ability to work on machinery even when it's
Conveyor Safety
Do not climb, sit, stand, walk, ride,
or touch the conveyor at any time
Not following this rule can lead to injury, and
it happens more often than you would like to
believe.
 It's imperative that workers never climb, sit,
stand, walk, ride or even touch the conveyor
line at any time. It's common sense, but
people tend to get mischievous about it and
there are injuries and equipment damage
due to not following this rule every year.
Do not perform maintenance on
conveyor until electrical, air,
hydraulic, and gravity energy
sources have been locked out or
blocked
It is plain old common sense to follow this
rule. Don't perform any maintenance (or
even open a panel or guard) until electrical,
air, or hydraulic power sources are
disconnected or blocked out. Block the
incline on a gravity conveyor before getting
to work on it. There are technicians who
sometimes become too confident in their
connected to power because they have
been around it a long time and know it well.
It's this kind of thinking that can lead to
injuries.
Do not load a stopped conveyor or
overload a running conveyor
This simple safety standard helps preserve
your conveying equipment because it helps
prevent overheating.
Workers shouldn't ever load a conveyor
when it's stopped, or overload it when it is
running.
Ensure that all personnel are clear
of equipment before starting
Workers should always be certain that
everyone is clear of the conveyor before
starting it up. Many times, factories install
warning horns to alert workers that the
conveyors are about to become active. This
is an excellent, and relatively inexpensive
safety upgrade you can make, but you
shouldn't stop there. Training should also be
included about what the warning horn
means and how injuries can occur if it's
ignored.
Allow only authorized personnel to
operate or maintain material
handling equipment
Only workers who have been trained should
be permitted to operate and perform
maintenance on conveyors. This is for two
reasons: (1) Safety of the technician.
Conveyors can be dangerous to those who
do not thoroughly understand the equipment
and how to safely work on it. (2) Only trained
personnel can really maintain a conveyor to
perform at peak efficiency. This isn't
necessarily a safety concern, although it can
be if sub par conveyor performance causes
workers to try to look at it on their own or
bypass guards.
Do not modify or misuse conveyor
controls
Conveyor controls are not just on/off
switches. They are any kind of electronic or
mechanical devices used during conveyor
operation. These controls should never be
modified for any reason by unqualified
personnel. Monitor your various controls to
be sure no one has misused, modified, or
disconnected them.
Keep clothing, body parts, and hair
away from the conveyor
It cannot be stressed enough how
important it is to keep clear of conveying
equipment while it is in operation. This is
one of the most common ways to be
injured around a conveyor. Workers
should keep their hands off of conveyors.
Those with long hair, loose clothes, or ties
should be exceptionally careful (or should
bind their hair and clothes before going
near the machinery). Ties should be
thrown over the shoulder or tucked in.
Long sleeves should be restrained or
rolled up. Visitors to your plant should be
briefed on safety and inspected for
potential clothes or hair that could be
caught before being allowed near the
conveyor line.
Remove
trash, paperwork, and other debris
only when power is locked out and
tagged out.
It's important that the area around your
conveyors be kept clean and as free of dirt,
oil, etc. as much as possible to insure the
equipment continues to operate efficiently.
However, it is unsafe to do that cleaning and
maintenance when the conveyor is powered
and operating. Beyond that, you should
familiarize cleaning crews with conveyor
safety as well as your conveyor operators,
pickers, packers, etc.