Problem
A pre-start health and safety review of the facility highlighted several safety hazards regarding the high tensile strapping line at Samuel Strapping in Mississauga. In the event of a power loss, several systems would continue to operate until the momentum of the object or the residual fluid pressure in the lines reduced sufficiently to halt mechanical operations. The health and safety review noted that in the event of either power loss or during scheduled maintenance, operators and maintenance personnel could be severely injured by the continued motion and pinch points present within the system. Special concern was directed at the maintenance personnel who were required to service the system under power where lockout tags were used to stop the system from being turned off manually but there was virtually no precaution taken if power to the plant was lost and someone was servicing the system on the inside.
Solution
MacroMotion installed a dual redundant safety system which, in the event of power loss/failure, would lock the system in place. Dual redundancy was achieved by directional valves that were installed in pairs so in the event that one of the valves failed the other would be able to maintain the safety system. Downstream pressure was dumped and a series of check valves were installed to ensure that when power returned to the system, pneumatic and hydraulic components were slowly re-energized. The safety systems were integrated into the existing PLC which allowed for both monitoring and control from a central location, in Samuel’s case the control room. MacroMotion was also tasked with updating and installing several static safety features like replacing/improving the existing safety cages and installing guard rails to stop operators from accidentally accessing any parts of the system deemed unsafe by the safety review.
Result
The system installation was successful and operated as intended. Typically, the only time a follow-up occurs is when there is an issue and MacroMotion was never contacted about problems related to the system. We are unsure whether or not the system is still in operation but we assume not since Samuel no longer operates at the Dixie Road, Mississauga location.
