Occupational Risk Assessment for Coil Slitting Set Up Operators

Abstract

Slitting is one of the metal cutting processes where large rolls, or coils, of sheet metal stock are cut by use of extremely sharp rotary blades. Slitting is performed on slitting lines that consist of four basic (the uncoiler, the slitter, a tensioning device, and the recoiler) operations. Several factors such as horizontal knife clearance, depth of penetration, size of the stripper rings, material characteristics, and the slitting head should be taken into consideration to obtain a quality slit. However, setting and maintaining the slitter safely is crucial not only for quality but also for workers' health. Therefore, this study focus on slitter set up operators and Rapid Assessment of Entire Body (REBA) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC) analysis are performed with the occupational physician at the company. Installation and aligning knives, disk cutters or fixtures to the slitter are identified as the most problematic operations and potential occupational health and safety risks throughout the set up process are also defined. Investment that is suggested to improve set up operations and outcomes are discussed.