HSE Guidance Code Issued for Conveyor Workstations

The Health and Safety Executive Council (HSE), England’s foremost workplace health regulator, has issued guidelines for companies operating conveyor belts in the United Kingdom. These reports are drawing some appreciative buzz from “across the Pond” in North America. Primarily, the HSE has found that one of the leading causes of injury for those who sort through packages and/or components on a conveyor belt is musculoskeletal disorder.

Musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs for short, come in a nasty variety of types. While certain injuries to the human musculature or bone structure can transpire suddenly, others are slow-developing, harder to detect, and all the more insidious for being those things. Specifically, the awkward physical postures that conveyor line workers often have to assume during the course of sorting can lead to long-term problems such as spinal or back-related injuries, as well as deterioration of the arms and hip-joints. Repetitious twisting, leaning, and stooping, not to mention repeatedly lifting heavy objects from off a conveyor line can lead to all these things.

Workplace safety is something we all need to take seriously; manufacturers as much as plant operators. The need for conveyor belt sorters and workers to be seated at workstations whenever possible is something that can prevent a large number of these injuries from occurring over the long-term. At Furnace Belt, we can easily accommodate any workplace safety issues customers may have while designing our conveyor belts. A healthy worker is a productive and happy worker, it almost goes without saying. Let us know at Furnace Belt how we can help make your workplace healthier, safer, and more productive.