Safety
The safety requirements for other powered metalworking shears are contained in ANSI B11.4, but alligator shears are specifically excepted from that standard. Federal OSHA and various state OSHA programs have requirements for guarding alligator shears, and newly-manufactured alligator shears are provided with guards that adjust to the size of the stock or scrap being cut. The purpose of this guard, however, is to prevent pieces of metal from being ejected during cutting. Such a guard also prevents inadvertent exposure of the operator's hands, but does not conform to more stringent 'point of operation' guarding requirements.
In an interpretive letter dated June 24, 1981, Federal OSHA discussed the guarding dilemma presented by the alligator shear.
In instances where the shear is exclusively used for routine cuts on standardized stock, safeguarding of the point of operation is definable. In other instances, the operator is safeguarded from exposure to the point of operation by the physical size and configuration of the material being cut.
These practical considerations for guarding are not exclusive to alligator shears. A much more common type of equipment, the press brake, also requires point of operation guarding when used with standardized stock, but not with large-dimension stock.
Read more about this topic: Alligator Shear
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