Raising the Standards in Baler Safety

The modern Recycling industry is vital to America's economy and its ecology. Within these operations, automated baling machines are used to crush and compact waste materials. However, when the human element is added to the mix of machinery operation and maintenance, safety concerns become paramount.

American Baler Company, one of the oldest U.S. manufacturers of industrial balers, sets an industry standard for safety features. Like other baler manufacturers, American Baler's machinery must meet the toughest standards in the industry. These standards were developed with input from WASTEC, SWANA, ISRI, and industry safety experts — including American Baler personnel. All baler manufacturers in the U.S. should comply with these regulations, which include standards for equipment, operator, and owner.

Considering the size and power of industrial balers and the severe injury that can result from unsafe operation, American Baler's focus on safety arguably makes them the social conscience of the Recycling industry. And they take that position seriously.

Roger Williams, American Baler Company's Vice President of Sales, says, "We've always maintained that for the baler to be safe, any baler functions that can be manually controlled by the operator must be visible to the operator. We've taken care to assure that all tying operations are on the same side as the controls. This means that only one operator or maintenance person is needed for the operation and that some of the physical components of the tier will only be inside the ram for a minimum time."

To doubly insure the safety of the operator, all safety labels are prominently displayed in multiple languages. Still, American Baler is aware that written warning isn't always enough when human nature is involved.

"This is serious stuff," Williams says with authority. "Somebody, somewhere, is always going to act without thinking. They'll break every safety rule. They'll crawl around machinery where they have no business being. They'll operate machinery totally contrary to the manuals or to any warning labels. Unfortunately, that's a given. That's why everyone from the equipment OEM to the facility safety trainer has to anticipate human error and guard against it."

Early balers were equipped with a hopper door as the only means by which the material creating a jam could be removed. According to Williams, American Baler has incorporated features in its balers that will all but eliminate an operator from having to be inside the baling chamber.

"First, we have designed a unique stepped-edge shear blade that allows material to be sheared in stages versus the entire width of the shear blade," states Williams. "Second, our operating program will automatically attempt to overcome a jam by retracting and advancing the baling platen. Lastly, American Baler has an optional jam breaker feature where two cylinders working in conjunction will push excess material away from the shear blade."

If an operator is required to be in the baling chamber, a specially keyed hopper door safety switch prevents any possibility that the baler might start while the operator is within the baling chamber. According to Williams, "It's an incredibly simple safety solution: open the hopper door and all baler operations are automatically shut down." However, this safety feature is not intended to replace the OSHA requirement of lock out, tag out.

"We have to prove our commitment again every day," Williams said. "Every time someone starts up one of our balers, our reputation is on the line. But more than that, people working as operators are on the line, too. We need for those operators to know we're not the 'other side' of the safety issue. We're on the same side they're on. They're using our machinery, and they have to trust us to make it as safe as we possibly can for them to do their jobs. Their lives could depend on that trust." Williams pauses, and then says decisively, "No, we aren't the other side; the other side is a lack of concern for basic safety. Lack of concern is their enemy and ours."