A kill switch is a safety device that immediately shuts down machinery or equipment in emergency situations. It can be automatic or manual, and is used to prevent injury or death to people in the vicinity. It can also be triggered by computer systems to prevent power surges or machine malfunctions.
Also known as a dead man’s switch, emergency stop, or emergency shutdown, a kill switch is a device that shuts down machinery or equipment when typical shutdown applications become unresponsive. Used only for severe situations, this type of safety switch cuts or shuts off power to machinery immediately, rather than following the gradual shutdown process that is normally followed during a controlled shutdown. The switch bypasses protocols designed to prevent damage to machinery, usually to save time and increase the chances of avoiding injury or death to people in the immediate vicinity.
The exact configuration of the kill switch will depend on the type of machinery or equipment involved. Some are designed to activate automatically in the event that the operator is incapacitated for some reason and is no longer able to control the operation of the device. Usually referred to as a dead man’s switch, this particular application is often found with tractors, hoists, lawn mowers and other machinery that requires constant manipulation by an operator to perform a task. Even with pleasure craft, this type of kill switch can be used, often by connecting the switch to a rope on the operator’s life jacket. In the event that the operator is incapacitated or even thrown overboard, pulling the rope activates the switch and deactivates the outboard motor.
It’s not unusual for manufacturing plants to also incorporate the idea of a kill switch into every machine used in the process. Here, the switch can be structured to trigger when an operator is no longer actively handling a task or it can be a manual switch that can be activated quickly in the event of an emergency. For example, if an operator suddenly loses consciousness and is in danger of falling into a moving piece of machinery, actuating the stop switch will stop the machine from moving and reduce the chance of serious injury to the operator.
In some cases, the kill switch is triggered when a power surge or imminent failure of a machine component is detected by a computer system that monitors the operation. Here, the system is programmed to identify changes in power flow or irregularities in the performance of the machinery. When something outside a certain range of operations is identified, the system activates the kill switch and alerts maintenance and repair personnel of the problem. This helps prevent the risk of electric shock from power surges, while also preventing a machine malfunction that could also result in injury to the operator.
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