Make sure you keep ALL the evidence of you showing it does not work correctly and your bosses response. If, down the line, there is a court case you may need to protect your back... That boss will happily blame you.

was the timeline exactly as mentioned? you said something, he berated you, then you sent an email with video? did anything happen after that?

also, what's the exact role of your boss and are there other people to talk too? a chief security manager or something like that?

The timeline is exactly like above. I mentioned the issue, was told it wasn't an issue, emailed proof, and since my boss doesn't think it matters, nothing is happening. I don't know if there even is a person in charge of machine safety to be honestly. I don't think there is. My boss is in charge of overseeing all machine operations, and also supplies (ie getting a different barrier if necessary)

Side note: do you have small hands? I ask because women's hands tend to be smaller on average, and with you being the only one in the company, it's likely that nobody else can reproduce this problem. If this is the case, you may have a case on the basis of that alone - a safety feature which only works for men (or people with larger hands in general) is the type of thing that could be a major OSHA violation. Not sure what the rules are about that sort of thing in France, but stuff like that makes national news in the US from time to time.

"I fear I am not being taken seriously because of my status as a student, and I cannot quit because my contract here is part of getting my diploma." Do you have a college/uni supervisor you can discuss this with? If you feel unsafe then the college surely can't expect you to remain in place.

"it's very unprofessional to not be open to criticism or differences in opinion." That applies to him, not you. He isn't open to criticism or differences in opinion, because he got mad at you for bringing up the safety concern/criticism and your different opinion.

Since this is france, machines need to comply with the EU machine directive. This also means a safety evaluation has to be filled out and a signed declaration of conformity has to be shipped. Try to find out who signs this document and who fills the safety evaluation document. Just FYI the directive:eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/… (also needs to read interpretations/explanations. Also for a light fence there is probably a harmonized norm you want to follow (which says what is acceptable)

Has your boss not heard of Murphy's Law? If there's a way to do it that results in a catastrophe, someone's going to do it that way...

@CharlesSrstka Murphy's law is a good rule of thumb, but for manufacturers of industrial automation equipment there are actual laws that dictate the safety requirements for the machines that they produce. I think OP should be more concerned with the latter.

I have worked in industrial automation as an engineer (theme parks and entertainment industry), just some added context for readers: nothing is 'safe', there's an infinite regression of things to consider. Discussion often amounts to discovering where each individual's threshold of risk/reward lays. As an exercise, try to justify an average roading system nowadays for 'safety'.

Recommend editing the title to highlight that the dispute of interest is specifically is a product-safety one.

OP: if this is a serious safety issue, note that France does have whistleblower protection laws exactly for that sort of thing. Of course, get real legal advice before doing anything, IANAL. lexology.com/library/…

@DarrelHoffman I had a mechanic (a pretty big guy) try to put his hand through the barrier and he could also do it so it's not a hand size issue. Also, I happen to know that the machine operators are Chinese women who are not known for their large hands

Do you actually know how the international standard BS EN ISO 13855:2010 applies to the device you are concerned about, or are you just using your own "common sense" interpretation of what is "safe"? Note, the standard specifically considers situations where a light barrier can be bypassed. Raising a concern isn't being stubborn, especially if you are a student who (by definition) doesn't know everything relevant to the situation. But insisting that your concern needs to be dealt with, if that is not the case, is stubborn (and pointless) IMO.

FYI: Be sure to keep all your copies of evidence off work property, on your own hardware and out of the office.

@e.aigle, could you include a picture of a light fence and turntable? All I found on Google were pictures of ordinary fences with lights attached which I dont think is what you are working with

@Anthony What she's talking about is a "fence" made of light that the machine can detect when something is blocking it and shut down.

@Anthony think of the lasers in spy movies, that set off an alarm if you cross them. It's basically that. Just a row of lights, programmed to stop the machine if a beam is cut by a hand or something

I'm not pressing the matter. I just mentioned it, showed proof and now the ball in his court. My main issue is dealing with this type of boss in the future. He and I have had this kind of clash before, where I raise a concern or technical topic (I try to limit opinion based conversations at work in general), and I get called names in response if I don't instantly agree

@E.Aigle "He said this was fine and that "I had to put my hand in a specific spot for it not to work so there is no issue". " Would you say this is true? How likely is it that an operator would put their hand in that spot under regular circumstances?