Are Balers Safe to Use?

Curious if a baler machine is safe for you and your team? Debunk baler safety myths with Bramidan’s Baler Safety guide.

Balers & Safety: Debunking the Myth

Concerned about the safety of baler machines? Let’s set the record straight.

Contrary to popular belief, balers are not a danger to employees. In fact, in our experience in the American and European markets, balers increase safety, organization, and space optimization all at once.

Of course, it’s important to invest in a reliable manufacturer and machinery that works best for you, your team, and your space.

At Bramidan, our machinery is designed and manufactured to meet the highest ANSI safety standards. When operating our machines, you can expect ultra-safe operation, without compromising on comfort or efficiency.

We always recommend verifying whether the baler you’re considering, even if it’s not a Bramidan product, has been manufactured in compliance with the latest safety standards. Ensuring the safety of your employees is crucial. But why should you opt for certified machines? Let’s explore safety standards and their significance.

1. Secure Operation with Closed Door

The door switch is tamper-resistant to make sure the baler operates only when the door is securely closed. After each cycle, you must open and then close the filling door, which activates the door switch. If the door switch fails, the control unit will serve as a safety backup, preventing any operation until the issue is resolved.

2. Redundant Safety Checks

The door switch is designed to disable operation when the door is open. In the event of a door switch failure, the control system acts as a secondary safeguard, ensuring all malfunctions are verified before any press plate activation can occur.

3. Controlled Opening with Robust Spindle

The baler is engineered to include a robust spindle that moderates the opening speed of the lower door, thus preventing rapid deployment that could lead to injuries. This design ensures a steady and controlled door opening mechanism.

4. Safe Bale Ejection Protocol

For enhanced safety, the baler requires two-hand operation positioned at the side of the machine. This protocol ensures that the operator is in a safe location with a clear view when ejecting the finished bale from the chamber.

5. Simultaneous Two-Button Operation for Ejection

The ejection of the bale requires a simultaneous press of two buttons with precision timing (within ±0.5 seconds) to ensure safety, preventing any chance of tampering with the ejection mechanism.

6. Controlled Ejection Speed to Prevent Bale Tumbling

The ejection speed of the bale onto the pallet or floor must be adjustable to ensure that full-height bales do not overturn beyond 90 degrees upon ejection, mitigating the risk of accidents or damage.

7. Optimized for Minimum Noise Emission

The operational noise levels of the balers are engineered to be as low as possible, establishing Bramidan balers as one of the quietest options available in the market.

OSHA Safety Standards and Why They Are Important

OSHA safety standards protect operators of balers and vertical presses in their workspace. The standards outline design and technical requirements for the baler, providing users with safety checkpoints at every stage of machine operation.

OSHA Specifies Several Areas of Attention

The baling chamber, the ejector mechanism, control panels, noise reduction, bale ejection area, emergency stop systems, labels and operating instructions, as well as any potential hazards that could occur to the operator.

Read more about our FAQ’s here.

Safety focus

Balers Made Safe by Design

Safety is our main focus when designing and producing our line of vertical balers and compactors. All of our balers meet and exceed OSHA standards, ensuring the safety of you and your team.

When you purchase one of our balers, rest assured that you’re investing in the highest level of safety. Rely on vertical balers that have been crafted with decades of experience.

Why Choose Balers in Accordance with ANSI and OSHA Standards?

By selecting ANSI and OSHA compliant balers, you prioritize workplace safety and regulatory compliance, promoting a secure operational environment.

In the USA, vertical balers are legally required to be equipped with the following features and design elements:

1. Baler will NOT operate if door is open

To reduce the risk of starting the press when the door is open, our line of balers will not operate until the door is fully closed.
In the case of a baler with a manual door like the Flap Door (FD), you can only open the baler door after the end of the waste pressing cycle. If you have a baler with a semi-automatic door (SD), the door automatically closes and opens again when the start button is pushed and the press cycle is completed. If anything hinders the automatic door (i.e. cardboard box or the operator’s hand), the door immediately returns to its fully open position, without doing any harm.

Learn more about different door types for your baler.

2. Extreme Failure Prevention

While a door switch plays a crucial role in preventing the machine from operating with the door open, it’s not the sole safeguard in place. In the unlikely event of the door switch malfunctioning, the control unit acts as an additional fault verifier, ensuring that the baler ceases operation and mitigates the risk of any potential injuries.
By implementing this double-check system, the likelihood of the baler press plate being activated during a machine malfunction is significantly reduced.

3. Strong turnbuckle provides full control of door opening

Bramidan balers are equipped with a strong spindle to prevent the door from opening too quickly – which could injure the operator. The threaded turnbuckle maitains steady and full control of the baler door, guaranteeing the operator’s safety when operating the machine, even in limited spaces.

4. Safe ejection of the pressed bale

According to ANSI and OSHA, the speed at which the bale is ejected onto a pallet or floor must be slow and controlled.
Following these guidelines, Bramidan waste balers prevent the bale from turning more than 90 degrees when being ejected from the chamber. Resultingly, the risk of uncontrolled movement of the bale during ejection is extremely low.

5. Very low noise levels during operation

In order to maintain the best possible working environment, our machines generate the one of the lowest possible noise during operation. After all, your workspace deserves a comfortable, low-noise profile, without sacrificing the safety of your team.

30dB

50dB

75dB

100dB

160dB

X25

59-60 dB

Whisper

Refrigerator

Other balers

Cars on highway

Turbojet engine

Choose a Safe Waste Baler

As a manufacturer and distributor of high quality presses and balers, we make sure that our products meet several other safety standards:

Protection against moving machine parts
Elimination of electrical hazards
Minimizing the noise level of the machine working
Ergonomic design provides the operator with a comfortable working position

Choose balers meeting the latest standards for a safe, smooth, and comfortable workplace. Our intuitive machinery is designed to support you and your business.