QPA Health & Safety Awards 2008
THE Quarry Products Association’s most prestigious health and safety event of the year – the QPA Health and Safety Best Practice Awards – took place last Friday at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London.
This year saw a record number of 235 entries competing in the six categories: Occupational Health, Hygiene and Welfare; Slips, Trips and Falls (including from height); Management of Contractors and/or Hauliers; Worker Involvement; Prevention of Bitumen Spills; and Miscellaneous Initiatives
The entries were assessed by seven independent judges, aided by QPA assessors, with the top prize in overall health and safety excellence, the John Crabbe Memorial Trophy, going to Aggregate Industries, who in the last year alone, have improved their health and safety performance by 30%, an improvement of 50% on 2007 figures.
Meanwhile, the Sir Frank Davies Trophy, which is aimed specifically at small-to-medium-sized businesses, was awarded to CPI Mortars Ltd.
The 2008 Awards also saw a special prize for the most improved health and safety performance going to Hills Quarry Products Ltd, while Hanson UK and Lafarge Aggregates were also among the trophy winners.
In addition, for the first time ever, this year 12 certificates of achievement were presented to site-based individuals who had ‘gone the extra mile’ in delivering health and safety best practice.
Also included in the 2008 ceremony were awards organized by the British Cement Association (BCA) under the ‘Revitalizing Health and Safety’ initiative. Prizes were presented to companies that had achieved zero Lost Time Incidents (LTIs), the winners being Aberthaw, Cookstown and Hope cement works.
Commenting on this year’s awards, Simon van der Byl, director general of the QPA, said: ‘These awards demonstrate the great steps which are being taken to achieve our ‘hard target’ of zero reportable injuries, in addition to a 50% reduction in HSE-reportable injuries by the end of 2009.
‘Today’s award-winners are extending the boundaries of occupational health and safety excellence and deserve the highest praise. The quarrying industry is now recognized as an exemplar in improving health and safety standards – today has further confirmed this accolade.’
Dr David Pocklington, director of industry affairs with the BCA, added: ‘Health and safety is a non-competitive issue and collaboration is a key driver to improvement. With the alignment of the BCA, QPA and TCC from 1 January next year, this is another step in achieving closer co-operation between these bodies.’
