ANSI B7.1 - The Industry Standard for Grinding Wheel Safety

ANSI B7.1 is the abrasive (grinding) wheel industry standard for the “Safety Requirements for the Use, Care, and Protection of Abrasive Wheels;” most abrasive wheel safety-related questions can be found there. What are the topics included in this important document? Below is a short description of the types of information found in each section of ANSI B7.1.

Scope and Definitions

This first section defines the various abrasive grinding wheel products covered by this ANSI standard (shapes, sizes, etc.). It also provides “key” definitions of the commonly used equipment and terminology used by the abrasive wheel industry.

Handling and Storage

Since the causes of many grinding wheel breakages can be traced back to improper storage and handling, this section focuses on how to handle and store grinding wheels. This section includes information related to the shelf life of a grinding wheel.

General Machine Conditions

Grinding wheels by themselves do not produce any energy. Accidents and injuries do not occur without the aid of the grinding machines, which have the power to make the abrasive wheel perform the needed task. Therefore, this critical section deals with the general machine conditions necessary to use grinding wheels safely.

Wheel Guards

Safety guards are required with most grinding wheels. There are very few exceptions. This section covers what products need to be guarded and what types of guards you must use, as well as their design and construction.  Most injuries are caused by operators who fail to use the correct type/adjusted wheel guard. Many injuries can be avoided by following the guarding requirements listed in this section.

Flanges

The machine drives the wheel through its mounting flanges. These flanges transfer the energy of the machine into the grinding wheel. Incorrect (wrong size or type) or damaged flanges can break the strongest and largest grinding wheel. This section provides information on the proper size and type of flanges. Flange design and construction are also covered.

Mounting

Proper wheel mounting and safety go hand in hand. Wheel inspection, flange tightening, and much more are covered in this section.

Speeds

Exceeding the safe operating speed of a grinding wheel can cause it to break into many small pieces (wheel fragments). These wheel fragments can create property damage, severe injury, or even death. Proper wheel and machine speed is critical to abrasive safety. As the wheel speed is increased, the rotational stresses rise exponentially. When you double the wheel speed, you quadruple the rotational stresses applied to the wheel. Matching wheel speed to machine speed is essential to grinding wheel safety.

General Operating Rules

This section covers many general rules. Rules associated with personal protection equipment (PPE), wheel breakage procedures, how to start a wheel, wheel speed, wheel vibration/balance issues, truing/dressing, wet grinding, wheel discard size, machine conversions, etc.

Mounted Wheels

Mounted wheels (mounted points) are typically small abrasive wheels mounted to mandrels or small spindles. Because of their shape and sizes, they have special mounting and speed requirements.

You should read and refer to this ANSI standard for safety questions! 

For additional information on this topic or if you need any other abrasive safety information, please review the Norton Product Safety page, ANSI, OSHA, and all literature provided by the abrasive wheel and machine manufacturer. You may contact the Saint-Gobain Product Safety Department at (508) 795-2317, or contact your Saint-Gobain Abrasives representative with any safety related questions.