Todd Swinderman, president emeritus, Martin Engineering, makes a case for designing safety into a system rather than merely training safety, showcasing innovations that drastically improve safety that can be retrofitted into almost any belt conveyor system.
A properly designed conveyor controls emissions for improved safety and easier maintenance. All images © Martin Engineering 2025
Conveyors are among the fastest and potentially dangerous cargo transport systems at a bulk handling operation. Even though their safety and performance are critical to the operation’s success, the impact of their contribution to overall efficiency is often unrecognised by management and workers alike. Operational basics of belt conveyor systems are too often a mystery to those employees who have little understanding about the hardware installed and the performance required from the components.
The knowledge gap is understandable. The attention of personnel at a bulk handling operation is centered on logistical and scheduling concerns. The “care and feeding” of belt conveyors – i.e., the adjustment, maintenance and troubleshooting – make a huge difference in safety and performance but is typically outside of operator’s expertise. It’s not that they don’t care about conveyors, but the ongoing maintenance and service of these systems is often usurped or deprioritised for other issues.
The return on better design and quality is realised over the extended life and safety of the system.
Low-bid process and life cycle cost
Although the policy is generally not explicitly stated by companies, the Low-Bid Process is usually an implied rule that is baked into a company’s culture. It encourages bidders to follow a belt conveyor design methodology that is based on getting the maximum load on the conveyor belt and the minimum compliance with regulations using the lowest price materials, components and manufacturing processes available.
Maximising the volume of cargo and minimising the price of the system usually means choosing the narrowest feasible belt, operating at the highest speed possible. This leaves little margin for error and in many cases results in chute plugging, excessive spillage and reduced equipment life.
When companies buy on price, the benefits are often short-lived, and costs increase over time, eventually resulting in losses. In contrast, when purchases are made based on the lowest long-term cost (life-cycle cost), benefits usually continue to accrue and costs are lower, resulting in net savings over time.
Conveyor system design hierarchy
To safely maximise production, designers and engineers are urged to approach the project with a specific set of priorities. Rather than meeting minimum compliance standards, the conveyor system should exceed all code, safety and regulatory requirements using global best practices. By designing the system to minimise risk and the escape and accumulation of fugitive material, the workplace is made safer and the equipment is easier to maintain.
Life cycle costing should play into all component decisions. Be aware of specifications on project components that state “Specific manufacturer name/or equal. ” Vaguely written “Or Equal” specifications are there for competitive reasons and allow contractors to purchase on price without adequate consideration for construction or performance. Rather, buying on Life Cycle Cost or Engineer-Approved or equal and anticipating the future use of problem-solving components in the basic configuration of the conveyor provides improved safety and access, without increasing the structural steel requirements or significantly increasing the overall price. It also raises the possibility for easier system upgrades in the future. The ability to accommodate future increases in capacity can also be included in the original design, expanding options and reducing future modification costs.
Rather than meeting minimum compliance standards, conveyor systems should exceed code, safety and regulatory requirements.
Designing conveyor upgrades for safety
There is continuous pressure from managers to increase production to match customer demand. However, standards continue to tighten as government regulators retain their strong focus on worker safety, driving the need for equipment designs that are not just safe, but optimised for safety (designed for safety). Personnel are the single most important resource of any industrial operation. That’s why conveyor system designers are incorporating greater functionality into designs that will improve safety.
To reduce hazards in the workplace, operators employ a variety of methods, from requiring the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to installing the latest and safest equipment designs. When examining the safety of a system, improving efficiency and reducing risk can be achieved by utilising a hierarchy of control methods for alleviating hazards. The consensus among safety professionals is that the most effective way to mitigate risks is to eliminate the hazard by design. This usually requires greater initial capital investment than short-term fixes but yields more cost-effective and durable results.
Examples of Eliminate by Design are longer, taller and tightly sealed loading chutes to control dust and spillage or heavy-duty primary and secondary cleaners to minimise carryback. By using hazard identification and risk-assessment methods early in the design process, engineers can create the safest, most efficient system for the space, budget and application. These designs alleviate several workplace hazards, while minimising cleanup and maintenance, reducing unscheduled downtime and extending the life of the belt and the system itself.
Experienced engineers often recommend that operators retain an outside firm to examine system requirements and design new equipment around historical issues and specific needs of the application. An outside eye can generally observe potential hazards that can be overlooked by workers who experience them daily.
Before the drafting phase, designers should establish the goals of reducing injuries and exposure to hazards (dust, spillage, etc.) to increase conveyor uptime and productivity, and seek more effective approaches to ongoing operating and maintenance challenges. Designs should be forward-thinking, exceeding compliance standards and enhancing operators’ ability to incorporate future upgrades cost-effectively and easily by taking a modular approach.
This slide-out belt cleaner is engineered to be accessed safely and replaced by a single worker.
Combining safety and productivity
To meet the demands for greater safety and improved production, some manufacturers have introduced equipment designs that are not only engineered for safer operation and servicing but also reduced maintenance time. One example is a new family of heavy-duty conveyor belt cleaners, designed so the blade cartridge can be pulled away from the belt for safe access and replaced by a single worker.
The same slide-out technology has been applied to impact cradle designs. The systems are engineered so operators can work on the equipment safely, without breaking the plane of motion. External servicing reduces confined space entry and eliminates reach-in maintenance, while facilitating faster replacement. The result is greater safety and efficiency, with less downtime.
Another example is a revolutionary new belt cleaner design that can reduce the need for bulky urethane blades altogether, an innovative belt cleaning system that has received the Australian Bulk Handling Award in the “Innovative Technology” category for its design and potential benefits. The patented design delivers extended service life, low belt wear, significantly reduced maintenance and improved safety, ultimately delivering lower cost of ownership.
The track-mounted systems can be serviced quickly and safely, with no reach-in maintenance.
Unlike conventional belt cleaners that are mounted at an angle to the belt, the unique cleaner is installed diagonally across the discharge pulley, forming a three-dimensional curve beneath the discharge area that conforms to the pulley’s shape. The novel approach has been so effective that in many operations, previously crucial secondary belt cleaners have become unnecessary, saving further on belt cleaning costs and service time.
Conclusion
Engineering safer conveyors is a long-term strategy. Although design absorbs less than 10% of the total budget of a project, Engineering Procurement Construction Management (EPCM) services can be as much a 15% of the installed cost of a major project, additional upfront engineering and applying a life cycle-cost methodology to the selection and purchase of conveyor components proves beneficial. By encouraging the use of the Hierarchy of Controls at the planning stage, along with the Design Hierarchy at the design stage, the installation of an Evolved Basic Conveyor can be achieved. The system will likely meet the demands of modern production and safety regulations, with a longer operational life, fewer stoppages and a lower cost of operation.
| About author: R. Todd Swinderman, president emeritus, Martin Engineering earned his BS from the University of Illinois, joining Martin Engineering’s Conveyor Products division in 1979 and subsequently serving as VP and general manager, president, CEO and chief technology officer. He has authored dozens of articles and papers, presenting at conferences and customer facilities around the world and holding more than 140 active patents. Swinderman served as president of the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (CEMA), was the editor of CEMA’s 6th and 7th editions of Belt Conveyors for Bulk Materials, The Design Guide for Belt Conveyors. He is active on several CEMA committees including chair of the Bulk Safety Committee and is a member of the ASME B20 committee on conveyor safety which set US conveyor safety standards. Swinderman retired from Martin Engineering to establish his own engineering firm, currently serving the company as an independent consultant. |
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