Program Purpose
The UC Merced Machine Guarding and Shop Safety Program provides information and outlines safety requirements, as mandated by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA), for identifying and guarding hazardous locations on machines and equipment used by UC Merced employees, students and contractors in carrying out their work duties.
It assigns responsibilities for ensuring machine/equipment safety through hazard identification and evaluation, safeguarding, training, maintenance and operation of all kinds of machinery and equipment. This program works in conjunction with other EH&S programs, such as Confined Space, Aerial Lift and Elevating Work, etc.
Program Applicability/Scope
This program applies to anyone who operates UC Merced-owned machines or equipment, and/or research equipment developed and used on university property, regardless of their affiliation to the university. Additionally, this program extends to all machines and equipment used in education, research, operations and maintenance activities, whether the equipment was purchased turnkey or designed/built by UC Merced affiliates.
Additional Resources
- Safety and Health Topics: Machine Guarding (OSHA)
- Machine Guarding eTool (OSHA)
- Principles of Machine Guarding (Cal/OSHA)
- The Five Most Common Ways of Machine Guarding (Cal/OSHA)
