Machine safety can be improved by structural solutions and guards that prevent access to dangerous areas around the machinery.

Workers can only be asked to operate machinery that is safe to use. All high-risk parts that could injure workers must be guarded.

Protective technology must be chosen so as to ensure that

• the chosen solutions do not pose a danger in themselves
• any physical guards are sufficiently sturdy
• guards and other safety devices cannot be easily disabled
• protective devices are far enough away from the dangerous parts that they are meant to guard
• any physical guards do not prevent the machine operator from seeing what they are doing, and
• the guards do not prevent servicing and maintenance.

There are numerous sector-specific standards describing machine guarding solutions that are achievable with current technology.