PROBLEM
Arcelor Mittal’s Peletizadora Largos plant had safety guards installed around the tail pulleys on some of its conveyors, fabricated with a heavy structural plate attached to the base of the conveyor frame. The main problem was their excessive weight and the difficulties encountered when they needed to be removed. This extended the time needed to service the pulleys and created a greater risk of injury or accident. Further, other tail pulleys that didn´t have guards remained a potential site for injury. The costs associated with this problem were:
- 1) labor time for removal and re-installation
- 2) operating hours lost due to the downtime required
- 3) cost of renting a specialized lift truck to handle the heavy existing guards.
SOLUTION
The plant´s superintendent of maintenance approached Martin Mexico for help finding a solution. After analyzing the case, the team recommended the installation of Martin® Conveyor Guards.Three guards were installed on conveyor 40-075, after removing the existing structure. Three additional guards were installed on each tail pulley of conveyors 40-076 and 40-077. Finally, the existing structure was removed from conveyor 40-078 and 3 Martin® Conveyor Guards were installed.
RESULTS
With the new guards in place, the labor required for removal and re-installation has been reduced to just a few minutes, with no specialized rental equipment needed. The guards are now easily removed, requiring just one person, minimizing maintenance, operating costs, and downtime. The risk of injury and/or accident has been dramatically reduced. The customer is completely satisfied with the solution provided.
