IAPA show sessions tackle machine safety

The Canadian Standards Association estimates that operation and maintenance of machinery results in about 1,800 critical injuries and more than 80 deaths among Canadian workers every year. This is true despite advancements in machine safety technologies and increasing corporate liability for workplace injuries.

Canadian Occupational Safety, in cooperation with Manufacturing Automation magazine and SaferMachines.com, is working to help reverse this trend through educational sessions and technology exhibitions on machine safeguarding at the 2009 Machine Automation Safety Congress (MASC).

Now on its second year, the MASC exhibition is held within the 2009 IAPA Health & Safety Canada Conference and Tradeshow on April 20 – 22, 2009 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

MASC 2009 is bigger and better. Major players in the machine safety market have signed up to participate in the MASC exhibit pavilion this year to showcase the latest and greatest technologies for safeguarding machinery.

Also new this year are two educational sessions on machine safety. The first session will discuss the legal requirements for machine guarding, featuring renowned experts in the field of safety and moderated by COS editor Mari-Len De Guzman.

Manufacturing Automation editor Mary Del Ciancio will lead a session that focuses on the use of modern technologies to improve machine safety. She will be joined by machine safety technology experts, discussing new trends in machine guarding.

In both panel sessions, OHS practitioners will get a chance to interact with experts in the field of health and safety, ask questions on hot topics and learn about new trends on machine safety and safeguarding.

If you’re planning to attend Health & Safety Canada, be sure to stop by the MASC pavilion for some live demonstrations of new technologies and a chance to chat with technology experts from leading suppliers of machine safety equipment.

Machine safety panel session schedules:

On the side of the law
April 21 – 9:30 am to 10:30 am
Moderator:
Mari-Len De Guzman, Editor, COS magazine
Panelists:
Cheryl Edwards, partner, Heinan Blaikie, COS legal columnist
Wayne DeL'Orme, Ministry of Labour ?
Simon Fridlyand, president S.A.F.E. Engineering Inc.

Safety and technology
April 21 – 11:15 am to 12:15 pm
Moderator: Mary Del Ciancio, editor, Manufacturing AUTOMATION magazine
Panelists:
Bill Valedis, president of Imperial Automation Training
Walter Veugen, founder of Veugen Integrated Technologies
Allen Rutherford, P.Eng, applications engineer, Bosch Rexroth Canada
John Murphy, Machine Guarding and Safety Specialist, Vickers-Warnick Ltd