A Guide to

Conveyor Safety

Mining & Quarrying Occupational Health & Safety Committee

A Guide to
Conveyor Safety
Mining & Quarrying Occupational Health & Safety Committee

April 2000
 C0ntents

Contents
Foreword 2
Introduction 4
What the Law requires 5
Making your conveyor safe 11
Appendix 1 34
Appendix 2 36
Appendix 3 38

Disclaimer
Information provided in this publication is designed to address the most commonly
raised issues in the workplace relevant to South Australian legislation such as the
Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 and the Workers Rehabilitation and
Compensation Act 1986. They are not intended as a replacement for the legislation.
In particular, WorkCover Corporation, its agents, officers and employees :
* make no representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information
and data contained in the publication,
* accept no liability for any use of the said information or reliance placed on it, and
make no representations, either expressed or implied, as to the suitability of the
said information for any particular purpose.
ISBN Number: 0 9585938 4 1

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

2
 Foreword

Foreword
Safety is a much talked about issue throughout the mining and quarrying
industry and there isn't anyone about who would say that their quarry is
unsafe. But the fact of the matter is, we still experienced 323 incidents in
the 1998/99 financial year, as well as some 10 fatalities between 1989
&1999. And that is in South Australia alone. Obviously, there is a lot
more that we can still do.

There are a number of reasons for running a safe operation and it's a lot
more than just doing it because it's the right thing to do. Firstly, it's good
business practice. At an average cost of approximately $33,000 per injury,
it doesn't take many incidents to put a dent in your bottom line. And this
doesn't take into account your production downtime or the hidden costs
of having low worker morale and having to find replacements for your
injured people.

Secondly, how much do you really value your people or your workmates?
Good safety practice is a very visible way of showing that you do value
the people you work with, and you will be rewarded by a workplace
that's not only safer but more productive as well.

Thirdly, it's the law. There are some pretty tough penalties for companies
and individuals who breach their duty of care when it comes to safety,
and these penalties can extend to jail sentences.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

3
 Foreword

So please use this manual to help make your operation safer. The hazards
identified in this manual are ones that only cause an accident once in a
while, but when it does happen, it will most likely be a big one. They are
the kinds of hazards that you've probably walked past every day for the
last 5 years without having a second thought. But think, how much
consolation will that be to a child when you're explaining why their
parent won't be coming home again.

Safe mining.

Rose Mitchell
Presiding Officer
Mining & Quarrying Occupational Health and Safety Committee.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

4
 Introduction

Introduction
As quarrying is essentially the process of moving product, most quarries
inevitably have some form of conveying system as conveyors are a very
efficient way of moving material. To move large amounts of material
requires a lot of energy, and it is this energy which makes conveyors one
of the most dangerous items of plant in a quarry.

Typically, people do not spend much time around conveyors. Most of

the work done around conveyors involves inspections, cleaning up or
maintenance. Generally this work occurs infrequently and the belt is
(usually) turned off when it does occur. Also, walkways next to conveyors
are used to access crushing and screening plants.

As a result, accidents don't often occur around conveyor belts.

However, because of the energy associated with conveyor belts, when
an accident does occur, it is likely to be major, resulting in a fatality or
very serious injuries.

There are many different hazards that exist around conveyor belts (for
example dust, noise, rotating/moving parts) . This manual will only focus
on the risk of becoming tangled with moving parts. It will explain what
you are obliged to do by law and give you a few hints on how you can
make your plant safe and achieve compliance, while still keeping your
plant practical.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

5
 What the Law requires

What the Law requires

The Occupational Health Safety and Welfare Act 1986 places an
obligation of a "general duty of care" by an employer to its employees.
"General duty of care" includes the observance of approved codes of
practice, of which Australian Standard AS 1755 is the code relevant to
conveyor operation. It can essentially be summarised into two key areas:

Provision of Appropriate Guarding:

Australian Standard AS 1755 states that "Guards shall be designed to
prevent injury to persons and shall be provided at every dangerous part
of a conveyor normally accessible to personnel."

The term "designed to prevent injury to persons" should be understood

as making a guard that makes it physically impossible it for a person to
access the dangerous part. This means that people shouldn't be able to
put their hands or fingers through it, put their arms around, over or
under it to reach the dangerous part of the conveyor.

The term "accessible" basically means any item of conveyor plant which
is less than 2.5 metres above the ground or from any walkway.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

6
 What the Law requires

Provision of emergency stop controls :

Legislation requires that all conveyors be fitted with emergency stop
controls, these being:

Lanyards or Pullwires:

For accessible conveyors (less than 2.5 metres above the ground or from
any walkway), lanyards should be used in preference to emergency stop
buttons. Lanyards should be supported every 4.5m and cause the
conveyor to stop in the event of their being pulled in any direction,
breaking, slackening or removal

Emergency Stop Buttons:

If the conveyor is accessible (less than 2.5m above the ground or
walkway), in the absence of a lanyard an emergency stop button must
be located every 30m. Emergency Stop buttons should be:

* Red
* Prominently marked
* Readily accessible
* Mushroom head latch in or lock in with manual reset.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

7
 What the Law requires

For conveyors higher than 2.5m above the ground or any walkway
(inaccessible to persons) an emergency stop button must be located
every 100m.

Note: The use of lanyards or emergency stop buttons is not a

substitute for and does not reduce your obligation to provide
physical guarding!

Major Conveyor Hazards

Dangerous parts of conveyor can include (but are not limited) to the
following items:

Dust cover or skirt

Vertival bend or
gooseneck idlers Trough idlers Head pulley
(trough idlers) Direction
Loading chute skirt

Return plough
Head snub
Bend pulley Gravity pulley
Impact idlers bend
Gravity pulley pulleys Drive snub
Return idlers pulley
Tail pulley Counterweight Drive pulley

Reproduced by kind permission of Standards Australia. Full text of

the Standards AS 1755-1986, Conveyors – Design, construction,
installation and operation – Safety requirements, can be obtained
from Standards Australia

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

8
 What the Law requires

Tail Drum and Head Drum Arrangements

Nip point

Any section of the belt where there are

exposed idlers in combination with skirts

Nip points

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

9
 What the Law requires

Any belt drive arrangement

Nip points

Any skirting or scraper arrangements

Nip points

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

10
 What the Law requires

Any belt takeup or tensioning devices

Nip point

Any exposed drive shafts

Exposed shaft
around which
long hair or
loose clothing
can easily be
tangled with.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

11
 Making your conveyor safe

Making your
conveyor safe
There is a combination of things that should be done in order to
eliminate the hazard associated with moving parts on conveyors. They
can be loosely classified into 2 categories: direct physical guarding and
indirect methods such as procedures, training, signage, and so on.

Direct Physical Guarding

A physical barrier is your first line of defence against a conveyor accident
and is the most effective means of protection from dangerous points on
conveyors. It is a means of physically preventing access to dangerous
areas, and is also a requirement by law. There are 3 key points that should
always be considered when designing and fitting guards:

(1) The guards must actually make access to the nip

point physically impossible (see Appendix 1)
This means that people shouldn’t be able to put their hands or fingers
(depending on clearance) through it, put their arms around, over or under
it, or lean over it to reach the dangerous part of the conveyor (even if
they try!). Remember, hand rails are not guards!

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

12
 Making your conveyor safe

(2) The guard must not impede the operation

of the plant:
If the guard makes maintenance and housekeeping difficult, or restricts
general thoroughfare and access , it is likely that it will be taken out at
some later stage or not replaced after maintenance.

(3) The guard itself must not create a new manual

handling risk:
Care must be taken during the design of the guards to ensure that that
they are not too heavy or awkward to create a hazard each time they
need to be lifted or moved. Ideally, every guard should be designed to
be self supporting if possible.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

13
 Making your conveyor safe

Types of Guarding and Where to use Them

Where Regular Access to or past Nip Points is not

Required
Specifically for situations where:

• the belt does not run alongside an access to another part of the
plant, and

• if maintenance of, or housekeeping around, the belt is only required

to be undertaken when the belt is not operating and isolated.

Gates (and fencing) are a very simple and effective option to use. To
be successful, the following key points need to be considered:

• Gate dimensions are such that people cannot reach in over the top
or reach in from underneath. The distance of the gate from the belt
should be as far away as practical and determines the size of the
mesh in the gate or fence. (see diagram)

• The gate has an interlock mechanism to turn off the belt once it
is opened or conversely for smaller operations be padlocked shut
(with an isolation procedure in place). Interlock mechanisms can
be susceptible to dust , so you must judge your own individual
situation. If using padlocks, the only keys should be held by the
manager or senior supervisor, and the stop controls for the belt
should be outside of the restricted area.

• Correct signage indicating the conditions under which you are

allowed to pass through the gates is used.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

14
 Making your conveyor safe

Things to watch out for with this type of arrangement:

• Gates can be left open or not secured

• Interlocks can be overidden or not maintained

• Cannot be used solely for tail drum protection

Gate dimensions Mesh size Padlock or Appropriate

so that people correctly so interlock danger signs
can’t reach over people can’t mechanism (for example: no
the top or slide climb (see Appendix 3) entry while plant
underneath to is running)
reach conveyor

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

15
 Making your conveyor safe

Note: locks on
both gates

Some examples of gates restricting access to whole

sections of plant

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

16
 Making your conveyor safe

Where Regular Access to or past Nip Points is Required

In many situations, regular access is required to, or past nip points. For
installation of guards in these cases the key points that need to be
considered are:

• No physical access can be available to the nip point. As these

guards can be very close to the nip point, care must be taken to
ensure that the mesh is small enough to disallow fingers or hands
to reach the nip point.

• Practicality - The guard should be light enough to be handled by

one person and easy to install or remove for maintenance. Where
possible, a self supporting guard should be used to eliminate any
manual handling hazard.

• Must require some type of tool for removal.

• Must have signage saying that drive must be isolated prior

to removal.

People will sometimes

try to reach through,
over, around or under
guards to avoid stopping
the belt for a quick job.
Guards should be built
such that this is not
possible to do! (See
appendix 1)

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

17
 Making your conveyor safe

Tail & Head Drum Guards:

Tail and head drums are one of the most hazardous sections of a
conveyor with access being required occasionally for lubrication, belt
alignment, spillage cleanup and condition monitoring. Key issues to
watch out for with tail drum guards are:

• guards must be designed so that belt alignment can be done with

guards on

• guards must allow for ease of cleaning around pulley

• lubrication points should be accessible with the guard on (for

example use tubing)

• Tail drum nip point must be physically impossible to reach!

Ensure arrangement has slots/holes Ensure guard is fixed to main

cut out for drum adjustment. Watch conveyor framework. Configure to
out that the slots aren’t to big to your situation.
allow access to the drum, and don’t
forget the trip hazard created by the
protruding threads!

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

18
 Making your conveyor safe

Allow for holes in guard which

provide access for lubrication and
drum adjustment. Make sure that it
is not possible to reach the nip point
through these holes!

• In some cases with old plant it may not possible to repair, adjust
or track the belt while it's operating with normal guarding in
place. In these cases, it is important that such work is carried out
by an authorised competent person with an attendant at the
emergency stop station, and that an appropriate safe work
procedure is in place.

Don’t forget to
use warning

DANGER signs around all

conveyor guards!

ISOLATE DRIVE
BEFORE REMOVING GUARD

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

19
 Making your conveyor safe

Idler and skirt guards:

There are a number of different types of guards which can equally offer
good protection. It is recommended you choose the hinged type guards
if possible, as they avoid the manual handling issues and ongoing hassles
that bolt on guards incur after the initial installation.

Type 1:
Simple, easy to use idler guard. Incorporates hinges so that one person
can take down and a locking device. Locking device can be attached to
any vertical member, and doesn’t have to be in the middle of the guard.
Once unlocked, the guard hinges down to allow easy access for
maintenance or cleaning.

Locking device

Hinges

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

20
 Making your conveyor safe

Type 2:
Hinged guard which swings up rather than down. Good in situations
where there is a lot of horizontal steelwork and not many uprights. Use
same hinges and locking mechanisms as for the Type 1 guard.

Locking mechanism at
most convenient place

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

21
 Making your conveyor safe

Type3:
Standard bolted guards are by far the simplest of guards and most
commonly used, with the guard being bolted to the most convenient
piece of steelwork.

Watch out:
(a) that you don’t build the guard too big for one person to remove
and install easily

(b) that the bolts don’t get covered with dust and have to be cut off
when needed to be used. It’s very easy for guards not to be
replaced when this happens.

Bolts attached to most

convenient steelwork

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

22
 Making your conveyor safe

Upright swinging hinged guard

Example of a hinged guard which swings downwards

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

23
 Making your conveyor safe

Return idler guards:

Special care must be taken to ensure full coverage of roller and that ease
of cleaning is considered. Particularly necessary where access underneath
belt is required (Note: where access under belts is required, an appropriate
canopy should also be in place to protect from falling objects).

Commonly used return idler guard. Inclusion of locking device and

hinge allows for easier cleaning. Concept can be extended to cover
more than one set of return idlers.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

24
 Making your conveyor safe

Belt Drive guards:

Some examples of typical belt drive guard arrangements

There are many different types of arrangements that can be satisfactorily

used as long as:
• enclosure of the belt drive is complete (this includes the back of the
belt drive)
• the mesh is small enough to ensure that people can't accidentally
access the belt drive

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

25
 Making your conveyor safe

Indirect Safety Measures

Physical guarding is the best means for increasing the safety around your
conveyors, but there are a number of measures which should also be
taken to complement guarding and act as another means of preventing
a conveyor incident. While they cannot be used as the sole means of
protection, they will play a large role in raising awareness and increasing
safety around your conveyors. These measures are discussed below.

Training & Inductions

Training (and retraining) is important for all staff, but it is especially
critical that people like contractors, casuals, new starters, visitors and
anyone else who will be exposed to conveying plant be fully briefed and
familiar with the following key points:

Awareness of no entry areas

People must be aware of where they can go or can't go, and this must
be reinforced by correct signage and barriers.

Awareness of correct safety apparel

It must be made clear what items are mandatory (eg hardhat, steel
capped boots, glasses, dustmasks, earplugs etc) and where they are
to be worn. The type of clothing and hair requirements should also
be included here.

Awareness of emergency stop mechanisms

All personnel should be made fully aware of the location of emergency
stop mechanisms (such as lanyards and stop buttons) and how to operate
them in case of an emergency. Personnel should also be aware that
emergency stop mechanisms should not be used for isolating belts!

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

26
 Making your conveyor safe

Awareness of basic conveyor procedures

Of course that new bloke will be alright ... only an idiot

would put their hand near a conveyor while it’s running!

Basic conveyor protocol should be reinforced(for example don’t take off

the guard when the belt is running, isolate the belt before cleaning or
maintenance, no riding on the belt and so on).

Procedures & Standards

Procedures and standards help provide a safe system of work and remove
the heavy reliance on the use of common sense (which tends to be very
uncommon). They let everyone know how a job should be done and allow
you to maintain your operation at a standard that you set, regardless of
the people that you have working for you at the time. Typical procedures
and standards which are particularly relevant to conveyor safety are:

Isolation procedures
Crucial for any work on or close to conveyors that requires guards to be
removed before it can be carried out. Four key points that should be
included are:

• The system is locked out at a point where is not possible to override

and start the system from another point. The individual lockouts
should not be able to be physically removed except by the person
who put it on. Under no circumstances should emergency stop
mechanisms be used for the purpose of equipment isolation.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

27
 Making your conveyor safe

• Everyone who is going to work in the "danger zone" must have

their individual lockout mechanisms at the lockout point.

• Nobody is to remove anyone else’s lockout. Each individual is

responsible for removing their tag and their tag only. (The site
should have a system in place to allow a senior manager to remove
the lockout provided they are totally satisfied that the individual
cannot be exposed to any danger as a result). This will allow the
site to manage the situation where a person goes home and forgets
to remove their tag.

• Verification of isolation must occur prior to commencing work

to ensure that the correct plant has been isolated.

Pad lock and danger tag

on main isolating switch
which makes it physically
impossible to energise
the equipment unless
padlock is removed.
The person who has the
keys is the one who is
doing the work requiring
the isolation.

One example of an isolating mechanism

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

28
 Making your conveyor safe

Housekeeping Standards
Tools, rocks or rubbish lying around can lead to trip hazards, fires,
conveyor damage and so on. Maintaining good housekeeping
standards involves:

• Any rubbish (rags, tramp metal and so on) that is deposited around
a conveyor system is to be cleaned up immediately.

• Any spillage should be cleaned up as soon as is practicable.

(This could be at the end of a shift after crushing and conveying
is finished of during a maintenance period when the conveyors
aren’t running)

• All tools required for maintenance should have racks or holders

etc, so that they are not lying around on walkways or leaning
loosely against handrails.

Storage shelves near a conveying area.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

29
 Making your conveyor safe

Cleaning around belts

Unless nip points are completely guarded and inaccessible, no cleaning is
to be undertaken under or in the close proximity of belts unless the belt
is turned off and isolated.

Lubrication
Lubrication points should always be positioned outside the guards and be
remote to the nip points with the use of tubes. If this is not possible, then
the belt should be isolated during any lubrication activities.

Remote lubrication points

situated in a safe position
on the plant

A final word on standards and procedures:

If you're going to have standards you must be prepared to enforce them.
Remember, the minimum standard that is set is the highest standard
most people will work to.

Signage
Correct signage plays a big role in the overall safety of the plant. In some
cases it may be compulsory and serves to act as a last warning against
hazards for people who are unfamiliar with them.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

30
 Making your conveyor safe

Signs should be used in any area where people could be exposed to

hazards, or in situations where somebody could do something to create a
hazardous situation. Typical situations include:

• to restrict access – no entry past this point

• to indicate areas where correct safety apparel is compulsory

– hard hat and glasses must be worn beyond this point

• to remind of something that needs to be done before

another action is carried out – Warning: isolate belt before
removing guards.

Note: Care must be taken when placing signs to ensure that they are
relevant for the area and do not contradict each other.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

31
 Making your conveyor safe

Skirts
The use of skirts plays no direct role in increasing the overall safety of a
system (in fact each set of skirts introduces additional nip points!), but
the correct use and maintenance of skirts and scrapers will eliminate
spillage, the source of many conveyor incidents. Spillage around tail
drums, mud building up on idlers and so on often require guards to be
taken off so that the spillage can be cleaned up. It is in these situations
where if the job is a quick one, the temptation to not go through the
correct procedure and isolate the belt is high. Accordingly, the use of
good skirts and scrapers will reduce how often you will need to clean up
around the belt, and this fact alone will reduce the exposure of people to
the belt and hence make it safer.

Different types of skirt arrangements (shown with guards removed).

Note the use of a steel plate to secure the rubber flap in the photo
on opposite page, which allows easy replacement when worn.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

32
 Making your conveyor safe

A commonly used arrangement (with guards removed). The use of bolts

to secure the rubber skirts is effective, but makes for an awkward job
when the flap needs to be replaced.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

33
 Making your conveyor safe

For More Information refer to:

Australian Standards AS 1755 -
Conveyor Design, Construction, Installation and Operation -
Safety Requirements
Australian Standards AS 4024.1 -
Safeguarding of Machinery - Part 1 - General Principles
Occupational Health, Safety & Welfare Act - 1986

or contact:
Mining and Quarrying Occupational Health and Safety Committee
(MAQOHSC)
Telephone: (08) 8 238 5791 or (08) 8233 2002
Facsimile: (08) 8233 2223
Group Health and Safety Services (GHSS)
Telephone: (08) 8379 9711
Facsimile: (08) 8379 1142
Workplace Services - Department of Administrative and
Information Services (DAIS)
Telephone: (08) 8303 0257
Facsimile: (08) 8303 0255

Acknowledgments
Special thanks to the following groups for their patience with site visits, editing & provision of
information without which this document would not have been possible:
Rocla Quarry Products - Staff at Maslins Beach Sand Quarry, Boral - Staff at Stonyfell and
Linwood Quarries, Southern Quarries - Staff at Selleck's Hill Quarry, Penrice Soda Products -
Staff at Angaston Quarry, Pioneer - Staff at WhiteRock Quarry , Magill, Staff at Rosedale
Quarry - Barossa Valley, Commercial Minerals - Staff at Gilman Operations, Mount Isa Mines
Holdings - Staff at Mount Isa Mines Operations, BHP - Staff at Ardrossan Dolomite Quarry,
Staff at Workplace Services - Department of Administrative and Information Services,
Members of the Hazard Management Committee, Staff at Workcover Corporation ,
Staff at the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy, CSR - Staff at Riverview Quarry,
Martin Art, Staff at Blackwood and Sons, Laurie Mason and Associates, Staff at
Fortress Systems, WMC Resources Ltd – Staff at Olympic Dam Operations.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

34
 Appendix 1

Appendix 1
Reach & other key dimensions (as per AS 1755)
Minimum distance above floor before
guarding of nip points is not required: 2500 mm

Minimum distance of guard from danger

point if mesh opening is up to and
including 9mm: Working clearance only

Minimum distance of guard from danger

point if mesh opening is above 9mm up
to 50mm square: 150 mm

Minimum distance of guard from danger

point if it is possible to get wrist through
the mesh or guard: 280mm

Minimum distance of guard from danger

point if it is possible to get elbow
through the mesh or guard: 500mm

Minimum distance of guard from danger

point if it is possible to get entire arm
through the mesh or guard: 1000mm

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

35
 Appendix 1

Maximum distance of underside of guard

from the floor (in the case of gates, fences
or guards providing protection from floor level): 250mm

Maximum size of mesh (in the case of

gates or fences ): 50mm2

Minimum height of fencing: 1600mm

Emergency Stop Locations

Maximum distance between emergency
stop locations if conveyor is accessible: 30m

Maximum distance between emergency

stop locations if conveyor is inaccessible: 100m

Maximum distance between supports

for lanyard emergency stop mechanism: 4.5m

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

36
 Appendix 2

Appendix 2
An example of a locking device used in some South
Australian quarries

Picture in open position

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

37
 Appendix 2

Picture in Closed position

This particular fastening device utilises a slotted cam which can swivel in
a 900 arc. A hinged gate or panel or guard with a hole in it can slide over
the device when the tab is in the open position, and then be locked into
place when the tab is swivelled. Any pressure or weight put on the device
actually serves to further lock the device in place.

It typically needs to be loosened with a hammer or similar tool when it

is locked into place, and has the added advantage that a padlock can be
used with it for extra security. A version can be obtained with a fitted
spring which will further improve its locking capabilities.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

38
 Appendix 3

Appendix 3
An example of an interlock system
Trapped Key Interlock System for One Energy Source,
and One Acess Point
H31S interlocked rotary switch
When key is in the H31S switch the power supply is on. Removing the key
breaks contacts in the switch and isolates power. This key is taken to the
H31 access interlock.
H31S access interlock mounted on access door
The key is inserted and turned in the H31CN access
interlock, this allows the bolt to be removed and the
door opened. Whilst the door is open the key
remains trapped, ensuring that the key cannot be
reinserted into the switch and the power restored.
The sequence is reversed to restore power.

A Guide to Conveyor Safety

39
 A Guide to
Conveyor Safety

Mining & Quarrying Occupational Health & Safety Committee