Identification and Mitigation of Risk Factors in The Injection Moulding Process for Automotive Plastic Components

Abstract

Injection moulding process is used for manufacturing different kind of products such automobile parts, toys, plastic boxes, pocket combs, Mechanical parts, tables etc. There are different kind of process involved in injection Moulding. Initially all the moisture from the raw materials removed by using a dryer which will fed to each machine hopper through central feeding system. Injection moulding machine has two sections available. Injection unit has mainly two parts Injection unit and clamping unit. The components of injection moulding machine are Carriage unit, Barrel, reciprocating screw motor drive, heater and Thermocouple. Similarly, the clamping unit consist of mould, clamping motor drive, Tie bar. Initially the raw material from the central feeding system will be supplied to the hopper. From the hopper the material will be moved to the barrel on requirement.  Inside the barrel the material will be heated and melted. The melted material will be injected to the mould through the nozzle and will be cooled down and final product is removed either by hand picking or using a robot. There are several kinds of hazards involved in injection moulding process such as crushing hazard, burn hazard, entanglement hazard, impact hazard, electric shock hazard etc. Necessary control measures and safety devices should be provided to the injection moulding machines to prevent accidents in the injection moulding process. Standard SOPs are available for each process in the moulding. Some of the safety devices available in the injection moulding are light curtain, emergency stop button, safety mat, interlocking door, limit switches for purge guard and rotating parts of the machine etc. A proper HIRA need to be maintained in which all the hazards associated with injection moulding machines should be identified and control measures such as engineering and administrative measure to mitigate the affect should be maintained.