edbraskem
Member
- Location
- wilmington, de, usa
I am being asked to put a plastic hinged cover over an E-Stop, is this permitted?
E-Stop Cover
- Thread starter edbraskem
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
I have seen clear plastic covers over E-stops on escalators in public places.
For machinery, it would be some code other than the NEC, I think.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
It is a pretty common thing to do. Keeps the estop from being tripped unintentionally.
Nom Deplume
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
STI has everything you need.
http://www.sti-usa.com
http://www.sti-usa.com
Timbert
Member
- Location
- Makawao, Hawaii
:thumbsdown:Not permissible per NFPA 79.
So, you can't put a plastic cover over it. But this doesn't mean you can't prevent accidental operation. You just need to find a device that does not inhibit access like a cover or close fitting ring or shroud does. You don't mention application but consider what PPE the operator might be wearing.
You should be able to actuate it using just the palm of one hand. If you can't, the guard is probably too restrictive.
And yes I have seen plastic covers used on emergency stop pushbuttons all the time, it doesn't mean it is correct.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
Who is asking for that, why do they say they want it, and are they qualified to make safety decisions?
Was a safety evaluation done?
What kind of machine or process is it?
What is the working environment?
The point is, there are numerous directions you could go with this, depending on the details, but you should be careful about implementing something like that without checking. OSHA requires that facilities have a safety plan, it is reviewed annually, that employees are instructed in it on a regular basis, and that things related to it are documented up the ying yang. Then if God forbid there is an accident, managers who made safety related decisions that turned out to be at fault, or FAILED to even implement a safety program, can be held criminally responsible. So if you are in any way associated with management, keep that in mind. And save all documents.
Was a safety evaluation done?
What kind of machine or process is it?
What is the working environment?
The point is, there are numerous directions you could go with this, depending on the details, but you should be careful about implementing something like that without checking. OSHA requires that facilities have a safety plan, it is reviewed annually, that employees are instructed in it on a regular basis, and that things related to it are documented up the ying yang. Then if God forbid there is an accident, managers who made safety related decisions that turned out to be at fault, or FAILED to even implement a safety program, can be held criminally responsible. So if you are in any way associated with management, keep that in mind. And save all documents.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
a lot depends on what it is for. an estop located in a busy aisle way that is supposed to shutdown an adjacent conveyor is a different situation than one on a machine of some sort.
in any case, a review of why the estop is there in the first place and what the effects of putting a guard over it might be is probably in order.
presumably, the reason someone might want to put a guard over an estop is to reduce the chances of inadvertent activation. often, you can do that by relocating the estop or other means that do not involve making the estop hard to get at.
in any case, a review of why the estop is there in the first place and what the effects of putting a guard over it might be is probably in order.
presumably, the reason someone might want to put a guard over an estop is to reduce the chances of inadvertent activation. often, you can do that by relocating the estop or other means that do not involve making the estop hard to get at.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
Is this really an E-Stop or is it just a button that turns off a machine or process?
Basically one type of E-Stop (Level 0?) should bring the machine to a screeching halt (maybe even breaking things) another type of E-Stop (level 1?) brings the machine to a controlled stop. There is even an E-stop in name only, it really is nothing more than a normal stop function but it has a mushroom head.
I would try to follow the guidelines in NFPA79.
- Status