A picture is worth a thousand words. So these three photos speak volumes (3000 words to be exact). I take a lot of photos when I travel to job sites because they can tell the story better than I can. I can't tell you how many times I have pulled up a photo from my travels to explain a problem/solution to a customer or coworker. I am sticking to my theme of Good, Bad, & Ugly to get my point across.
Good
Look at those blue skies and conveyors! Not much explanation is needed as to why I like this photo. CLEAN, SAFE, & PRODUCTIVE conveyors/operations make me happy.
Bad
Spillage...and lots of it! Conveyor belts shouldn't spill material. If they do, they need attention. There are 
to remedy this. Still, I can't tell you how many "footprints in the sand" I have made...and not the fun beach kind. It is a miracle I didn't faceplant on this walkway. Spillage leads to increased risks and decreased productivity. That material doesn't clean itself up, it takes additional maintenance time and expenses. Be cautious out there.
Ugly
Sometimes a conveyor takeup is made out of anything. I give this an A for creativity and functionality but an F for safety (or lack thereof). A take-up is a tensioning device used to ensure the belt remains tight against the drive pulley to maintain the necessary tension to move the belt and cargo. A takeup requires a certain weight (determined by the conveyor design) to keep tension on a belt. The conveyor doesn't care how you get the weight, just that you do. This specific operator just used some very creative methods to get to the required weight. While this contraption worked, it had fallen a few times so needless to say, it wasn't safe. It was actually doing more harm than good. Keeping the right amount of tension on a belt is important but there are better ways to achieve this task, without adding the risk of injury!
If you liked this blog post, check out my other Good, Bad, Ugly posts:
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