SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR IRON & STEEL SECTOR

MINISTRY OF OPERATION & Doc. No: SG/19

STEEL, GOVT. OF MAINTENANCE OF Rev no. : 00
INDIA CONVEYOR BELTS Effective Date : --

1. Objective
This safety guideline is meant for safe working in conveyor belt system during
operation, maintenance and belt changing activities preventing hazards like
getting caught/ pressed between objects, injury due to entanglement of clothing,
cleaning devices, body parts etc. with running parts of conveyor system, falling of
material from height, falling from height, snapping of belts etc.

2. Scope
This guideline is applicable in entire Iron & Steel industry in various areas such
as Raw Materials Handling Plant, Coal & Coke Handling Plant, Sinter Plant, Blast
Furnace, Steel Melting Shop, Power Plant, Rolling Mills etc. where conveyor
belts are used for material handling purpose.

3. Procedure
3.1 Definitions
Conveyor belt: A belt to carry materials and transmit the power required to
move the load being conveyed.
Belt Sway: A belt is considered to be aligned properly, when under full load or in
no load the edges of the running belt consistently remain within the width of the
pulley faces and within the confines of other rolling components, such as idlers. If
the running belt deviates from the above definition of aligned tracking, it is called
as ‘belt sway’.
Spillage: The fall of material from the belt conveyor.
Joint Preparation: Making of new joint in a belt conveyor.
Joint Repairing: Repairing of a damaged joint.
Pulley Lagging: Mounting/ fixing of layer of ceramic or rubber material on the
face of a pulley.

3.2 General
i. Before starting any activity in a conveyor belt, hazards & associated risks to
be identified and addressed. In all the activities, the worker must wear the
necessary PPEs.
ii. There must be proper illumination at the working area/ zone in the conveyor
belt.
iii. All the necessary tools and tackles should be checked prior to use in the job.
iv. During working at height, necessary protections should be taken as per the
SG-02: Safety Guideline for Working at Height.

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v. During working in Gas hazardous area necessary protection should be taken

as per the Gas safety standard.
vi. Follow all norms of permit to work system as per SG-04: Safety Guideline for
Permit to Work (Operation & Maintenance).

3.3 Safety Precautions during maintenance work in a Conveyor Belt

3.3.1 Conveyor Drive
i. Stop the conveyor belt, when it is empty. Never stop the belt in load.
ii. Ensure permit to work system is followed before starting of work as per SG-
04: Safety Guideline for Permit to Work (Operation & Maintenance).
iii. Only designated persons shall operate, repair or service the conveyors.
iv. As an additional safety precaution, one or two pull cord switches should be
kept in pulled position so that even if the conveyor is powered on, it will not
run.
v. Before changing/ replacing of any component of the drive (coupling, gearbox
or motor), do the positive isolation of potential energy source (take-up unit) of
the belt by holding it with a pair of suitable chain blocks. Select the chain
blocks from table-1. To hold take up, lift it by 6-8 inches to take GTU (Gravity
Take-up Unit) load by chain blocks. It is also desirable (although not a must)
to place the ‘I’ beam/ channel at correct position under the gravity take up.
Internal inspection of gearbox components should be done through the
provided inspection cover only and its top cover should not be opened at site.
vi. The oil level in fluid coupling should be maintained as per mentioned quantity
in its manual. The slip in fluid coupling should be less than 3%.
vii. In the pin-bush and gear couplings, the minimum gap between the flanges
should be maintained as per the recommended value according to their size
as per OEM.
viii. All the moving/ rotating components of the drive should be covered by
standard safety guards.
3.3.2 Counter Weight
Follow steps i, ii, & iii of section 3.3.1.
i. Spillage material accumulated on counter weight should be removed on
regular intervals.
ii. A counterweight and its pulleys suspended above the floor or ground, in an
area where an employee could walk, shall have an enclosure around the area
of impact or a catch pan under the counterweight of such strength and design
to hold the counterweight and pulley from dropping to the ground, floor or
platform.
iii. The concrete slab type counter weight should be replaced by box type closed
counter weight.

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iv. The rope of the counter weight should be checked at regular intervals for its
strands condition and bulldog grip looseness.
v. When two wire ropes hang the counter weight, the wire ropes should be of
opposite lay. This will avoid twisting of counter weight about its vertical axis.
vi. There should be proper gap (minimum 2 mm) clearance between the ‘L’
shaped guide clamp and the guideposts of the counter weight.
vii. The weight of the GTU should not be increased/ decreased without
consulting the designer/ expert of the conveyor belt.
viii. There should be minimum 2.5 m to 3.0 m clearance between the counter
weight and ground.
ix. Sufficient volume of sand may be ensured to take care of the impact of
counterweight if rope is broken.
x. Wire Mesh guard to be provided around the GTU.
3.3.3 Chute (Receiving or Discharge chutes)
Follow steps i, ii, & iii of section 3.3.1.
i. Before starting any job in receiving chute, power of the preceding belt or
feeding device must be isolated. Similarly, before starting any job in the
discharge chute, power of the succeeding belt must be isolated. In addition
the chute must be checked for loosely held material inside and cleaned
before entering.
ii. The side skirt rubber should not be kept in contact with the belt. This may
create longitudinal groove on belt top cover and increase friction also.
iii. The inside space between side skirt boards (left and right sides) should be
two third of belt width.
iv. Never use metal plate or piece of belt as a side skirt(s) as it may damage the
belt.
v. An inspection cover/ window should be given in chute at the non impact-wall.
The inspection window can be used for dislodging the jammed material on
impact walls or inspection of inside condition of chute.
vi. To protect the mother plate of a chute, the hard faced liner / wear resistant
liner plate / deflector plate should be fixed at the impact zone of chute walls.
vii. Before executing the welding or gas cutting job in chute, the belt below the
chute must be covered by a fire resistant cloth. For welding or gas cutting
work follow the safety standard of as per SG-07: Safety Guideline for Gas
cutting & Gas Welding.
viii. There must be proper clearance between the pulley (discharge pulley or tail
pulley) end face and the inside wall of the chute.
ix. If the dust content in the material handled is high, a dry fog or Dust Extraction
system should be installed at the receiving chute.
x. Heavy or long chute shall be made in pieces and flanged joint at position.

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xi. 24 volts hand lamp only should be used for inspections as well as performing
any job inside the chute.
xii. For performing job inside the chute, all the precautions for confined space
work to be taken as per SG-03: Safety guideline for Working in a Confined
Space.
3.3.4 Belt joint (Vulcanized or Mechanical)
Before starting the repairing or preparing of belt joint follow steps i, ii, & iii of
section 3.3.1.
i. Fix the jam angle with deck plate/ stringer at a sufficient free length (3 m to 5
m from the joint), towards head end of the conveyor belt.
ii. To pull the loose belt, it should be clamped with a pair of angles (also called
as pulling angles) at a distance of 3 to 5 m from the joint & towards tail end.
iii. Pull the belt from the pulling angles with the help of suitable chain blocks &
slings.
iv. Clamp the belt with a pair of jam angles and hold it with deck plate/ stringer.
This should be at a suitable distance from the pulling angles & towards tail
end of the conveyor belt. Before applying the adhesive the joint surface must
be cleaned thoroughly and the surface should be made free from moisture.
v. In case of mechanical joints of belt, proper selection of fastener and bolt
tightening should be done.
vi. If there is pocket formation at joint or the edge of the joint is found uprooted, it
should be repaired immediately.
vii. After joining and curing time, the counterweight shall be released slowly to
load the belt gradually. After full counterweight is released, the conveyor
should be run in no load to observe the performance of the joint.
Precautions: In case of short length belt where tilting of belt is not possible,
exact length of belt to be spliced to avoid the dressing.

3.3.5 Pulley
i. Pulley should be checked for its lagging condition (if lagging is present), axial
shift and its bearing condition on regular intervals.
ii. Weld-joint condition of the disc with hub and shell of the pulley should be
checked at every six month.
iii. Before starting the repairing or checking inspection work, where pulley is
required to touch, the steps explained in section 3.3.1 must be followed.
iv. Entrapment of material between tail pulley and return-side belt should be
avoided by fixing an inclined plow/ scrapper on the belt at return-side.
v. If the bearing temperature of the pulley is found above 70 ºC, the grease
quality, quantity and radial clearance of bearing should be checked. Always
close the greasing points after completion of greasing.
vi. The tail pulley of a conveyor belt should be guarded as per as per SG-09:

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Safety Guideline for Equipment & Machine Guarding.

vii. Ceramic lagging on bend pulley should be avoided as it increases the friction
and overall tension in the belt. If lagging is required, preferences to rubber
lagging should be given.
3.3.6 Idlers
i. The jammed or damaged idlers should be replaced immediately, as they have
high potential of damaging the belt (specially the belt joint).
ii. The space between two idlers should be maintained as per standards, based
on belt width and bulk density of material. For example, for a belt of width
1,200 mm and carrying material of bulk density 1.2 t/m 3 the distance between
two troughing idlers should be 1.0 m and that for return flat idlers should be
3.0 m. Distance between two idlers below the chute to be 0.5 m to avoid belt
sag which should not be more than 2%.
iii. The minimum distance between two troughing-trainer idler should be 15 m
and that for return trainer should be 30 m.
iv. For better control on belt sway, the ‘tru-trac’/ self aligning idlers can be used,
such as, In return side, fix the idler (i) at 4.0 m away from the tail pulley. (ii) At
about 2.0 m towards head end from the bend pulley of GTU and (iii) In return
side, at 4.0 m away from the head pulley.
v. Rubber lined impact idlers should be used at belt loading point.
3.3.7 Deck plate
i. Deck plate must be given below the troughing belt. It protects the entrapment
of spillage material between the rotating pulleys and the belt.
ii. The locations where the conveyor gallery is passing over the road or working
area, the deck plate below the return belt must be provided.
iii. Continuous deck plate to be made for conveyors inside the building/ unit.
iv. Seal plate shall be provided for belt conveyors.
v. For repairing or fixing of a deck plate, as per SG-07: Safety Guideline for Gas
Cutting & Gas Welding should be used.

3.3.8 Belt safety switches (Zero Speed Switch, Belt Sway Switch, Pull Cord
Switch)
i. The ZSS switch should be cleaned thoroughly at regular intervals.
ii. The length of lever of ‘belt sway switch’ should be in the range of belt during
belt sway.
iii. The ‘pull cord switch’ with LED indicator should be used and distance
between two pull cord switches to be maximum 30 mtr. If length of the belt is
less than 30 mtr., it should be 15 mtr.
iv. All the belt safety switches should be tested periodically (at suitable
frequency) for proper functioning.
v. Before repairing or changing of belt safety switches, the step i and ii of

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section 3.3.1 should be followed.

vi. Electro-mechanical brake or ratchet device should be provided in drive
system of conveyor belt in order to prevent roll back while tripping/ stopping of
conveyor of conveyor under load condition.
3.4 Safety Precautions during Operation work in a Conveyor Belt
3.4.1 Belt sway (Belt Tracking)
i. Avoid working near the conveyor with wearing loose clothing or jewelry. Do
not put your hands on a moving conveyor belt.
ii. Provide proper illumination at the working zone.
iii. Ensure the ‘OK’ condition of pull cord and emergency stop switch of the
conveyor belt by schedule inspection.
iv. Keep one skilled person with ‘walky-talky’/ Appropriate Communication
system near the pull cord/ emergency switch.
v. Communicate with control room before aligning/ tracking the running belt.
vi. Move the trainer idler by pushing/ pulling its frame from the ends only.
vii. Do not try to move any damaged/ jammed trainer idler.
viii. Stay away from any rotating parts of conveyors.
ix. Scrapper condition shall be checked at regular intervals.
3.4.2 Spillage recovery/ cleaning
Follow step i and ii of section 3.3.1.
i. Do not stand /walk on the belt.
ii. The spillage material accumulated below the return side-belt or on the deck
plate should be cleaned by hand scrappers only.
iii. The spillage material should be collected in bucket and it should not be
thrown down from conveyor gallery.
iv. Throw the collected spillage material on belt, only from those positions, where
the safety guards are provided on belts.
v. Never heap up the spillage material at the tail end of the conveyor.
vi. If the spillage material is in large amount (more than one ton), the conveyor
should be taken in local operation mode. Start the belt in empty condition.
Keep one person at pull cord. Communicate with control room and start
throwing the collected spillage material by bucket on the running belt from the
safety guard positions only or station made for this purpose.
3.4.3 Start/ Stop of belt
i. Sequential start/ stop shall be ensured for conveyors except in emergency to
avoid spillage.
ii. Ensure proper Pre-start warning/ Alarm system before starting of any
conveyor with minimum 30 seconds delay.

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iii. If a conveyor belt needs stopping, it should never be stopped in loaded

condition, except emergency.
3.5 Belt Changing job
i. New belt roll should be put on a fabricated & heavy stand and roll shaft to be
locked from top on supporting points. The stand should be sufficiently heavy
and stable to avoid tilting of stand while the belt is being changed.
ii. Belt changing area should be properly barricaded by safety ribbon and a
safety observer should be deployed throughout the job (Follow as per SG-11:
Safety Guideline for Barricading).
iii. Follow steps i, ii and iii of section 3.3.1.
iv. Belt conveyor should be put under local mode, if running of motor is required
for belt changing activity.
v. Before starting any activity in conveyor belt, do the positive isolation of
potential energy source (take-up unit) of the belt by holding it with suitable
chain blocks. Lift the Take-up by 6-8 inches (Refer Fig. - 1).
vi. Take-up must be lifted and held with two numbers of suitable and tested
chain blocks. Selection of chain block to be done as per the table-1.
vii. It is also desirable to place the ‘I’ beam/ channel at correct position under the
gravity take up, to avoid the free fall of take up. (Refer Fig. - 2).

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viii. Before cutting of old belt, it should be clamped properly with conveyor deck
plate by 2 nos. of jam angles (refer Table 2) on both side of the cutting
position. (Refer Fig. - 4).

ix. To avoid slip or damage of conveyor belt, a rubber piece should be inserted in
between the jam angle & conveyor belt.
x. One end of new belt should be joined with old belt by plate-fasteners. During
jointing, no of fasteners should be as per the given table 3.
xi. The other end of old belt, which is supposed to be pulled out, should be
clamped with holding T-shape plates. (Refer Fig. - 5).
xii. Positioning the belt at a suitable place for joining the belt and stop the
conveyor belt.
xiii. Do the positive isolation of all the electrical power sources of conveyor
system (including preceding and succeeding conveyors)
xiv. Holding plate with D-shackle should be tied with sling and hook to the pulling
device.

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xv. Release the jam angles and pull the old belt manually or by some external
pulling device (Like winch or pay loader). The new belt to be pulled from reel
by inching drive with local switch. (Refer Sketch-1).

xvi. The speed of pulling device should be very slow max. 15 meter/ min.
xvii. If belt is longer (more than 250 mtr. and at height), three persons should co-
ordinate through Walky-Talky. One with local switch operator, second with the
pulling device and the third along with joint movement.
xviii. If belt gallery is at more than 15 m height from ground, when about 5 to 8 m of
new belt remains in the wooden reel, pulling of belt to be stopped.
xix. Belt to be held in gallery at any point to avoid any movement in the belt.
a) Open/ un-wrap
the new belt
from reel and
hold the free end
of the new belt
with ‘T’ shape
plates & wire
rope. (Refer Fig.
- 5 & sketch-1).
The rope length
should be more than the height of gallery from ground.
b) Wrap the rope with a fixed and robust structure.
c) Holding of the belt in gallery to be released. Now pulling the belt and
releasing rope to be done simultaneously.
xx. The old belt should be pulled slowly and after
complete replacement of old belt, both ends of
new belt to be joined with plate fasteners (Refer
Fig. - 6) and the joint to be positioned in required
place for vulcanizing by using belt drive.
xxi. After all these activities are performed & belt

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changing is complete, power cut-off clearance to be taken and positive

isolation locking to be done properly.
xxii. If there is excess new belt before cutting, it should be hold with rope and
other end of rope should be fixed / anchored with robust structure at upper
level. (Refer Fig.-7)
xxiii. After vulcanizing, idlers to be set in their position release the take-up and put
tension on the belt.
xxiv. Once again inspection to be done to see “Is any jam angle left intact with
belt?” If not, Job completion clearance to be given.
xxv. Ensure provision of suitable Power Outlet at suitable location for facilitating
connection to hand lamp, Grinders, heaters etc.
xxvi. Ensure suitable fire fighting arrangements like fire extinguishers, Fire
Hydrants, Sprinklers etc. at job site.

References
a) IPSS: 1-11-026-16 “Safety Standards on Opn. and Maint. of Conveyor Belts in Steel
Industry”.
b) Relevant Indian Standards IS: 7155-1986.

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Table – 1: Table for selection of Chain block

Belt width Belt length (m) Chain Block Size
(mm) (Ton)
Up to 800 Upto 600 2T+2T
1000 Upto 300 2T+2T
Above 300 – up 3T+3T
to 600
Above 600 – up 5T+5T
to 1300
1200 - 1600 Upto 300 2T+2T
Above 300 – up 3T+3T
to 500
Above 500 – up 5T+5T
to 800
Note: The size of chain pulley block for holding the counter weight shall have a capacity
of 1.5 times the weight of counter weight, along with take up pulley and pulley frame.

Table – 2: Table for selection of Jam Angle

Length Cross Remarks
of section of
angle angle
1.5 X 90 X 90 X 8 1. Fasteners: Size-M20 grade
Belt (mm) 8.8, Quantity: 2 + 2
width 2. To avoid slip or damage of
(mm) conveyor belt, at the point where
jam angle has to be fixed, a
rubber piece should be inserted
in between the jam angle &
conveyor belt.

Table – 3: Table for selection of Belt fastener

Belt width Minimum no. of Distance between
(mm) fasteners two clip-fasteners
800 10 Approx. - 75 mm
1000 12 Approx. - 75 mm
1200 16 Approx. - 75 mm
1400 20 Approx. - 75 mm

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