(A) Scope.
The purpose of these safety requirements is to provide reasonable safety for life, limb, and health of employees.
These specific requirements supplement those of Chapter 4123:1-5 of the Administrative Code and are minimum requirements of an employer for the protection of such employer's employees and no others and apply to the rubber and plastic industries where crude, synthetic, or reclaimed rubber or plastics are processed.
Equipment used in the laboratory varies greatly from manufacturing equipment in size, speed, and height and is specifically excepted from the detailed provisions of these rules; however, equivalent protection shall be provided.
Installations or constructions built or contracted for prior to the effective date of any specification are deemed to comply with the provisions of these rules if such installations or constructions comply either with the provisions of the current rules or with the provisions of any applicable rule which was in effect at the time contracted for or built.
(B) Definitions.
(1) "Approved" means accepted or certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as "UL Solutions," "FM Approvals," or a responsible governmental agency.
(2) "Bite" or "nip point" means the point of meeting between any two in-running rolls.
(3) "Calender" means a machine equipped with two or more heavy internally heated or cooled rolls revolving in opposite directions and used for continuously sheeting or plying up rubber or plastic compounds and for frictioning or coating fabric with rubber or plastic compounds.
(4) "Danger zone" means the point of operation where a known critical hazard exists.
(5) "Factor of safety" means the ratio between the ultimate breaking stress and the working stress of the material, structure, or device. For example, the term "factor of safety of four" means that the material, structure, or device is constructed of such strength that the maximum load will be one-fourth the designed ultimate breaking load. Where other factors of safety appear, they will apply in the same manner. The standards of the "American Society for Testing Materials" will be used in determining the strength of material except as otherwise provided herein.
(6) "Guard" means the covering, fencing, railing, or enclosure which shields an object from accidental contact.
(7) "Guarded" means that the object is covered, fenced, railed, enclosed, or otherwise shielded from accidental contact.
(8) "Mill" means a machine consisting of two adjacent, heavy rolls, set horizontally, which revolve in opposite directions, i.e., toward each other as viewed from above, used for the mechanical working of rubber or plastic.
(9) "Operator" means any employee assigned or authorized to work at the specific equipment.
(10) "Pinch point" or "shear point" means any point at which it is possible to be caught between the moving parts of a machine, or between the moving and stationary parts of a machine, or between the material and the moving parts of a machine.
(11) "Point of operation" means the point at which the material is placed in or removed from the machine.
(12) "Securely fastened" means that the object or thing referred to is substantially fixed in place.
(13) "Safety trip" means a device for stopping the travel of rolls when the device is actuated in an emergency.
(14) "Shall" is to be construed as mandatory.
(15) "Substantial" means construction of such strength, of such materials, and of such workmanship that the object will withstand the wear, usage, or shock for which it is designed.
Last updated February 3, 2025 at 8:36 AM