In brief

  • The problem: hands caught in rollers or cut by saws remain one of the most common causes of amputation at Australian workplaces, and manufacturing carries the largest share.
  • The requirement: regulators expect guards that stay fixed, isolation before clearing jams or cleaning, and controls chosen through the hierarchy of controls.
  • The solution: Flagman hand and finger detection draws a “no hand zone” around the danger area and raises an alert, or sends a slow or stop signal where the machine’s controls allow, as a layer on top of guarding and lockout.
  • The outcome: earlier warnings at the point of risk, recorded near misses, and evidence that shows where guarding and isolation are being bypassed.

A roll of film jams halfway through a shift. The operator knows the correct procedure is to stop the machine, isolate it and lock it out. The line is behind, the jam looks small, and the gap in the guard is just wide enough for a hand. In that moment, the decision takes about two seconds.

Most hand and finger injuries in manufacturing follow this pattern. The guard exists, the procedure exists, and a person under time pressure reaches past both. Hand and finger injury prevention is less about knowing the rules and more about catching the moment the rules are not followed.

The problem: hands, saws and rollers in Australian numbers

Safe Work Australia’s Key Work Health and Safety Statistics 2025 report 146,700 serious workers’ compensation claims across all industries in 2023 to 2024 (preliminary). Injuries to the upper limbs accounted for 48,700 of them, or 33.2 per cent, the largest share of any body location. Being hit by moving objects accounted for 16 per cent of serious claims.

Manufacturing recorded 14,800 serious claims in the same period, a frequency rate of 9.4 claims per million hours worked, and 7 worker fatalities in 2024.

WorkSafe Victoria’s amputation data shows where the hands go. In 2022 it accepted 137 amputation claims, involving at least 127 fingers or thumbs. Digits caught or crushed in machinery, or cut while using a saw, made up about one third of all amputation claims. Manufacturing accounted for 45 per cent of claims.

The pattern is not limited to factories. The NSW Resources Regulator’s Safety Bulletin SB24-04 recorded 50 hand and finger injury reports at mine sites over two years, 12 of them serious. Processing plants, workshops and crushing circuits carry the same pinch points as a production line.

The requirement: what the law and regulators expect

Name your jurisdiction first. Most states and territories apply the model Work Health and Safety laws. Victoria applies the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017.

  • Guarding in a set order. Under regulation 208 of the model WHS Regulations, as explained in the SafeWork NSW Code of Practice on managing the risks of plant, guarding should follow an order of preference: a permanently fixed barrier, then an interlocked barrier, then a barrier that can only be removed with a tool, then a presence sensing safeguarding system.
  • Guards that are hard to bypass. The same code says bypassing or disabling a guard should be made as difficult as reasonably practicable, and plant should not restart without the guard in place where that is reasonably practicable.
  • Isolation before cleaning and maintenance. Plant should usually be isolated before maintenance or cleaning starts. Lockout tagout follows set steps: shut down, identify energy sources, isolate, control stored energy, lock, tag and test. A tag alone is not an isolation device.
  • Enforcement is real. In July 2025, a Dandenong packaging manufacturer was fined $80,000 after a worker clearing a jam had her hand pulled into a roller and lost a finger. The court found it was reasonably practicable to install a permanent interlocked perimeter guard and to provide a lockout tagout procedure for clearing jams. WorkSafe Victoria’s advice is to “ensure safety guards and gates are compliant and fixed to machines at all times”.

Why existing controls leave a gap

Fixed and interlocked guards are the right first answer, and nothing in this article suggests otherwise. The gap appears in three places.

  • Tasks that need access. Clearing jams, threading material, adjusting settings and cleaning all bring hands close to moving parts. These are the tasks where most roller injuries happen.
  • Guards that get removed or defeated. A guard taken off for maintenance and not refitted, or an interlock bridged to keep the line running, looks the same as a working guard from across the floor.
  • No record of the near miss. When a hand comes close and nothing happens, nobody reports it. The first evidence that the guard is being bypassed is often the injury.

Supervision cannot cover every machine on every shift. That is where computer vision workplace safety tools can add value: they watch the danger area continuously and record what happens there.

The solution: how Flagman protects the hands that run the line

Flagman uses AI vision to detect people, and their hands, in camera footage. For saws, rollers, presses and nip points, a “no hand zone” is drawn around the danger area. When a hand enters that zone while the machine is running, Flagman responds in real time.

  • Alerts at the point of risk. Relay outputs can drive a local light or horn so the operator knows immediately.
  • Machine signals where the controls allow. Through programmable logic controller integration over Modbus and PROFINET, or relay outputs, Flagman can send a slow or stop signal where the machine’s controls accept an external signal.
  • Time-stamped video evidence. Each event is logged with video on a central dashboard, so supervisors can see which machine, which shift and which task produced the entry.
  • Edge processing on site. Video is processed locally, with no cloud or internet connection required. Flagman works with ONVIF IP, USB and GMSL cameras, so existing CCTV can often be used.
  • Built for the floor. The Flagman Neo unit is IP69K rated, fanless and rated from minus 20 to plus 80 degrees Celsius, which suits washdown areas in food processing.

Used this way, AI safety cameras give Australian manufacturers something guarding alone does not: a live view of how often hands reach into danger areas, and early warning when they do. For the wider guarding picture, read how Flagman AI vision supports the machine guarding hierarchy. For conveyors and transfer points, see closing conveyor entanglement gaps with isolation, guarding and Flagman detection.

Limitations: what Flagman cannot do

  • Flagman is not a guard, and it is not a certified presence sensing safeguarding device under regulation 208. It must not be used in place of fixed or interlocked guarding.
  • Flagman is not an isolation or lockout device. Lockout tagout is still required before clearing jams, cleaning or maintenance.
  • Flagman has no published Safety Integrity Level or Performance Level rating. Its slow or stop output is not a certified safety function, and machine stopping time still has to be considered.
  • Detection depends on camera position, lighting, steam, dust, gloves and line of sight. Each zone should be tested on site before it is relied on.
  • Flagman has no hazardous area certification and must not be used in explosive atmospheres.
  • Workers must be consulted, and workplace surveillance notice rules apply in some states, including New South Wales.

A practical plan for saws and rollers

  1. List your hand hazards. Walk the floor and record every saw, roller, nip point, press and guillotine, with the tasks that need access.
  2. Fix the guarding first. Confirm each machine meets the guarding order of preference, and repair or upgrade guards before adding technology.
  3. Write jam clearing into lockout tagout. Make isolation the default for jams, and give operators the tools to clear them safely.
  4. Pick two or three pilot machines. Choose those with the most access tasks or recent near misses.
  5. Consult and notify. Brief operators and health and safety representatives on what is detected and recorded, and give any surveillance notice your state requires.
  6. Draw and tune the zones. Set the no hand zone with operators, and run a tuning period so alerts are trusted.
  7. Review weekly. Look at entries by machine, shift and task, and fix the cause: a jam-prone feed, a missing tool or a guard that is too easy to remove.

Jams are a maintenance signal: the case for predictive maintenance

The Dandenong case started with a jam, and so do many roller injuries. A machine that jams often is telling you something: worn rollers, a misaligned feed, a failing sensor or a guard interlock that no longer closes properly. Every jam is a moment when someone is tempted to reach in. Fixing the cause of jams removes the temptation altogether.

Predictive maintenance treats jam frequency, downtime reasons, interlock faults and guard defects as data, so the machines heading towards trouble are found early. Sharktech Global builds Business Intelligence dashboards for manufacturers that track downtime reasons, scrap and rework, and safety events by machine, including Flagman hand zone alerts. A roller that jams more each week and records rising hand entries is the machine to fix first.

Flagman in Australia: local delivery by Sharktech Global

Sharktech Global, based in Liverpool, New South Wales, is the exclusive Australian and New Zealand delivery partner for Perleybrook Labs, the developer of Flagman. It assesses production lines, installs and integrates Flagman with cameras and machine controls, and provides local business-hours support. It also backs up production software, recipes and machine configurations as part of managed IT for manufacturers. Details of its manufacturing machine safety, managed IT and data services are on the Sharktech website.

The outcome you can measure

  • Alerts delivered at the moment a hand enters a danger zone, not after an injury.
  • Near misses captured as time-stamped events, by machine, shift and task.
  • A baseline of hand entries before changes, compared with the same measure after guarding, procedure or maintenance fixes.
  • Jam frequency and safety events visible together, so the root cause is fixed first.
  • Evidence that shows boards and regulators how guarding and isolation are working in practice.

Key takeaways

  • Hand and finger injuries at saws and rollers remain a leading cause of amputation, and manufacturing carries the largest share in Victoria’s data.
  • Machine guarding and lockout tagout come first. The hierarchy of controls does not change because new technology is available.
  • Flagman adds detection, warning and evidence where people still need access or guards get bypassed.
  • Fix jam-prone machines early: maintenance data is safety data.

Next step

Request a Flagman safety assessment to review your saws, rollers and nip points and scope a hand and finger detection pilot, or call Sharktech Global on 0468 017 373.

Sources: Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025; WorkSafe Victoria, More than 150 limbs or digits lost in workplace incidents (10 January 2023); WorkSafe Victoria, Manufacturer fined $80,000 after worker loses finger (16 July 2025); NSW Resources Regulator, Hand and finger injuries reported on mine sites, SB24-04 (11 July 2024); SafeWork NSW, Code of Practice: Managing the risks of plant in the workplace (2022). This article is general information only and is not legal advice. Seek advice specific to your site and jurisdiction.