Quarrying & Mineral Processing Health & Safety

27 Oct 2020

The HSE states that that quarrying is one of the most hazardous industries and working environments of all industries.  Over 3500 workers on these sites have suffered a reportable injury since 2000 with some of those being fatal.  Working at height is also the single biggest cause of serious and fatal injury in the construction industry particularly on smaller sites.  Accidents in quarry and mining settings are generally down to maintenance work, use of vehicles, fixed machinery and falls from height.  Unfortunately, many of these incidents occur during the cleaning and adjustment of machinery whilst its running or during the setup of equipment.

Legislations that apply to working in quarries include The Quarries Regulations 1999. This was designed to protect health and safety of employees and the self-employed at a quarry site, other regulations include The Work at Height Regulations 2005 as highlighted in the Ajax whitepaper. 

Quarries need to be regularly inspected.  Managing working at height follows a hierarchy of control measures such as avoid, prevent and arrest.  The law requires that employers and self-employed contractors must assess working at height risk measures and applicable standards.  The Ajax whitepaper states those controlling working at height must produce a risk assessment and must take into account risk control measures.  These key issues include: risk assessment, precautions and method statements.

Ajax have a range of solutions for all rail and road tanker loading and platform access to support a safer working environment in hazardous working sites.  The unit is available in both pneumatic or manual hydraulic operation.  The bespoke units are available in a range of sizes to suit many height variations.  Ajax were also responsible for recently designing, manufacturing and installing a pneumatic step unit for a global producer and distributor of minerals in the UK . The client required a durable access system that was easy to operate and provided a safer working environment for the area.  The pneumatic step unit mark 3 was fitted with the latest Camozzi control system to access numerous height variations.  As part of the of the specification a 800mm wide treads and a bespoke safety cage were added to remove the risk of falls when loading and unloading at height.  The client was pleased with the outcome as it enabled employees to work both safely and efficiently at height in a hazardous area.  All step units are manufactured and constructed to the highest quality for a long-lasting performance and to provide many years of maintenance free operation in harsh environments.   

For more information on the Ajax Safety Access Systems and increasing the safety profile in quarry and mining please email [email protected] for more information.