Materials handling equipment, such as shiploaders, shipunloaders, stackers, reclaimers etc., for the mining industry has shown failure rates much higher than standard static structures. Such equipment comprises large moving structures with onerous load conditions compared to standard building structures. Structural failures and associated injuries, damage and loss of availability of such equipment are usually due to a combination of causes of which design may only be one of the factors. Method of operation, deterioration and wear as well as human error are often also contributory. Under workplace health and safety legislation, owners and operators of such equipment have significant responsibilities for safe operation. There is an Australian Standard AS 2550, for safe use of cranes which requires inspections and assessments in addition to consideration of design issues. These requirements are mandatory for cranes however there is no equivalent document for materials handling equipment. This paper examines the issues associated with the safe use of materials handling equipment and gives recommendations as to the steps owners and operators can implement to promote safe use including:
• Regular inspections
• Calibration and testing of critical safety devices
• Accurate records of machine parameters
• Independent proof auditing of structural compliance
• Change management
Finally the paper gives recommendations on how a machine book system can be set up to manage the information pertaining to each item of equipment in a controlled manner.