Recognizing the Importance of Conveyor-Belt Safety

If you’ve ever seen the “I Love Lucy” famous candy factory scene, you know how fast-paced conveyor belts can move. Although it’s funny to watch Lucy and Ethel frantically shove chocolate in their faces to avoid getting fired, those aren’t practices most food processing companies would find acceptable. June is National Safety Month, so we are highlighting the importance of conveyor belt safety.

Ensuring safety for our employees and customers begins before work begins. All conveyor parts are assembled, stabilized, and tested. Safety features such as rails and netting are put in place to protect workers from objects that might accidentally fall off the belt.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration lays out the safety and health regulations for using conveyors, and here are a few key points:

• Systems must have a stopping mechanism at the operator’s station
• A warning signal must sound immediately before starting up the machine
• Emergency stop switches should not allow the conveyor to start again until the stop has been reset to an “on” position
• Each crossover, aisle, or passageway must be marked with a sign
• If machine isn’t suitable for use, a clear “Do Not Operate” tag must be visible

Furnace Belt makes safety a priority, and we encourage you to check out the video below to learn about the National Safety Council’s Journey to Safety Excellence:

Image courtesy of I Love Lucy's Facebook page

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.

Belt Maintenance Is Your Friend!

When you buy a car, the dealership will let you know that you should come in for a check-up after a certain number of miles. While they totally believe in the quality of their product, they also know from experience that things need to be checked now and again to avoid major problems from forming.  The same goes for your conveyor belt. Nothing is worse than having a belt break in the middle of an important order. The lost time, money, and production will drive anyone to frustration (if not out of business). Though there is no magic bullet that lets you avoid mishaps completely, there is one way to limit them. At Furnace Belt, we believe that if you are consistent in performing belt maintenance through regular inspections and audits, your belts will last longer and run smoother. With that in mind, we put together the top five things to consider when doing belt maintenance:

1. Make sure your belt was made for your exact specifications. Don’t overshoot and try to get something too heavy for your needs. Belts have specific loading capacities and they must be respected.

2. Choose the proper alloy for the temperatures or application. For example, if you’re running at 2,000 degrees, you would use 314 stainless steel in building your belt; as opposed to using more standard galvanized steel. You can always ask one of our experts for help in finding the perfect belt for the appropriate temperature.

3. Keep up on the maintenance of the furnace itself. If your furnace is not running at the correct temperature, it will not only affect belt life, but your product quality as well.

4. Flip the belt from time to time. Give one side a rest in favor of the other. It’s a process that’s a little like rotating your crops in a field to insure overall health

5. Make sure that everything’s running true and straight.  Otherwise, your belt might be torn and if you process food that could mean disaster.

If you follow these steps, we believe you can not only maintain the life of your belt, but also ensure the safety of your workers and save money all at the same time.