No matter how much our technology advances nothing is more important than safety. Safety is number one in the industrial automation industry. As we rely more and more on automated systems for our plant and equipment installations we must understand and implement a rock-solid safety strategy. This paper will explain the ins and outs of safety in automated plant installation. We will be shedding light on some of the newest strategies and what our industry must do to keep workers safe.
“Risk assessment and planning:
One of the first steps that should be taken before installing any type of automated system is a thorough risk assessment. This involves investigating the potential risks that are involved with installing that system, understanding the implications of those risks, and determining how the risks may be reduced. Your risk assessment should include all aspects of risk including mechanical, electrical, and the potential of any software malfunctions.”
Design for Safety:
Safety should be incorporated as an essential part in designing of an automated system. In the circumstances of automation safety should include emergency stop buttons, guards, and sensors to detect when humans are in place, as well the design should take in consideration automated equipment need to operate safely within a confined space without causing harm to human employees.
Furthermore, the software governing automated equipment must be programmed in a way where safety is a priority. This includes developing software with fail-safes and redundancies to be able to handle potential errors or situations that were not anticipated. Additionally, safety protocols must also be integrated in the software to ensure the system is never placed in an unsafe operating state.
Checking things time to time is very important because that way you can be sure that everything is working how it should. For automated systems, it is very important to have these systems checked. Saying that, it is very important for automated systems to have maintenance and inspection because this is what...
Training and Education:
Train your employees how to safely operate automated equipment, make sure they know about the dangers involved, how to work safely alongside automated machinery and what the plan is in case of an emergency.
With the growing connectivity of automated systems cybersecurity is a more important aspect of safety than ever. Protecting systems from cyber threats is essential to avoid malicious attacks that can cause harm to some form of life.
Case Studies and Success Stories These safety strategies have been successfully implemented in various industries. The automotive industry has witnessed significant decreases in accidents involving robotic equipment by using advanced safety sensors and programming. The chemical industry have statistical data through automated monitoring on hazardous conditions which gives them real time feed back for them to quickly respond to with their safety programs and policies.
In order to keep our plant safe, especially in an automated plant, we have to include safety in every aspect of automation. Starting from the design and the programming and nurture it through the life of the plant programmed. Having safety included in are automated plant is very important! Since I do work in the automated industry, I do believe that over time people will become more and more aware of safety in the automated industry if they were to fully understand what automated means and how prone they are to error if not install correctly.