NFPA 79 lights on machines

[megloff11x]

This is a nitnoid question, but I'll ask it anyway. In NFPA 79, they note in table 10.3.2 what machine light or icon colors mean. Red - danger, Yellow - Caution, Green - All is well.

And then Blue - Mandatory action

There is no further elaboration. Is it acceptable to flash the blue light when the process is complete and it wants a new load, or should another color be used?

What do folks normally use Blue for?

Trying to be consistent.

Matt

 

[peteo]

Sorry I can't recall seeing a blue light (in a machine shop.) Perhaps it is harmonizing with some CE rule? Something new to me. My experience? An end of cycle will flash the green light, indicating 'cycle complete, ready to load new part.'

 

[jim dungar]

Because NFPA 79 is not mandatory, it is rarely applied in total. There has been a strong push by OEMs to incoporate it, but established industrial plants don't want to change.

Most installations I have seen would use a White light for this application because Blue is not very visible from a distance. NFPA79 10.3.3 suggests flashing lights to attract attention.

 

[dlhoule]

Is it acceptable to flash the blue light when the process is complete and it wants a new load, or should another color be used?

Yes, that is acceptable. I would also suggest a different color (as Jim suggested) ie. green or white.

In the end it comes down to what is asked for by the customer or what the OEM decides.

I do not know of any locality that has adopted NFPA79 as law. Some companies will try to follow it but not due to enforcement by local AHJ. It is probably better insurance wise if it is followed.

 

[todd99]

I'm sure there could be alot of interpretations of what "Mandatory Action" means. I use blue indicators on machine controls to signal that the machine needs attention, maybe not immediate attention, it's still running properly but it wants something.

At the plant I'm in now the carton coding machines they use have bottles of ink in them, when these bottles start to run out of ink a blue indicator flashes, they don't need the ink right now, but they are going to need it (they will run for about an hour). If the automatic palletizer runs out of pallets, a blue indicators flashes, alerting a forklift operator needs to load a new stack of pallets in the machine to keep it running. Incidently, the green indicator is still on during this time because the process condition is still normal. But the machine requires some attention or it will not be able to continue to operate in a normal process. Therefore it requires mandatory action.

Todd