Entrapment hazards in our industry come in many forms and types. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted numerous entrapment incidents resulting in countless injuries and deaths. This is a story dealing with a conveyor belt.
A employee at a metal recycling factory in the United Kingdom was injured after getting their arm trapped in a conveyor belt. Paramedics were called to the facility during the week of October 27, 2013 shortly after 10 am.
The company founded in the 1960's processes scrap metals from all over Europe.
The fire service also attended the incident. A spokesperson said: "We were called at 10:23 AM to the incident in which someone had trapped their arm in a conveyor belt. They had been released by the time of our arrival and the incident was left with the ambulance service."
The APSB wishes for a full recovery to the injured worker. Conveyors are sometimes overlooked in our facilities during hazard inspections. It is recommended that all conveyor belts have installed:
- Pull cords along the conveyor
- Stop buttons at critical locations
- Backstops (roll-back protection)
- Start-up warning devices (audible and visual)
- Lockout devices
- Guards
The US Department of Mine Safety Health Administration has some useful conveyor belt safety information which can be found here.
In addition, here is a video that maybe useful as an example of the hazards not having start-up warning devices (audible & visual). Though the video is graphic, hopefully it will convey the point that proper lockout tagout procedures involving conveyors is important.
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