Ten years of safer quarries celebrated at major industry event
Ten years of success in reducing death and injury in Great Britain's quarries has been marked in a special address at the Hillhead 2010 quarry exhibition today (Tuesday 22 June).
Reportable injuries in the sector are down 76 per cent since the 'Hard Target' initiative was launched in 2000 and Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), commended the companies, trade bodies and trade unions for their efforts.
Judith used her speech on the opening morning (Tuesday 22 June) to rally the industry in making a renewed commitment to 'Target Zero', with the aim of bringing down reportable injuries by a further 15 per cent year on year by 2015.
Health and safety improvements in the industry continue to be driven forward through specific working groups looking at areas such as education and training, occupational health, use of contractors and working with explosives.
Judith Hackitt, said: ‘The quarrying industry has demonstrated what can be achieved when an industry sector commits to improvement in health and safety. However, there is no room for complacency. As the number of incidents decrease, it will get ever more challenging for the industry to make further gains. Reaching the new goals will require even more hard work, determination and the development of new approaches.
‘The improvements made so far are down to strong leadership, with employers promoting a safety culture right across their organisations, bolstered by the efforts of the unions and trade associations.
‘It's also about creating an environment that encourages sharing and learning. This can be best demonstrated through the example of an explosives engineer who has been sharing his expertise on safe drilling and blasting and safety reps who have devised worker involvement courses in their own time.’
Martin Isles, deputy president for the Institute of Quarrying, added: ‘The industry has made massive strides in health and safety over the last 10 years in particular. But to achieve its ultimate goal of zero harm, a stronger focus is needed on the more challenging issues and to convince all stakeholders that the supply chain has a vital role to play.’
Allan Black, GMB national officer, said: ‘GMB strongly supports the work of everyone involved in the Target Zero campaign. The superb results achieved to date are testimony to the value of involving workers to develop joint solutions to the key issues that the quarrying industry faces.
‘We look forward to embedding this good practice across the sector, and driving further improvements in the future.’
Reportable injuries in the sector are down 76 per cent since the 'Hard Target' initiative was launched in 2000 and Judith Hackitt, Chair of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), commended the companies, trade bodies and trade unions for their efforts.
Judith used her speech on the opening morning (Tuesday 22 June) to rally the industry in making a renewed commitment to 'Target Zero', with the aim of bringing down reportable injuries by a further 15 per cent year on year by 2015.
Health and safety improvements in the industry continue to be driven forward through specific working groups looking at areas such as education and training, occupational health, use of contractors and working with explosives.
Judith Hackitt, said: ‘The quarrying industry has demonstrated what can be achieved when an industry sector commits to improvement in health and safety. However, there is no room for complacency. As the number of incidents decrease, it will get ever more challenging for the industry to make further gains. Reaching the new goals will require even more hard work, determination and the development of new approaches.
‘The improvements made so far are down to strong leadership, with employers promoting a safety culture right across their organisations, bolstered by the efforts of the unions and trade associations.
‘It's also about creating an environment that encourages sharing and learning. This can be best demonstrated through the example of an explosives engineer who has been sharing his expertise on safe drilling and blasting and safety reps who have devised worker involvement courses in their own time.’
Martin Isles, deputy president for the Institute of Quarrying, added: ‘The industry has made massive strides in health and safety over the last 10 years in particular. But to achieve its ultimate goal of zero harm, a stronger focus is needed on the more challenging issues and to convince all stakeholders that the supply chain has a vital role to play.’
Allan Black, GMB national officer, said: ‘GMB strongly supports the work of everyone involved in the Target Zero campaign. The superb results achieved to date are testimony to the value of involving workers to develop joint solutions to the key issues that the quarrying industry faces.
‘We look forward to embedding this good practice across the sector, and driving further improvements in the future.’
