preventing Death and Injuries while
Compacting or Baling Refuse Material"
ANSI Z245.5-1990 - Standard for Baling Equipment
ANSI Z245.2 1992 - Standard for Compactors
FLSA Compactors and Balers Safety Standard Modernization Act of 1996,
Public Law 104-174

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800 382 2150 www.zurichna.com

The Zurich Services Corporation

Risk Engineering
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