Larry:
IMHO, the safety consultant may be trying to justify his time/fee.
Qualified people working on a machine under testing/debug require access.
The print plant i worked in, had a safety guy who would measure the barrier to equipment clearance (space) and bust chops for an inch or two! The production manager 'relocated' the safety guy down to shipping area!
I used to try to maintain 44" clear on my side of the barrier. We used 5' high welding screens and had enough of them to block a 52' RotoPress.
