How To Keep Your Operators Safe and Reduce Costs on an Assembly Line Using Covered Fastener Drive Tools
Operator safety when performing fastening operations is becoming a growing concern in assembly plants such as large automotive plants. Numerous incidents have been reported where an operator’s glove or hair has been caught by rotating tools while driving a fastener, resulting in injuries. The costs due to such accidents can be significant and can include lost time, increase in insurance premiums and potential legal costs.
One approach that assembly plants can adopt to minimize such injuries is to promote the use of covered fastener drive tools. These covers need to allow the drive tool to spin freely inside of them, in order to significantly reduce or, in most cases, eliminate contact from the rotating tool during a fastening operation performed with gloves.