Safe systems of work for cleaning printing presses

The guidance in the following tables describes commonly accepted and practicable safe systems of work for the significant hazards on printing presses supplied before the publication of European Standard BSEN 1010 'Safety of machinery – Safety requirements for the design and construction of printing and paper converting machines'. Printing presses manufactured or refurbished since 2005 should comply with that standard. For more information and to check for the most recent version of the standard please consult the British Standards Institution website.

Safe systems of work for cleaning Sheet-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Presses
Safe systems of work for cleaning Web-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Presses
Safe systems of work for cleaning Gravure Printing Presses
Safe systems of work for cleaning Flexographic Printing Presses

Safe systems of work for cleaning Sheet-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Presses
Task	Risk factors	System of work
Cleaning inking rollers, multi or single-operator cleaning	Absence of nip bars. It should not be possible to access rollers when in motion.	Use of demountable wash-up tray
Cleaning plate and blanket cylinders, single-operator cleaning	Absence of gap covers allowing access behind trip nip/nip bars	Auto wash-up Inch-stop-clean, forward motion Forward slow crawl cleaning if trip nip meets performance standard
Cleaning plate and blanket cylinders, multi-operator cleaning	Absence of gap covers allowing access behind trip nip/nip bars Unexpected start-up	Inch stop-lock-clean On presses with zoned controls (allow independent movement of the print unit cylinders) inch-stop-clean, forward motion. Forward slow crawl cleaning if trip nip meets performance standard.
Cleaning impression and transfer cylinders, multi- or single-operator cleaning	Relative inaccessibility; absence of nip bars and hazard from grippers	Inch-stop-lock-clean On presses with zoned true-inch controls beneath the foot board only, inch-stop-clean

Safe systems of work for cleaning Web-fed Offset Lithographic Printing Presses
Task	Risk factors	System of work
Cleaning inking rollers, multi- or single-operator	Absence of nip bars. It should not be possible to access rollers when in motion.	Auto tray wash-up
Cleaning plate, blanket (and impression) cylinders, multi or single-operator	'Smooth' cylinders only - gutter not exceeding 4 mm radially by 8 mm circumferentially (exceptionally, 4 mm x 19 mm on newspaper presses)	Inch-stop-lock-clean, forward motion Forward slow crawl cleaning only if nip bars and an emergency stop are provided
Cleaning transfer/path rollers, multi or single-person	Relatively inaccessible; nip bars absent.	Inch-stop-lock-clean where rollers are powered, or by hand turning where free running

Safe systems of work for cleaning Gravure Printing Presses
Task	Risk factors	System of work
Wiping doctor blades	Approach close to in-running nips at production speed	Use purpose-made tool Interlocked guard with slot opening or adjustable nip bar within 6mm of cylinder
Cleaning gravure / impression cylinders mid-run, single-operator cleaning	Access to in-running nips when interlocked guard raised	Inch-stop-clean Forward slow crawl cleaning only if nip bars and emergency stop provided
Cleaning gravure / impression cylinders mid-run, multi-operator cleaning	Access to in-running nips when interlocked guard raised	Inch-stop-lock-clean Forward slow crawl cleaning only if nip bars and emergency stop provided
Cleaning gravure / impression cylinders at end of run	Gravure cylinder removed from press	Off-machine manual or auto-washing

Safe systems of work for cleaning Flexographic Printing Presses
Task	Risk factors	System of work
Cleaning duct/anilox rollers, single-operator	Absence of nip bars	Inch-stop-clean
Cleaning duct/anilox rollers, multi-operator	Absence of nip bars	Inch-stop-lock-clean Inch-stop-clean on presses with zoned controls (allow independent movement of print unit cylinders)
Cleaning stereo mid-run, single-operator	Accessibility to in-running nip when interlocked guard raised	Inch-stop-clean
Cleaning stereo mid-run, multi-operator	Accessibility to in-running nip when interlocked guard raised	Inch-stop-lock-clean Inch-stop-clean on presses with zoned controls (allow independent movement of print unit cylinders)
Cleaning stereo at end of run	Stereo removed from press	Off-machine manual or auto-washing
Upper section of a common impression cylinder on a large press		developing and implementing a safe means of access and methods of work