Primary crusher

Conveyor Safety
Scalper

Secondary crusher (+)40 lumps

Screen

(+)10- (40) Calibrated ore

Thickener

classifier

Cyclone Classifier fines

Cyclone fines
Questions
• How will you conduct a hazard risk analysis
of a beneficiation plant ?
• What are the safety features in a
beneficiation plant ?
• Which are the different sources of accident
in a conveyor belt and how to avoid them
Write Short note on
• Lock out tag
• Machine guarding
 • Safety features in screening Plants
1) Reversing of trucks in feed & product hoppers
2) Pull cords switches-These are required to stop
belt conveyors in emergency. It should be
connected in a way to ensure that equipments
before should also trip
3) Start in sequence with siren and with auto
timer to complete starting in time
4) Local isolation switches
5) Work permit system
6) Drums rubber lagged to prevent slippage
7) Skirt boards to a minimum length of 2.5 times
the width of belt to avoid material falling down
8) Inclination of ladders ,caging of ladders,
landing,
9) Stair case width, toe guard, hand rail no sharp
ends
10) Grizzly cleaning with safety belt and no
reverse of trucks while men are cleaning,
11) erect gates with green and red lights on side
12) Do not allow any truck to parked on hopper
13) Head &Tail head pulley guard
14) Coupling guard
15) Gravity take up guard
16) Loose cloth
17) Screen drive pulley and fly wheel guard
18) Shut down permit
19) Illumination as per standard
20) Locating of control room with good visibility
21) Separate tapping in control panel for welding
circuit
22) Precautions in welding and gas cutting
23) Hand held 12 v inspection lamps for inspection
supported by step down transformers
24) Back stops in gear boxes
25) Under pass in designated areas with over
head guard
26) Cross over for belt
27) Ease of accessibility to carrier and return
rollers
28) Plough or any other type of scraper to clean
return belt
29) Hood covering and/or sprinklers to control dust
30) Zero speed detector
31) Walk way on both sides of belt conveyor with
anti skid material
32) Audio visual signal to indicate when conveyor
is running
33) Fire extinguishers
34) Shock proof matting near panel board
35) Interlocking of equipments as needed
• Conveyor belt - This is the heart of the system and the costliest individual item
in the system. The standard rubber conveyor belt has a foundation of sufficient
strength to withstand the driving tension and loading strains. The foundation can
be of cotton, nylon, or steel cord, which is bound together with a rubber matrix
and completely covered with a layer of vulcanised rubber.
• How the conveyor belt gets drive?
The conveyor belt is driven by an electric motor through a gear box and drive
pulley. There is also some fluid coupling in between the motor and gear box so
as to enable smooth start and to avoid slippage due to heavy inertial load in a
static belt system.
To induce motion without slipping requires good contact between the belt and
drive pulley. This may not be possible with a single 180 degree turn over a pulley
and some form of "snubbed pulley" drive or "tandem" drive arrangement may be
more effective. This will depend on the type of load, length of the conveying
system and gradient over which the conveying system has to carry the load
• What are safety requirement of the belt conveying system?
A series of belts should incorporate an interlock system such that failure of
any particular belt will automatically stop preceding belts.
• Interlock with devices being fed by the belt is also important for the same
reasons. It should not be possible to shut down any machine in the system
without arresting the feed to the machine at the same time.
• Similarly, motor failure should also lead to the automatic tripping of all
preceding belts and machines. Nowadays most of the modern plants use
PLC system for controlling the operation of all plant equipments.
Precautionary measures are to be taken while loading the conveyor belt.
Several methods can be used to minimise loading shock on the belt. A
typical arrangement is screening the fines on to the belt first to provide a
cushion for the larger pieces of rock.
Proper sensing devices and guiding devices should be installed to check the
run out of belt.
At the loading point the carrier rollers may be rubber coated so as to reduce
wear and damage from impact loading and the gap between the rollers is
also less than the remain length of the conveying system. This helps in
reducing the sock loading of the belt.
 Source: Professional Safety Journal of the American Society of Safety
Engineers (November 2004)

Location wise data Frequency %

Between the drive pulley, head pulley or tail pulley and the belt, 48%
inside one of these pulleys or between one of these pulleys another
pulley
13%
Between an idler or a return idler and the belt
Other locations (e.g., between electromagnets and other components.) 13%

Drum motor transmission mechanism. 7%

Between a take-up pulley and the belt. 5%

Between a caught tool and the belt or the conveyor frame. 2%

Not indicated or uncertain. 12%

Activity wise data Frequenc
y%
Cleaning a pulley or applying adhesive on a pulley or cleaning 24%
another component of a conveyor (idler or return idler, frame).
Maintenance work (other than cleaning conducted on a moving 20%
conveyor.)
Normal work (e.g., sorting, packaging) performed on or near a 11%
conveyor.
Recovering an article caught in an unprotected nip point (7 of 8: 9%
between a pulley and the belt;
Cleaning under or around a conveyor 7%
Maintenance work (other than cleaning) near a moving conveyor. 6%
Unjamming the conveyor or removing an accumulation of 5%
material.
Adjusting the belt tension or alignment. • Other activities (e.g., 4%
worker being transported 4%by a conveyor).
• Not indicated. 10%
 The main hazards related to belt
conveyors are mechanical. Other
hazards are produced by non-compliance
with ergonomic principles when workers
operate near the conveyor (operation
station, control of the process, loading
and unloading); failure or malfunction or
safety-related control systems; electrical
hazards; and thermal phenomena (such
as heat, fire or explosion).
 The main mechanical hazards are related to:
mechanical power transmission components (e.g., drive
shaft, reducing gears) that can cause damage by
entrainment (by a belt or on nip points), crushing or
entanglement (human body entangled around a rotating
part) on contact with rotating components;
other moving components (e.g., idlers, pulleys, belt) that
can cause damage by entrainment in nip points,
abrasion and burns;
pinching zones (e.g., feeder, skirt-board, skirt-board
seal) that can cause damage by shearing and crushing;
moving loads that can cause damage by shearing and
crushing between the load and a fixed component, or an
impact;
moving subassemblies (e.g., ejectors, switches, transfer
mechanism) that can cause damage by shearing and
crushing;
CONVEYOR GUARDING
In general, conveyor guards must be so designed, constructed and
used that they will:
1.a) provide positive protection preventing access to all dangerous
areas during
operation
b) guards shall be permanently fixed or
c) a physical barrier securely fixed in position by means of fasteners or
other suitable devices, and which ensures that the guard cannot be
altered or detached without the aid of a tool or key, or
d) if a fixed barrier is not reasonably practicable, and access to
dangerous
areas is required during operation, an interlocked physical barrer may
be used.
2. If access to parts protected by guards is required for maintenance or
other reasons, the guards or parts of them may be hinged or otherwise
moveable, and wherever practicable they must be interlocked with the
machine
During the training of conveyor operators, care should be
taken to ensure that each operator understands the safe
operation of the conveyor and the following safety
precautions:
􀂾 The method of stopping and starting the conveyor.
􀂾 The hazards in the course of normal working of the
conveyor.
􀂾 The hazards from bad practices, inattention and
misuse.
􀂾 The purpose of the guard or safety device, and how the
guard or device may fail.
􀂾 Informing the person in charge if any faults or defects
arise, and the danger to the operator in attempting to
correct any faults.
A conveyor operator should be closely supervised by a
person with a thorough knowledge of conveyors during the
training period.
SAFE OPERATING PROCEDURES
The following operating procedures apply to all conveyor
installations:
􀂾 DO ensure all START/STOP and emergency controls
are clearly marked.
􀂾 DO keep the area clean and tidy. Good housekeeping
eliminates hazards, ie. tripping, slipping and falling.
􀂾 DO lockout, isolate, danger tag, or use some other
control measure before working on a bogged or
overloaded conveyor
􀂾 DO isolate and danger tag the power source before
working on a bogged or overloaded conveyor.
􀂾 DO ensure persons working near a conveyor are
aware of the location of STOP/START and emergency
controls.
􀂾 DO wear appropriate clothing-avoid loose
clothing near moving conveyors
DON'T walk under a moving conveyor unless the
access is guarded against spillage.
􀂾 DON'T clean belts, pulleys, drum, trough or
return idlers while a conveyor is moving.
􀂾 DON'T ride on a moving conveyor.
􀂾 DON'T repair or maintain a conveyor while
in motion
Should repairs, adjustments, or tracking be
required on a moving conveyor belt without
normal guarding, it is important that the work is
carried out by an authorized competent person
with an attendant at the emergency stop
station, and that the appropriate safe work
procedure is in place.
STARTING THE CONVEYOR
Before you start a conveyor, check: 􀂾 Are you sure that nobody is
working on the conveyor, and that access platforms are clear? Inspect
area to make sure!
􀂾 Are all the guards fitted? Are the emergency stop switches working
and clearly marked?
􀂾 If lanyards are fitted are they working correctly?
􀂾 Is the warning siren working?
􀂾 Are fire fighting devices in place ready for
use?
􀂾 Are all the lights working and clean?