Dust and spillage at conveyor load zones were once seen as a challenging issue, but Flexco’s conveyor solutions show that this is no longer the case.
Having spent considerable time on sites across Australia and New Zealand, Flexco regional sales manager Sebastian Olguin has a wealth of experience in tackling dust and spillage issues on belt conveyor systems.
“They aren’t just operational nuisances; they are severe safety hazards,” he told Safe to Work.
The most common issues, he said, are respiratory risks from airborne particulate matter, and slip, trip and fall hazards caused by fugitive material accumulating on walkways. In addition, when dust settles on moving components, it can cause premature equipment failure, leading to unplanned downtime.
Olguin is equally focused on the physical dangers that follow when material isn’t properly contained.
“Manual clean-up around moving conveyors is a dangerous, labour-intensive task on a site,” he said. “It exposes workers to pinch points, entanglement risks and heavy ergonomic strains from shovelling dense materials.”
This is the reality that Flexco, as a belt conveyor solution provider, is working to change. But instead of managing the consequences of poor containment, the company is striving to eliminate the conditions that create them in the first place.
Matching expectations
“Today, with stricter compliance standards and a genuine industry-wide commitment to worker safety, spillage is no longer acceptable,” Olguin said.
“Operators are looking for engineered solutions that stop the problem before it starts.”
That change in expectation has shaped how Flexco positions its offerings. Rather than responding to individual symptoms, the company has built its approach around what Olguin calls “holistic load zone solutions”.
“We don’t just offer a single product,” he said. “We provide integrated systems, like our impact beds, belt support bars and enclosed skirting systems, that work seamlessly together to tackle the root causes of dust escape.”
As Olguin sees it, Flexco’s role is to partner with operators to understand what’s actually happening at the load zone and build a solution from the ground up. This holistic approach can mitigate most issues, especially a persistent issue Olguin often encounters on-site: addressing the visible problem without fixing the underlying one.
“The most common mistake I see is sites trying to treat the symptoms rather than the disease,” he said. “They will constantly adjust or replace their skirting rubber but ignore the fact that the belt is sagging between the idlers underneath.
Olguin’s advice is to treat the load zone as a complete system.
“If you want to improve safety and contain dust, you have to support the belt first. Invest in proper impact beds and support bars to create a flat profile, and then apply your skirting,” Olguin said.
That sequence – stabilise, then seal – is the foundation of Flexco’s integrated approach to keep operations moving.
Flexco’s load zone solutions operate in three stages, each component complimenting the next.
When material drops onto the belt from the transfer chute, Flexco’s impact beds absorb the initial shock, protecting the belt from damage at the point of highest impact. As material moves forward, the belt support bars and slider beds take over, providing a flat, stable surface that eliminates the sag and gaps that form between traditional idlers.
“Because the belt is now fully supported and flat, our enclosed skirting system can do its job effectively,” Olguin said. “It is fully enclosed and features strategically placed dust curtains inside. These curtains slow down the air velocity, allowing the dust to settle back onto the belt rather than escaping into the surrounding environment.”
The outcome is particularly significant for fine, dusty quarry and aggregate materials, where airborne particulates are “a constant battle”.
“If you can keep the material on the belt and the dust enclosed, you immediately eliminate a whole cascade of downstream safety risks,” Olguin said.
Dust containment in action
When Flexco’s distributor was engaged to address serious dust and spillage issues at a local quarry operation, they turned to Flexco. The partnership that followed has since expanded well beyond the original brief.
The site in NSW had a complex enclosed skirting system installed at construction, but the design was working against the people using it. Every maintenance visit required unnecessary components to be removed just to access the parts needing attention, resulting in significant productivity losses. Compounding the disruption, the spare parts for the system were difficult to source, as the manufacturer was based in Europe, resulting in long lead times.
The system was also failing to contain spillage, with material accumulating on one side of the belt, causing it to mistrack and damaging the soft skirt and the conveyor structure.
Coming to the site’s assistance, Flexco’s distributor oversaw the installation of the Flexco enclosed skirt system. Remarkably, the 13m system was installed in just two 12-hour shifts.
In addition to ease of installation, the simplicity of the design meant maintenance tasks that had previously required production shutdowns could now be completed without disrupting operations. Easily adjustable hardskirts also provided longer-wearing side panels, reducing the frequency of interventions entirely.
Complementing the product itself was the partnership that Flexco offered from the get-go.
Flexco engineers came to the site to measure and provide support, as not all systems were standard and required engineered modifications.
That on-the-ground involvement, from measuring up and identifying what wasn’t standard to engineering the solution accordingly, reflects the exact approach Olguin describes when he talks about tackling root causes rather than symptoms.
Flexco’s enclosed skirting system has significantly reduced spillage, making it safer and easier for maintenance crews.
After the first two systems were installed in 2018, an additional eight units have been installed around the site.
For Olguin, the measure of a successful load zone solution ultimately centres around worker safety.
“By implementing a well-designed load zone solution, you drastically reduce the volume of fugitive material,” he said.
“Not only does this mean far less product wastage on the ground, but it also ensures clean-up goes from being a daily, hazardous chore to an infrequent, manageable task.
“It directly removes workers from the line of fire and allows them to focus on safer, more productive maintenance tasks.”
That outcome is what Flexco is working towards on every site.
“Effective load zone containment is about controlling the hazard at its source,” Olguin said. “You aren’t just protecting workers’ lungs; you are keeping them out of hazardous areas where manual shovelling and wash-downs usually take place.”
In Olguin’s words, if you contain the problem where it starts, the downstream risks take care of themselves. Flexco’s job is to make sure operators have the system to do exactly that.
This feature appeared in the May-June edition of Safe to Work.
