Being trapped in moving machinery or equipment is one of the most common causes of workplace fatalities and injuries in New Zealand. The worst part of this fact? Most of these incidents could have been totally preventable.
Over just 5 months in 2025, New Zealand courts imposed more than $800,000 in penalties in response to workers being killed on unsafe conveyor belts in the manufacturing industry.
Investigations by WorkSafe consistently identify the lack of machinery guarding as a primary cause of these accidents, with workers being drawn into moving parts such as rollers, sharp blades, and pinch points.
The harsh reality is this: If you don’t have proper machine guarding in place, your people are not safe, and the number of fatalities and injuries will continue to rise.
Not only is there an enormous human cost to failing to have robust safety controls in place, but there is also the significant financial burden and reputational damage that comes with it.
In this article, we cover:
- Why It’s Essential to Have Machine Guarding
- Can I Customise Machine Guarding to Fit My Site?
- Integrating Machine Guarding With Additional Safety Controls
- How Much Does Machine Guarding Cost, and Is It Worth It?
With answers to these questions and more, you’ll gain a better understanding of the importance of physical machine guarding, a renewed sense of responsibility to keep your people safe, and reassurance that you can’t put a price on safety.
What Purpose Does Machine Guarding Serve?
Your staff should never be at risk of putting an arm or a leg near an operating machine or getting pulled into one—there should always be adequate safety controls in place to prevent people from being injured or killed.
Put simply, machine guarding provides a physical barrier between machinery and people. Installing machine guarding, whether that’s a mesh, stainless steel, or polycarbonate protection system, is the most effective way to keep people safe from machine-related injuries.
Machine guarding is used across all industries with moving parts, including manufacturing, construction, mining, agriculture, and food and beverage processing.
From emergency stop devices to safety lock switches, light curtains, and laser scanners, all these safety controls serve a purpose, but what they don’t provide is physical protection from machinery.
Any machine with rollers, sharp blades, and pinch points poses a significant risk of causing harm to people and requires physical protection measures to prevent accidents—whether in operation or during cleaning, maintenance, or repairs.
While machine guarding is explicitly designed for physical protection from machines, some facilities also use it to create walkways or secure areas for stock and materials.
Why It’s Essential to Have Machine Guarding
Too many workplaces don’t have any machine guarding in place, or use safety controls that aren’t fit for purpose.
Either they are trying to cut costs, don’t think it’s necessary, or simply don’t make it a priority. Whatever the reason, the consequences are irreversible, and no excuse justifies putting people in harm’s way.
There has been a significant push for physical machine guarding in recent years, with New Zealand workplace safety bodies and advocates warning of the dangers of failing to implement it following several high-profile incidents.
These tragedies tell the stories of real people and the real consequences of not having proper controls in place, and underscore the urgent need for change.
As previously mentioned, it is not just the human cost, which is by far the most important. It must also be considered that the financial costs to a company and the reputational damage can be crippling.
Can I Customise Machine Guarding to Fit My Site?
One of the benefits of machine guarding’s modular system is that the panels and posts are incredibly customisable to match your site layout, including size, access, and safety requirements.
There are many different machine guarding configurations, including perimeter guarding and custom-designed part covers for motors and other hazardous machine components. At Vanguard, we solely offer perimeter machine guarding.
Our Troax Machine Guarding is a fully modular panel-and-post system designed to be installed around a machine to protect people from getting too close to hazardous areas when it is in operation or may turn on.
The panel’s mesh design, particularly when fully enclosed, provides protection for people putting their fingers through the barrier or reaching around, over, or under it to access the machine or objects that have fallen off it.
Troax System Features
- Modular panels and posts
- Available in mesh or polycarbonate
- Wall system standard heights range from 1400 to 4250mm
- Panels are available in eight standard widths, from 200 to 1500mm, with a 150mm floor gap for easy cleaning
One of the benefits of the modular system is that the panels or posts are incredibly customisable to match your site layout, including size, access, and safety requirements.
We often work with companies that have an existing machine guarding system in place but want to move it to a new location, expand it, or reduce its size. The same goes for a damaged panel or post; it can be replaced with ease.
To get a clearer picture of how our machine guarding will look on your site, you can use Troax DrawIt, an online design tool that lets you create your system with our standard specifications and provides a breakdown of all the components included.
The tool will provide a 3D view of how the design will look on your site, either offering an immediate solution or helping you plan for future projects.
Once you’ve created your design, the team at Vanguard will provide you with a more comprehensive plan that includes CAD drawings and a fixed-price quotation covering the supply and delivery of all parts, including installation, if required.
When designing your machine guarding, it’s important to note the distance of the guarding from the machine or any pinch points. This is incredibly important to maximise the protection your machine guarding offers and comply with AS/NZS 4024 safety standards.
Are There Any Design Limitations?
The only design limitation to our machine guarding is that, if you have a machine part, we cannot offer custom moulds. However, we can create a perimeter guard.
Integrating Guarding With Additional Safety Controls
Machine guarding can be seamlessly paired with additional safety controls to enhance the level of protection. Doors can either come with a lock and key or electronic locks that can be linked up to the machine itself.
Electronic locks often feature a swipe tag or card system, allowing you to control who has access. When the door is opened, the machine will automatically shut off and will not run until the door is closed and fully secured.
Many companies install light curtains and laser scanners, which use a series of invisible infrared beams across a protected area to a receiver. If an arm, leg, or any other object passes through the beams, the receiver will alert the machine of the breach and bring it to a stop.
While these devices reduce the risk of people being injured by machinery, they are not enough to physically prevent someone from coming into contact with an operating machine, and they can fail. However, used in conjunction with a physical guard, they can be effective.
Is Machine Guarding Impact-Rated Against Vehicles and Forklifts?
If you have machine guarding in an area where forklifts are operating nearby, you may be curious about how well it withstands impact. If this is the case, it is crucial to check a machine guard’s impact rating before investing.
Our Troax machine guarding is TÜV-certified for proven safety and compliance, and can withstand impacts of up to 8,180kJ. A standard machine guarding design can withstand impacts up to 2,100 kJ, which is roughly equivalent to a 3t forklift travelling at 4.3km/h at a 90 degree impact angle.
While they are impact-tested, if you have heavy traffic around your machine guarding, you may need additional impact protection, such as heavy-duty steel or flexible barriers.
If you’re unsure what additional impact protection you require, we’re here to help. Watch our 5-Step Safety Design Process video to see how we can assist you, or get in touch to discuss how we can support you to find the right solution for your situation.
How Is Machine Guarding Installed On-Site?
As part of our 5-Step Safety Design Process, we have a team available to install your machine guarding on-site. Alternatively, we can provide you with all the components you need for your engineer to set it up internally. Once you receive the order, you will get a set of interactive assembly instructions to assist you with installation.
How Much Does Machine Guarding Cost, and Is It Worth It?
The cost to implement machine guarding on your site will be dependent on your design plan. Pricing for our standard panel and post specifications range from $300 to $400 per metre. The cost of locks, manual or electronic, will be additional, as will complimentary access controls, electrical work, and installation, which will be carried out by multiple parties.
While machine guarding costs may vary compared to installing a light curtain or pedestrian handrail, it is far safer to have a physical barrier to prevent your people from getting seriously injured or killed.
We come back to this point time and time again: you cannot put a price on protecting people and saving lives.
Is it Worth the Investment?
Relying on your people to have the perfect reactions or judgment around live machinery is not only unrealistic, but it can have catastrophic consequences. As employers, it is our responsibility to protect our staff from harm by mitigating safety risks to ensure that they get home safely every day.
The rate of workplace injuries and deaths in New Zealand as a result of not having machine guarding in place is staggering—it should never be accepted as “part of the job”. Instead, companies must take responsibility for their people’s safety by implementing robust systems to prevent such accidents.
The fact is that visual cues or sensors alone are not enough. Machine guarding is the best way to create a physical barrier between people and machines, providing the level of protection required in such a volatile, high-risk environment.
In doing so, you get predictable safety, less downtime, fewer workplace accidents, and a team that knows you’ve done the right thing to protect them.
Fit-for-purpose machine guarding doesn’t slow you down; it creates the conditions for a safe, productive workplace where people come first.
If you are operating a site without machinery guarding, or have a project coming up where you think it is needed, feel free to get in touch with our team to discuss your situation and how we can help.
We’ll run you through the design process, assist you in identifying where machine guarding could provide the greatest protection on your site, and help you bring your plans to life.
