Safety awareness day at Kennetholme Quarry

Grundon’s flagship quarry hosts South East’s annual Safety and Health Awareness Day  

GRUNDON Sand & Gravel’s flagship Kennetholme Quarry recently hosted the annual Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD), organized by the South East Quarries and Landfill Group (SEQLG), a voluntary group made up of quarry and landfill operators.

More than 120 people, including quarry and landfill operators, safety representatives, advisors and operatives, attended the event, which was designed to highlight the importance of health and safety issues.

Opening the day’s proceedings, Neil Grundon, deputy chairman of Grundon Sand & Gravel, said: ‘We are delighted to be hosting this very important event, which provides an opportunity to learn and share best practice, as well as putting the emphasis on providing good, sound practical advice.

‘We take site safety and best practice extremely seriously, and take great pride in ensuring that our own sites operate to the highest possible safety standards for employees and visitors alike.

‘Safety must always be paramount within our industry and having the opportunity to learn from the experts at events such as this, and see the latest tools and equipment available, is a valuable opportunity for all of us as we strive to do even better.’

The day-long programme included the opportunity to visit several different areas of the quarry and watch demonstrations on eight different health and safety-related topics, including: working at height; manual handling; vehicle and pedestrian safety and visibility; and fault-finding and guarding.

Participants were divided into teams and there was also a competitive spirit was engendered as prizes were awarded for those spotting a series of health and safety ‘bloomers’ which were deliberately placed around the site as part of the training exercise.

Praising Grundon Sand & Gravel for volunteering to host the day, David Isham, chairman of the SEQLG safety group, said: ‘We were delighted when they stepped forward and we hope it will encourage others to do the same. The Grundon team has put in a lot of time into helping to promote health and safety and it was an excellent event.

‘If someone takes just one thing back to their workplace and looks at how they perform a specific task, the tools they use or the PPE they might wear, and changes something for the better, then we will feel we have achieved something.

‘If they change four or five things, even better, but the key aim of the event was to get people to understand safety and realize the need to work more safely, both for their own benefit and that of their colleagues.’

Also attending the event was HM Inspector of Quarries Simon Edwards, who said: ‘The SEQLG does a sterling job and thanks must go to them and to Grundon for organizing and hosting this fantastic event. Days like this are really important in helping to focus the minds of quarry operatives on site safety.’

Echoing David Isham, he added: ‘For us, workforce involvement is key, and by attending such events we hope that individuals will have learnt something to take it back to their own sites and put into practice.’