Automatic power interruption on woodworking machinery

March 12, 1984

Mr. Walther R. Leuschner
American Solenoid Company, Inc.
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Leuschner:

This is in response to your letter of February 13 to Mr. Donald Shay in which you requested our opinion as to the conformance of the Blue Line PFR/Power Failure Release Option with applicable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.

The performance specification of 29 CFR 1910.213(b)(3) requires that woodworking machines be equipped with automatic power interrupters to avert hazardous employee exposures resulting from equipment restart when power is restored. It appears that the product offered by your company permits compliance with this OSHA standard, but whether or not your product would fully meet the conditions as stated in 29 CFR 1910.213 would depend upon its application.

Alteration or misapplication of an otherwise safe piece of equipment could create a hazardous condition beyond the control of the manufacturer. Therefore, compliance with our standards can only be determined when related to the specific circumstances of its use.

A further OSHA requirement pertaining to protection from the hazards of equipment restart after power interruption can be found in 29 CFR 1910.217(b)(8)(iii). In addition to OSHA requirements pertaining to power interruption protection, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recommends such protection for most machine tools specified by the ANSI Bill series of documents. ANSI may be contacted at:

American National Standards Institute, Inc.
1430 Broadway
New York, New York
10018 Telephone: 212-354-3364

If we may be of further assistance, please contact us.

Sincerely,
John B. Miles, Jr., Director
Directorate of Field Operations