The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reports over fifty workplace fatalities a year where conveyors are the primary source of injury. Workplace injuries account for nearly 25% of all workers' compensation claims and up to 35% of all associated costs. Clearly, your company cannot afford to ignore conveyor safety, and must actively find ways to enforce it.
Inadequate guarding, or unguarded conveyors are a crucial safety breach that can be minimized with good training and employee awareness. We always recommend having adequate conveyor guarding in every situation.
Unsafe operations can be expensive: Unguarded conveyor belts that exposed workers at a Worcester, Mass., CVS Pharmacy to possible fractures and crushing injuries resulted in $61,575 in fines from OSHA. Clearly, you want to avoid these kinds of fines and the potential injuries that can result by unsafe conditions.
Defective conveyor equipment is unproductive and dangerous. When conveyors are not running at correct speeds, belt tensions, or in other ways, accidents can result. Your people should be trained to avoid these situations, and to report any malfunctioning conveying equipment as soon as they're aware of it.
Conveyors that are arranged hazardously can be a source of accidents. If your conveyor layout is made so that it flows foot traffic into areas where people can come into contact with moving conveyors, training can help them avoid injuries. Many order pickers are in contact with conveying equipment on a frequent basis. Instructing them how to safely utilize the conveyors and how to avoid contact with them is an investment that will pay off.
Another possibility is that overhead or elevated conveyors may result in conveyed items that fall, possibly causing injuries. To avoid this, we recommend that conveyors be guarded either with railings, safety netting, or other fall protection products that prevent conveyed items from falling onto people who walk beneath.
In the CVS case, OSHA inspectors also discovered that employees were not instructed on how to prevent accidental conveyor startups while clearing product jams and the company lacked written instructions for doing so. Employees also faced tripping hazards from material stored directly in front of the conveyor. These conditions resulted in three alleged serious violations with $6,375 in proposed fines.
Any facility that utilizes conveyors should work to train everyone involved in safe operations. This should include frequent updates and refresher classes. Training and process are probably the single most important aspect of conveyor safety.
Everyone involved in a conveyor-using facility can be responsible for safety. Preventing unsafe acts should be part of your culture.
Operating conveyors without training or authority should be avoided. People who don't understand how the system might react shouldn't be at the controls, even if the degree of complexity is simple on the surface. Always be sure to train everyone who works in a conveyor area about how to operate the equipment and where the controls are. Everyone should know where stop switches are, how to use them, and when to use them.
Conveyors should never be operated in an unsafe manner. This includes people standing or riding on the conveyor, overloading it, or reaching into or under the conveyor when it's in motion.
At times, people will deactivate safety devices to expedite work or to quicken the pace. You should understand what devices are installed on a conveyor to make it safer, and be sure yours are always operational and in place. Your employees should report any inoperative devices or other hazards as a matter of process, as quickly as possible. Employees should never knowingly use unsafe equipment.
Unsafe loading of conveyors is another factor. When people understand where conveyors are to be loaded, and how to interact with the equipment, the chances of injuries are reduced significantly. Loading a conveyor over guards or railing, for instance, increases the chance the employee bending incorrectly or unsafely, or that he will load near a drive or motor and have a better chance of catching clothing in the rollers.
Workstations that include lift tables or other ergonomic devices help to ensure employees load in the right position, as the devices make loading easier and faster, as well as safer.
Obviously, many of the same principles apply when loading and lifting with conveyors as when lifting and loading elsewhere. Employees who are familiar with correct lifting techniques are less likely to be injured due to conveyors, especially when moderate to heavy items are being loaded and unloaded. Unsafe position and posture are critical to conveyor safety.
In general, workers should never interact with in-motion conveyors. Conveyor lines can be designed to move totes to a spur or workstation to be scanned, to be order-picked, etc.
Establishing safety committees and inspection committees is one way to involve your people in issues involving their own safety. It helps both you and them to understand what issues may exist in the facility, and where people could be injured. Safety committees can frequently and comprehensively advise, evaluate, and investigate your material handling processes. The key for management is to get involved and ensure the committees meet, that they stay on-focus, and that standards are set.