Safety interlocks protect workers in aluminium foil factory

The Alcoa (Shanghai) Aluminium Products Co Ltd has chosen safety interlocks from Fortress Interlocks to keep workers safe at its factory in Shanghai. Forty-two amGard interlocks are installed at the factory to prevent workers from accessing dangerous machinery unless it is safe to do so.

This factory produces premium aluminium foil and the manufacturing process involves hazardous machinery and processes, including casting lines, rolling mills and heavy-gauge slitters. Access to this machinery is prevented by heavy-duty gates, to which the amGard interlocks are attached. The amGard units are connected to the machinery power supply, and simply pressing a button is sufficient to switch off the power supply. When the machinery has completely shut down, the amGard interlocks allow the gates to be opened. The power supply can only be switched on again when the worker has vacated the area, shut the safety gate, and pressed the start button.

Li Hongbing, Alcoa's Secure Engineer, says: "The Fortress interlocks were recommended to us by one of Alcoa's Australian factories. We ran a trial and were happy with the result. Since installation they have been working very well – they are easy to use and can withstand constant, heavy use in a harsh industrial environment. I would certainly recommend them to other companies."

The Fortress amGard range is very robust and designed for the harshest of industrial applications. Its locking mechanism is claimed to be completely tamperproof and has dual-channel safety circuitry to provide a highly secure working environment. The products allow quick and easy access to machinery with minimum production down-time. Users regard the virtually zero-maintenance nature of the products as a major benefit in daily operations.