Glossary · Hazards and harm
Ejection hazard
In machine safety, an ejection hazard is a hazard created when a workpiece, tool, fragment or process material is expelled from the machine, for example after a tool breaks or a clamp releases.
- Machine safety
- Risk assessment
In one sentence
An ejection hazard exists when a machine can throw out workpieces, tool fragments, chips or fluids, so enclosures must retain them.
Example
On a CNC lathe, a poorly clamped workpiece or a broken insert can be thrown out at high speed; the enclosure and its vision panel are designed to retain such parts.
How it applies
- Machine safety: Assess what can be expelled (chips, broken tools, workpieces, coolant, hydraulic fluid) and with how much energy. Enclosures must withstand the impact, so guard integrity matters as much as guard position.
- Technical documentation: State the conditions the protection is designed for, such as maximum speed, tool type and clamping, and warn that operating outside them can defeat the enclosure. Vision panels that age or get damaged need inspection and replacement intervals.
- Human factors: People step into the line of fire when they watch the process closely. Layout and instructions should keep them out of it.
- Evidence: Link each ejection scenario to the retaining measure and to the instruction that preserves it.
Ejection hazard vs. impact hazard
Ejection describes the source: something is expelled. The resulting harm is usually an impact or a puncture.