<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Safe Work Practices > Grinding

Date Reviewed:  February 21, 2023

Severe injury may occur if properly maintained personal protective equipment is not used when grinding.  Always ensure the guards and eye protection screens are on a bench grinder prior to use.

The following are the minimum accepted practices to be used when grinding:

•Always protect your eyes with goggles or a face shield when grinding.

•Check the tool rest for the correct distance from the abrasive wheel, maximum 1/8 inch or 3 mm.

•Replace the grindstone when adjustment of the rest cannot provide 1/8 inch or 3 mm clearance.

•If the wheel has been abused and ground to an angle or grooved, reface the wheel with the appropriate surfacing tool.

•Each time a grinding wheel is mounted, the maximum approved speed stamped on the wheel bladder should be checked against the shaft rotation speed of the machine to ensure the safe peripheral speed is not exceeded.  A grinding wheel must not be operated at peripheral speed exceeding the manufacturer’s recommendations.

•The flanges supporting the grinding wheel should be a maximum of 1/3 the diameter of the wheel, and must fit manufacturer’s recommendations.

•Bench grinders are designed for peripheral grinding.  Do not grind on the side of the wheel.

•Do not stand directly in front of a grinding wheel when it is first started.

•Occupational Health and Safety must be notified if a grinding stone or wheel bursts.  (See Dangerous Occurrences – Section 9 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996.)