Washington — The Plastics Industry Association announced Feb. 24 that its Machinery Safety Standards Committee has published the new safety standard, establishing requirements for the manufacture and use of injection molding machines: the newly revised ANSI/PLASTICS B151.1-2017.
It covers both horizontal and vertical injection molding machines, the trade association said.
Two of the most significant changes relate to replacing the mechanical drop bar, or jam bar, with a controls technology.
The Washington-based trade group has combining two previously separate standards into a single, easier-to-use standard for both horizontal and vertical types of machines. One standard instead of two will ultimately simplify the manufacturing of these machines in the U.S. The new standard also aligns well with the European and draft ISO standards on this subject, making it easier for American manufacturers to compete with their counterparts abroad, according to the association.
“As the ANSI-accredited standards developing organization for the U.S. plastics industry, [the Plastics Industry Association] is responsible for ensuring that all plastics machinery is built according to important standards that protect workers while achieving efficiency in production,” said the group's President and CEO Bill Carteaux. “By those measures, the new B151.1 standard is a great success. This standard will make it easier for manufacturers to keep plastics workers safe, produce higher quality products and compete on the global market.”
The effort to revise the standard was led by the Machinery Safety Standards Committee's Subcommittee on Injection Molding, which is chaired by Jim Pilavdzic, manager, product safety at Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. and Vice Chair, Larry Keller, chief engineer at Milacron Holdings Corp.