The Mining and Minerals South team at South32's Worsley Alumina Refinery have come up with a simple and clever way to eliminate manual handling risks associated with manually cleaning air manifold filters.
Previously, filters were placed into modified sandblasting cabinets and manually rotating as they were blasted with compressed air. This repetitive and labour-intensive task was tiring for employees and not entirely effective at cleaning the filters, reducing their efficiency.
Trades Assistant, Terry Hill, recognised this issue and proposed an alternate method. Using an air manifold placed inside the filters and placing them on top of a set of rollers, the filter could be cleaned from the inside and rotates under its own weight from the air pressure.
This simple and creative process eliminates the need for manual handling and potential exposure to compressed air. It also reduces the time it takes to clean the filters whilst increasing their lifespan and minimising maintenance costs.
Easily transferable to cleaning activities across the business that use compressed air or pressurised water, the team have been nominated for the 2022-2023 Managing Director’s Safety Innovation Award. Great work team and congratulations on the nomination!