The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) are jointly supporting Quarry Safety Week 2019, which will take place from Monday 9th – Friday 13th September 2019.
The objective of Quarry Safety Week 2019 is to highlight the key hazards which exist on a daily basis in operating quarries and some of the practices and proactive measures which can reduce the risk of accidents and injury to staff.
In order to support Quarry Safety Week 2019, the HSA will be conducting inspections on Vehicle and Pedestrian Safety throughout the week. Dr Sharon McGuinness, Chief Executive Officer of the HSA, urged employers to lead the way in delivering safer workplaces. To read the full press release click here.
ICF members will also be undertaking safety initiatives to highlight the importance of quarry safety in their locations. Some of the activities being undertaken are highlighted below.
Latest Updates on Quarry Safety Week 2019
Quarry Safety Week 2019 Pledges
“We at Hanlon Concrete Products Ltd will introduce a new SOP for cleaning crusher blockages during Quarry Safety week”
“Irish Industrial Explosives will be holding specific toolbox talks with all quarry personnel throughout the week with one specific topic per day”
“We are planning to carry out internal health and safety inspections in all our quarries over the course of Quarry Safety Week with the involvement of the employees in each quarry. This is something that we believe will enhance the safety in all quarries. It is also something new and refreshing for Quarry Safety Week and having the involvement of the operatives makes it even more worthwhile. At the end of the day these are the people running the quarries and what better way to have them involved with Quarry Safety Week is to involve them in the safety inspections on the dangers the feel may be in their work area”
“In Keohane Readymix we will audit all plant, vehicles and machinery in all locations with regard to reversing alarms, beacons, cameras and safety devices, repair and replace within the week. We will also carry out toolbox talk on High Visibility PPE and review the Daily Check Book procedure to ensure all faults are closed out”
“Our focus for Quarry Safety Week 2019 will be traffic management within the quarry. We will launch our update quarry traffic management rules and carry out training with employees and contractors. We will also be concentrating on implementing an additional one-way traffic system at one of our production areas. A toolbox talk will be carried out with quarry vehicle operators to remind them of the limitation of their vehicles and the hazards that are associated with their operation. Finally we will carry out audits with a focus on ensuring that all mandatory items of PPE are being worn and are in good condition”
“Irish Cement will launch an initiative on control of contractors and employees in the quarry, traffic segregation & parking on site. We will also review guarding and blasting procedures across all plants”
“Cassidy Brothers in Buncrana, Co. Donegal will be conducting a senior management walk around, toolbox talk and a safety audit in the quarry in Buncranna”
“During Quarry Safety Week we will carry out toolbox talks focusing on machinery guarding, isolation lockout tagout, and daily pre-start checks on mobile plant”
“During Quarry Safety Week there will be a number of quarry visits by all Regional Directors throughout the week. These will be joint visits and the company Directors will be accompanied by the Location Managers and Kilsaran EHS Department personnel”
“Following the safety workshops in February Booth Concrete have done a lot of work in improving pedestrian walkways, vehicle signage etc. For Quarry Safety Week Booth Concrete will review checklists of improvements that have been made and will also update hi-viz jackets for employees.”
“During Quarry Safety Week we will complete audits of isolated plant and carry out toolbox talks on the company isolation procedure, update if required and communicate to all staff. We will focus on all work at heights in the quarry operation from working at the extraction face to maintenance of conveyors and crushing plants. We will also review our control measures and update if required. Finally we will carry out audits of all contractors being used by the company to ensure necessary paperwork is in place for same and up to date”
“The health & safety personnel at both Wright Quarry Products and Wright Concrete Products will be carrying out an in-house presentation and and practical demonstrations with all appropriate staff on the following topics, traffic management and pedestrian walkways, PPE and the importance of wearing it, safety representative, preparing for the dark evenings, isolation of plant equipment, dust – crystalline silica”
“During Quarry Safety Week Ducon Concrete Ltd pledge to hold tool box talks among staff regarding vehicle movements in the quarry (trucks, dumpers, track machines etc.). Ducon Concrete Ltd. also pledge to hold tool box talks regarding our blasting procedures/misfire procedures and all works associated with the drilling and blasting process”