The Safety Risks of Burrs in Metal

Deburring is the process of smoothing out small imperfections on metal to eliminate any sharp or jagged edges that result from cutting metal. The threat of burrs in metal cannot be ignored; if these burrs are left unaddressed, they can cause serious harm to employees and equipment. Professionals in this industry must understand and mitigate the safety risks of burrs in metal so they do not create a serious safety hazard.

How Are Burrs Created

Before we can understand how to deal with burrs in metal, we need to know exactly how they come about. Burrs in metal are raised and sharp surfaces that show up after grinding, drilling, milling, and other metalworking tasks. Whenever a piece of metal is cut, a sharp ridge is formed.

Safety Risks Involved

There are a few ways that burred metal can present a danger to workers and others who are using products made of metal with burrs.

Safety Risks To Workers

Obviously, when sharp edges are present on an item, they will always act as a safety hazard to those who have to handle the item. But burrs in metal are small, sharp, and can sometimes be hard to spot. If an employee is handling a piece of metal that has been cut, they run the risk of slicing their hands and fingers.

Safety Risks To Others

Faulty manufacturing will leave burrs in metal, metal that is then used for a variety of products and applications. Depending on what the metal is being used for, it can become a safety hazard in several ways:

• Sharp edges can slice unsuspecting users.
• Kitchen equipment made of metal with burrs can flake metal, which can land in food.
• Loose and poorly fastened metals can fall apart due to burrs.

There can be unseen disasters as a result of not treating burrs, with one of the more dangerous points being poorly fastened metal. Whatever type of machinery the cut metal is used in, the risk of equipment failure rises with the presence of burrs in construction.

Methods To Deburr Metal

You can mitigate the safety risks of burrs in metal in several ways. For instance, you can either smooth the burrs out manually with the use of files or use industrial deburring tumblers.