The company’s training program, designed to be ideal for both new staff and senior engineers, was designed to help workers obtain a greater understanding of conveyor safety and performance, as well as increase profitability for their mine and justify investments for needed upgrades.

Martin officials said the design and development of increasingly productive belt conveyors helped drive its decision to increase the program’s scope.

"All programs offer the opportunity for customization/localization to feature specific images, conditions and problems from the customer’s site,” the company said, noting that the programs are flexible in length and location.

“The presenters … have many years of hands-on experience around conveyor systems [and] these industry experts keep the programs lively and interesting while giving attendees a new outlook on conveyor operations.”

Level one of the Foundations series is the basic training workshop, which provides a fundamental introduction to belt conveyors, their components and safety considerations.

Made up of one two-hour session, it is intended for new hires or those with limited conveyor experience, and an illustrated format also makes it appropriate for non-literate or non-English speaking trainees.

The second level is known as the Operations and Maintenance Seminar, and comprises six to eight training hours completed over a single full-day session with a customized second day available.

This workshop is targeted to belt conveyor operations and maintenance personnel and gives an in-depth look at safety, performance and payback methods via fugitive material control and system efficiency improvements.

The Operations and Maintenance Seminar is also available online.

The Advanced Seminar is Martin Engineering’s third and final training level, and concentrates on conveyor systems improvements and demonstrating the justification for investment in solutions to reduce fugitive material, maximize production and extend component life.

Offered over a half or a full day, this last session was developed by the company for engineers and managers responsible for system design and administration.

The newly-enhanced program ties in with Martin Engineering’s recently-completed Foundations reference book, the 4th edition of The Practical Resource for Cleaner, Safer, More Productive Dust & Material Control.

The company’s training programs may qualify for continuing education units (CEUs) or professional development hours (PDHs) and may also potentially be used to meet the requirements of Parts 46/48 Annual Refresher Training.