Hi, Does anyone have any experience in Continuous moving production lines for car plants or similar?, I'm working on a project to introduce one which is replacing a standard production line. The new one will move constantly though very slowly (maximum 1.3 metres per minute) and operators will constantly be working alongside it. Any info from a safety point of view would be much appreciated, ie; accident stats, hazards or risk assessments. Thanks, Stephen

As Rover Group's Group safety adviser for some 11 years with prior experience at one of it's car body/pressing plants, (1973-89) I guess I fit the bill. These lines are/were very traditional in the car industry and even at the time when I had 10,000 lost time accidents at my fingertips on computer, (for a workforce of 50,000+ spanning 10 years) I can't recall one incident arising specifically from moving assembly lines, apart from one maintenance engineer who jumped down steps into a conveyor pit, slipped and pulled the hinged lid down on his neck fracturing his spine. Typically these lines would be several hundred yards long and each could have several hundred workers on them. On some lines workers had a 3 minute cycle time for their alloted tasks. The big issue we had was keeping people at their own station. There was a tendency for operators to work back up the line so they could finish early which meant them carrying stuff up the track into other people's sections with consequent congestion etc. A poor worker would end up trailing his work down the track and holding everyone up. The main issues you will have are the same as static lines - handling, general contact and slips and falls. Although it would be nice to ergonomically design workstations to suit individuals, when you recruit 3,000 workers in one shot and operate a fully flexible line with workers standing in for each other to take breaks and multi-shifting, as Rover were doing at the end, the opportunities for individual workstation adaptation are quite frankly non-existent. Dave Daniel