American Society of Safety Professionals is your source for insights on trends in the safety profession, including developments in safety management, worker safety, government and regulatory affairs and standards.
Machine guarding is an essential safety measure that protects employees from machinery-related injuries and flying objects and sparks. OSHA lists inadequate machine guarding as one of its most frequently cited violations. The ANSI B11 standards and ANSI registered technical reports include nearly 35 documents that deal with machine/machinery/machine tool safety, and they specify requirements for both the manufacturers (suppliers) and machine users. While ASSP is not the secretariat of the B11 Committee, the Society sells the standards under an agreement with the committee.
Anne Mathias and Ted Sberna represent ASSP on the committee, which met Feb. 11-12, 2025, in Tampa, FL. They shared several key updates on issues before the committee:
- The following standards are under active revision and hope to be balloted in 2025:
- B11.1-2009 (R20), Mechanical Power Presses
- B11.2-2013 (R20), Hydraulic & Pneumatic Power Presses
- B11.4-2003 (R20), Shears; B11.16-2014 (R20) Powder/Metal Compacting Presses
- B11.5-1988 (R20), Ironworkers
- B11.18-2006 (R20), Machines Processing or Slitting Coiled or Non-Coiled Metal
- Four standards are up for revision:
- B11.6-2022, Manual Turning Machines (Lathes) With or Without Auto Control
- B11.22-2002 (R20), Turning Centers and Auto. Num. Controlled Turning Machines
- B11.8-2021, Manual Milling, Drilling and Boring Machines
- B11.23-2002 (R20), Machining Centers and CNC Milling, Drilling and Boring Machines
- Interested parties who build or use lathes and mills are invited to join the subcommittee(s). This group will also assess whether combining several of these standards is appropriate. Please send an email to Dave Felinski at dfelinski@b11standards.org if interested.
- The committee reaffirmed these documents with no changes:
- B11.7-2020, Cold Headers and Cold Formers
- B11.13-2020, Single and Multiple-Spindle Automatic Bar and Chucking Machines
- B11.TR5-2006 (R17), Noise Measurement
- The committee withdrew one technical report:
- B11.TR4-2004 (R15), Selection of Programmable Electronic Systems
Two organizations are no longer on the committee — Presence Sensing Device Manufacturers Association (disbanded) and General Motors — and Banner Engineering was approved to join.