When employees began bypassing the safety device around a paper slitter, Great Northern Corp's Laminations Div realized it faced a major safety issue. Located in Appleton, WI, the facility manufactures VBoard™ edge protectors that are used in the packaging industry.

The company had installed a photoeye/light guard in front of the slitter that was designed to stop the machine when the beam of light was broken. However, employees were easily bypassing the photoeye by reaching around the light sensor.

On learning of this potential hazard, the plant's Safety Committee quickly began researching safer alternatives, using the Internet and speaking with neighboring facilities to learn how other firms were protecting their employees from similar hazards. Laminations also faced an OSHA requirement that the photoeye light beams be placed 25 ft away from the machine: because the slitter takes five seconds to come to an emergency stop, ample reaction time was required to stop the machine before an employee could reach the slitter. However, maintaining 25 ft of clear space in front of the machine was neither practical nor efficient.

After an extensive research process, the Safety Committee concluded that Laminations would need a solid barrier rather than a light beam to make the machine completely safe. The group contacted Frommelt Safety Products, a division of Rite-Hite Corp. Frommelt quickly assessed the situation, and recommended the Flash-Fold™ Automated Barrier Door.

The Flash-Fold barrier proved to be the ideal solution. The barrier moves into position from the ground up, accommodating loading of paper spools into the machine by overhead crane. The Flash-Fold door opens quickly and brings the paper slitter to a slow jog when it is open. This allows the operator to make necessary adjustments to the spool of paper without jeopardizing safety. The safety barrier remains in place while the slitter is in operation, to prevent unsafe access to the operating machine, yet is automated to open and allow proper loading, unloading, and adjustments.

Frommelt Safety further accommodated Laminations by supplying a customized pit-mounted installation that ultimately provides easier access to the paper slitter. The Flash-Fold's low profile design is mounted directly in front of the paper slitter, saving the valuable 25 ft of floor space that would be lost if using photoeyes.

As an added safety measure, Laminations also installed Frommelt Safety Products' Robo-Guard™ Fencing around the exposed perimeter of the paper slitter. The Robo-Guard is a fixed fencing solution that prevents access to the paper slitter through the areas not protected by the Flash-Fold. The combination of Flash-Fold and Robo-Guard provides complete protection around the entire machine perimeter, helping the paper slitter run both safely and efficiently.