Conveyor Safety Basics - 12 Rules To Live

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.
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 ability
to work on machinery even when it's 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.
They built the conveyors with guards for a

reason - safety! Operating it without the guards
is one of the most unsafe, and sadly, most
common occurrences in the industry.
Guards are sometimes removed by plant

employees for maintenance, or because they
obstruct someone's access doing work. This
exposes machinery, gears, chains, and moving
parts that are extremely dangerous if left
unguarded.
Source: CEMA Conveyor Safety Standards BAT ASIA PACIFIC EHS- AUGUST 2013
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’s running.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In case a conveyor needs to be stopped

suddenly, all the controls and pull cords need to
be easily accessible and plainly visible so that
anyone working in the area can reach them.
By the same token, anyone who regularly works
in a conveyor area must be familiar with the
location and function of stop and start controls.
The controls must be marked to avoid confusion
and allow people to make fast decisions on
using them. Training should be given to all
employees about the controls, where they are,
when to use them, and how to access them. It's
best if this fundamental safety training is
repeated frequently, and especially so if you
reconfigure your plant, change layout, or update
equipment.
You should have a culture of safety around your

conveyors that encourages workers to report
unsafe conditions like loose guards, people
working too closely with the conveyors with
unrestrained clothes or hair, etc. Training about
safety issues and when to report them should
be made to all employees and repeated often.
Untrained people trying to clear conveyor jams
can result in unsafe situations as well as
damaged equipment. Workers should be trained
to call facility maintenance to clear jams.

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Not following this rule can lead to injury, and it

happens more often than you would like to

It's imperative that workers never climb, sit,

It is plain old common sense to follow this rule.

They built the conveyors with guards for a

Guards are sometimes removed by plant

Workers shouldn’t ever load a conveyor when

Workers should always be certain that everyone

Only workers who have been trained should be

Conveyor controls are not just on/off switches.

It's important that the area around your

In case a conveyor needs to be stopped

You should have a culture of safety around your

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