Controlled manual & risk register

Mattresses are unloaded and stacked in stable windrows at 116 Furner Avenue, North Geelong. A Yanmar VIO100 excavator fitted with a grab places mattresses into the Terex/T-Rex 820 slow-speed twin-shaft shredder. The shredder, conveyors, magnets, fixed high-pressure air and AirBlade systems separate waste fluff from recoverable steel.

The installed dust-control system includes:

• Techgene high-capacity extraction at the shredder chamber, main discharge conveyor and waste-pulp discharge/bin area.
• Airtight T1000 extraction at the staffed operating and picking area.
• Airtight T200 extraction downstream of the primary magnet.
• OKE extraction at the secondary conveyor and AirBlade area.
• A water-mist canopy over the twin shafts, two industrial misting fans and a Husqvarna A-series air scrubber.
• Two chamber-front AirBlades and one magnet-discharge AirBlade.
• Two roof-mounted inline booster units that support duct airflow and may be accessed only by authorised, trained personnel.

Waste fluff is discharged into a 42 m³ hook bin. Steel travels to the staffed sorting conveyor, where two workers remove contaminated clumps and unrecoverable material from the designated workstations. The Process/Bin Attendant monitors flow and coordinates bin position from a safe location.

• No production, recovery or time target takes priority over safety.
• Never reach into, climb onto, stand on, cross under or enter a conveyor, hopper, chute, magnet, AirBlade chamber or guarded area while energy is connected or hazardous movement is possible.
• Every jam, blockage, clean, adjustment, inspection or maintenance task requiring danger-zone access is a LOTO task.
• Never bypass, defeat or remove a guard, interlock, E-stop, pull wire, alarm, extraction system or fire control.
• Physically separate pedestrians and mobile plant wherever reasonably practicable. Radios, horns, beacons and cameras do not replace separation.
• Dust controls must operate before processing starts and until airborne material is cleared. Dry sweeping and compressed-air cleaning of floors, plant, skin or clothing are prohibited.
• Every worker has authority to stop the process. Restart requires the responsible supervisor to confirm the risk is controlled.

Before entering the signed Yellow Zone, wear and correctly fit the PPE selected by the site risk assessment and exposure monitoring:

• Fit-tested particulate respirator specified by the respiratory protection program. Facial hair must not interfere with the seal.
• Selected hearing protection that still permits awareness of alarms and communication.
• Impact-rated close-fitting safety glasses, plus a face shield where required by the projectile assessment.
• High-visibility long-sleeved shirt and long trousers or protective coveralls. Secure loose sleeves, hood cords, jewellery and long hair.
• Safety footwear with toe protection, puncture-resistant sole and slip resistance.
• Task-appropriate cut-resistant gloves for stationary steel only. Never place gloves near moving shafts, rollers, belts or nip points.
• Hard hat where required by the mobile-plant or falling-object assessment.

Do not enter with damaged, contaminated, poorly fitting or incompatible PPE. PPE is the final layer of protection and never replaces guarding, exclusion or isolation.

• Perform a radio check before start-up and use the dedicated channel.
• Only the Plant Controller gives the start or restart command.
• Use closed-loop communication: instruction, repeat-back and confirmation.
• If speech, a hand signal, an alarm or a beacon is not understood, STOP. Never assume the message was received.
• Before mobile plant crosses or enters a processing interface, establish eye contact and obtain positive acknowledgement from every affected worker.
• A spotter controls one interaction or blind movement only and must not perform another task at the same time.
• Loss of radio, alarm, beacon or visibility is a stop-work condition until an equivalent safe system is established.

The Plant Controller completes and submits the separate Daily Pre-start before start-up. After the form passes:

• Walk the line and account for all people outside danger zones.
• Secure guards and gates and confirm no danger locks, tags or out-of-service tags remain.
• Start local exhaust extraction and the air scrubber first. Verify airflow and collection direction. Activate approved mist and AirBlade controls without reducing visibility, wetting electrical components or directing contaminants into breathing zones.
• Start downstream conveyors and separation equipment before upstream conveyors and the shredder, following the approved manufacturer sequence.
• Sound the pre-start warning and announce the start over radio.
• Start the shredder at idle/no load and check for abnormal noise, vibration, belt tracking, sparks, smoke, dust leakage or unexpected movement.
• Authorise excavator feeding only after all systems are stable.

During operation:

• Feed one mattress at a time unless an approved manufacturer instruction and site assessment say otherwise.
• Keep people outside the excavator swing, stockpile-collapse, hopper-feed and mobile-plant zones.
• Picking staff remain at the designed workstations behind guarding and never reach beyond the safe reach line.
• Keep hands, gloves, clothing and tools clear of nip points, rollers, belt edges, magnet discharge and chutes.
• Do not catch, kick, hand-guide or manually redirect separated steel.
• Stop feeding for bridging, rebound, wrapping, excessive dust, abnormal load, sparks, smoke or any safety-control failure.
• Reject and quarantine mattresses containing suspect batteries, gas cylinders, sharps, chemicals, asbestos-containing material, medical contamination or other prohibited items.

• Stay outside the marked magnetic-field boundary. Keep loose ferrous tools, chains, bars, knives, keys and other magnetic objects outside while energised.
• People with pacemakers, implanted medical devices or magnetically sensitive equipment must not enter without confirmed safe access.
• Use the controlled tool board/register for maintenance and count tools before and after work.
• Treat all mattress spring wire as sharp, potentially hot and stored under tension. It may whip or recoil.
• Do not pull tangled wire from a belt, roller, chute, magnet or AirBlade system.
• Do not cut tensioned wire until the whole connected system is isolated and the wire is safely restrained.
• Assume steel leaving the shredder, magnet and AirBlade may be hot. Allow it to stop and cool before handling.
• Stop and report unusually hot steel, sparks, smoke, burning odour or glowing material.

• All required extraction, the water-mist canopy, misting fans, air scrubber, AirBlades and roof-mounted booster units must be effective before processing begins.
• Stop mattress feeding immediately if dust escapes, visibility reduces, airflow or pressure is abnormal, a dust-control system stops, or water leaks toward electrical equipment or walkways.
• Fixed high-pressure air and AirBlade components must remain guarded and correctly aimed. Never use compressed air on skin, clothing, floors or plant.
• Do not access or service roof-mounted booster units unless authorised and trained for roof access, work at height, electrical isolation and LOTO.
• Report sparks, smoke, hot bearings, burning odour, abnormal heat, damaged wiring, loose ducting or reduced airflow immediately.
• No smoking, vaping, open flame or unauthorised hot work is permitted in the process or dust-collection area.

Minimum isolation sequence:

• Notify affected workers and identify the complete connected system and every energy source.
• Stop normally, then isolate electricity, hydraulics, pneumatics, compressed air, water pressure, mechanical/kinetic energy, gravity, magnetism, heat and associated plant as applicable.
• Each exposed person applies their own personal lock and danger tag.
• Bleed, vent, drain, block, lower, chock, restrain and otherwise control stored energy.
• Verify zero energy using the approved try-start and test-for-dead methods; return controls to off.
• Barricade the area and perform only the approved method from safe access.
• Account for people, tools, wire, cleaning equipment and removed parts. Restore and inspect guards, interlocks and ducting.
• Each person removes their own lock. Warn affected workers and complete a controlled restart while observing for abnormal conditions.

An E-stop, stop button, pull wire, screen command or radio instruction is not isolation. If any source, point, method or machine condition is unclear, do not proceed.

• Stop feeding and allow remaining material to process only where safe.
• Shut down in the approved upstream-to-downstream sequence while keeping extraction and the air scrubber operating long enough to clear residual airborne dust.
• Shut down mist and AirBlade systems in the approved order and leave surfaces safe and dry.
• Isolate before any clean requiring guard opening, chute entry or access near moving parts.
• Use HEPA/industrial vacuum or the approved collection method. Do not dry sweep or blow down.
• Use tools and suitable containers for sharp steel and offcuts. Never handle hidden sharp material blindly.
• Record throughput, defects, alarms, blockages, filter readings, maintenance needs and incidents in the shift log.

• Display the complete current risk register and controlled manual within ECheck as searchable, mobile-readable content, with a Download/View controlled document option. Do not convert every risk-register row into an employee checkbox. Record the document version completed by the employee.
• Show the current version, status, approval date, review date and document owner.
• Retain prior employee completions against the version they actually read.
• When a new approved version contains a material safety change, assign the updated course and retain the previous record.
• Add site-specific diagrams, photographs or video showing the actual danger zones, isolators, safe refuges, assembly point and equipment labels before final issue.

The complete controlled manual and full 24-row risk register are available to read in this course under "View the full controlled manual". You are reading document version v1.0-2026-07-26.