ANSI, SPI Revise Plastics Machinery Safety Standards

Plastics Business

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have published revised American National Standards and a new American National Standard on plastics machinery safety.

ANSI/SPI B151.31-2014 Safety Requirements for the Manufacture and Care of Blow Molding Machines is a newly created standard that addresses the safety requirements for both extrusion and injection blow molding machines. It replaces two separate standards, ANSI/SPI B151.15-2003 and ANSI/SPI B151.21-2003, both of which have now been formally withdrawn as American National Standards.

The two revised American National Standards are ANSI/SPI B151.7-2014 Safety Requirements for Extrusion Machines and ANSI/SPI B151.29-2014 Safety Requirements for Vertical Clamp Injection Molding Machines. The purpose of the standards is to help machine manufacturers and machine users identify and address known hazards to personnel working on or adjacent to these machines.

Substantive changes to the standards include:

• Requires documented risk assessments from both the manufacturer and user
• Added additional definitions harmonized and standardized within the SPI portfolio of standards
• Incorporates advances in safety-related controls, mechanisms and practices
• Provides extensive references in Annexes for recommended safety procedures and circuits
• Requires that existing machines meet safety requirements, methods and signage of the 2014 Standard

To assist in the interpretation of these requirements in all standards, responsibilities have been assigned to the supplier, the remanufacturer, the modifier and the user.

Other SPI/ANSI Standards address the safety requirements for horizontal injection molding machines, plastics sheet production machinery and the integration of robots with injection molding machines.

These newly revised standards are among several that SPI and ANSI have updated in the last year. To obtain the revised standards or any of the SPI/ANSI plastics machinery safety standards, please visit www.plasticsindustry.org or www.ansi.org.