"Affixed" guards on shop fans

I've made no secret of my contempt for "shop fans" over the years.  In case I've never expounded on the topic in your presence, let me do so now.

The ubiquitous shop fan can be a handy tool for creating air movement on hot days in the shop.  While I recognize the benefits to employee health and safety (i.e. prevention of heat illness, and ergonomic injuries) these tools are almost always used in a way that creates hazards.  They are often placed in fire exit routes, their cords create trip hazards, and the air blows directly into the employees face (pushing any hazardous materials right into their breathing zone).

Most people have shop fans that meet the minimum requirements for guarding.  But every once in a while I find a fan with spaces between the elements that are too large.  For the most part this is an easy fix.  Just buy a fan that was manufactured after the Nixon administration (President Nixon signed the OSH act into law creating the standards we rely on today).

Another common problem with fan guarding is the requirement that the guards be "affixed" requiring a tool to remove.  If your fans have a slide lock, or wing nut holding the guard in place then it does not meet this requirement.  Often these simple fasteners are added to simplify cleaning and maintenance of the fan.

A simple, cost effective, solution is to use "zip ties".  It is my understanding that the patent for zip ties says they are for "affixing" cables and hoses.  By that definition, using a "zip tie" to hold the guarding in place, means it is "affixed".

During your walk-through, look for this often missed compliance gap to make those extremely annoying shop fans, slightly less...annoying.

Look for other concerns involving "zip-ties" in future posts!