Soundproofing is the process of reducing unwanted noise and noise pollution, and in preventing noise from entering or leaving specific areas.
Soundproofing materials and products act as silencers, mufflers and insulation, absorbing the excess sound level in rooms, chambers and around pieces of equipment in order to create quieter environments for the purposes of worker safety, product testing, audio mixing and research etc.
Machine guards are mechanisms that act as safety barriers between workers and machines used in factories, manufacturing facilities, warehouses and plants.
In addition, machine guards control traffic, keeps vehicles out of certain areas and contain flying debris.
Almost all machines need safety guards. Any type of machine that shears or impacts, has meshing gears, rotating parts, reciprocating arms, cutting teeth or moving belts, or has the potential to be hazardous must have a safety barrier of some kind.
Presses, milling machines, automated assembly line machinery, roll form machines, robotics, saws and feeders, among others, have potentially dangerous components that require a machine guard to operate safely. Machine safeguards are crucial to these types of machines because they prevent crushed fingers or hands, loss of limbs, burning, blindness, or death. More and more often, machines are manufactured with integral machine guards, but some need to be analyzed before the proper user-built guard can be installed on the point of operation. Robots also need proper machine guarding.
One of the problems in the operation of equipment in the aerospace and aircraft industries is vibrations that can loosen fasteners, which can be a severe safety hazard.
Although fasteners may be mechanically tightened to ensure they are held in place, there is always, especially with the stress that aircraft has to endure, the chance of a connector coming loose.
The first attempts to prevent the loosening of fasteners was the installation of safety wires. Several problems arose from this method, which included the wires breaking or being unable to keep the fasteners secure enough to stop them from loosening. The wires had to be constantly inspected and changed multiple times causing delays and unnecessary repairs.