What’s the hold-up with the new Conveyor Safety Standards?

For those not aware, the process of replacing the Australian Standard for Conveyor Safety, AS 1755, is well underway. This standard will be replaced by the following set of safety standards:

• AS 4024.3610 – Safety of Machinery, Conveyors, General requirements
• AS 4024.3611 – Safety of Machinery, Conveyors, Belt conveyors for bulk material handling
• AS 4024.3612 – Safety of Machinery, Conveyors, Light duty belt conveyors
• AS 4024.3613 – Safety of Machinery, Conveyors, Screw conveyors
• AS 4024.3614 – Safety of Machinery, Conveyors, Mobile and transportable conveyors

The General requirements standard, AS 4024.3610, will replace the bulk of AS 1755. The major differences will include:

• Updated references to current international and Australian standards
• Updated control system requirements to allow for new design standards and current technology
• Increased information on guarding options and methodology. This information should be used within the requirements of any state legislation (ACT/Regulations) or codes of practice.
• Increased attention on the lifecycle activities of the equipment, such as risk assessment, installation,  commissioning, decommissioning, etc.

This General requirements standard will now be complemented by specific conveyor type standards, which will allow for more detailed guidance and compatibility of safety control measures. For example, with the AS 4024.3611 standard there will be improved information on aspects of belt conveyors for bulk material handling such as:

• Hazard list specific for this type of conveyor
• Safety considerations specific for this type of conveyor
• Inclusion of current industry practices
• Statistics on incidents involving belt conveyors for bulk material handling

For those who have been paying attention, there has been a significant delay since the public comment period of AS 4024.3610 and AS 4024.3611, which ended in February 2014. So why has it taken so long to publish these standards?

To avoid confusion, the new standards will only be released once all of the sections are ready for publishing. This allows AS 1755 to be fully superseded in one step.

So in conclusion the new set of standards will provide improved guidance for conveyor safety and the process is still moving forward, however the new standards will only be available once they are all ready to be published.

Unsure what all this mean for you? Want an overview of the different machine safety standards in Australia and how these tie in with OH&S requirements? Want to help on knowing how to select the applicable standard when designing a safety system? Well register and come along to the information session below.

NHP Electrical Engineering Products in conjunction with EngSpace are holding a Safety Standards session with guest presenters Frank Schrever, Chairman - Standards Australia Committee and Amy Whykes, Product Engineer - Safety & Sensing at NHP.