CONVEYOR ROLLER BELT SAFETY
By: Evan Lucyk
Throughout our more than five decades of serving the mining community, Bit Service has seen it all and learned a great deal. One of the critical lessons we have learned is the extreme importance of adhering to the highest safety standards to ensure that all of our workers—and all of those who use our equipment—are protected.
Ask anyone who has ever experienced personally—or known someone who has been directly affected by—a dangerous accident or mishap with machinery, and they will attest to the utter devastation that can result. In light of this, we wanted to specifically address the topic of conveyor roller safety related to both maintenance and operations.
LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY: BREAKING THE CYCLE
There are countless horror stories of malfunctioning conveyor belts. We wanted to at least bring one to light to bring home that this is an issue that needs to be taken very seriously—not only for the safety and protection of the human operator but also for the protection of the company itself, as they can be held liable and fined heftily.
In this cautionary tale, which took place in 2019 at a manufacturing company’s facility in Ontario, a worker who was cleaning a conveyor was pulled by the rotating belt into the conveyor’s idler roller and trapped. Long story short: The machine’s conveyor belt section had been unlocked and energized to allow for cleaning. What unfolded was a court ruling—after an intense investigation by the Ministry of Labour of the incident—that the company had failed to ensure that machinery was only cleaned when motion that may endanger a worker had stopped. The manufacturer was fined and the worker was left with critical injuries.
This is a story that NO ONE wants to have told. To help you prevent a similar conveyor belt tragedy, we’ve compiled some helpful steps you can take to stay safe.
OPERATION
*Keep Your Distance: This past year, with the COVID pandemic and social distancing guidelines, we have become accustomed to maintaining space between ourselves and others already. Similarly, maintaining a safe distance is key to operator safety when using a conveyor belt.
*Stay Away from the Fray(s): Frays in the belt, or damaged and exposed steel in the carcass, are hazards in a moving belt with operators in close proximity.
*Proper Alignment is Everything: Proper alignment, or tracking, involves managing a belt to maintain a specific path, and it is critical for safety and optimum performance. Misalignment, or mistracking (when the belt drifts from one side to the other), can result in unforeseen downtime, belt damage, product damage, and maintenance troubleshooting issues. It can also result in an unsafe work zone for operators due to the risk of dangerous malfunctions.
MAINTENANCE
* “Weight” It Out: The weight of your idlers needs to be carefully considered and chosen when maintaining or replacing them.
*Looking Sharp: Stay alert for sharp edges, which may be present on a conveyor idler that had a failed outer shell.
*Avoid the Pinch: Pinch hazards are always present when replacing idlers and rollers in the area between the conveyor hardware and the axle of the idler.
By keeping an eye out for these safety issues and taking steps to prevent, protect, and properly maintain, you can ensure that you and anyone who handles your conveyor belt machinery will only have good stories to tell—of profit and production.