Hi guys,

A recent practice has been raised by our H&S committee memembers today. The issue is work equipment electrical panels are being regularly access by operators to reset the trip switches. I have requested the maintenance dept update me on any issues with the equipment that would be causing the electricity supply to continually trip. However the H&S rep also stated that if the equipment is blocked or there is a issue with the product that causes a jam (fast moving conveyor and vacuum packing line) the equipment also trips.

Now i'm only at the very beginning of my investigation into this issue but my initial thought is to ask other safety professionals have they had any issues with access to the these panels for similar problems and is there a panel that is constructed so that the trip switch can be reactivated without allowing access to the internals of the panel. This is also located in a wet environment and with IP rated electrical equipt so the i need to completely stop this practice for many reasons. Maintenance dept have stressed they simply cannot respond to these issues to reset the switch as provision of qualified electrican is limited and the equipment would lie for prolonged periods of time without production if only electricians were permitted to do this work. In this production environment (food) it would not be possible. So i have the H&S issue that i need to be rectified against the resistance from production and management.

Any ideas or wisdom from past experiences would be much appreciated!

Cheers

Perhaps this "fast moving conveyor" needs to be slowed down a bit. Sounds like the limit of efficiency of the system has been exceeded, i.e. benefit to production in extra speed is being lost due to continual blockage and jams (which will also cause premature failure of components).