Irish Cream
Martin Isles of the Quarry Products Association describes a whistle-stop tour of some of Eire’s premier quarries and concrete plants, viewed principally from a health and safety perspective
Co-operation with the Dublin-based Irish Concrete Federation (ICF) was extended in response to an invitation to the Quarry Products Association’s Martin Isles to visit Eire in late March 2003 to act as independent adjudicator for the ICF’s inaugural Health & Safety Competition.
Arranged by Reddy Morley, the Federation’s health & safety manager, 13 ICF sites (shortlisted from 50 entrants) were visited in a road tour covering 735 miles passing through 16 counties. This paper reflects an overview of the experience.
Scope
Predominantly quarries, the sites typically included ready-mixed concrete plants and, to a lesser degree, asphalt plants and concrete block plants. Due to time limitations, precast concrete operations were adjudicated separately.
Eleven of the sites visited were quarries, ranging from 250,000 tonnes to 2 million tonnes per annum, extracting limestone, basalt, greywacke and sand and gravel. In one instance, within the curtilage of a single site, there were no less than three extraction operations — two varieties of limestone as well as overlying sand and gravel. The other two sites visited were urban concrete plants.
Process overview
Drilling and blasting frequently involved contractors. The Garda Síochána [police] accompanied all charging and shotfiring operations and no blasting materials or accessories were stored at any site. Truck-mixed emulsions were used by the larger units, with the smaller quarries utilizing mostly bagged ammonium nitrate gels. Sand and gravel was generally worked dry, but dewatering was commonplace, irrespective of the mineral worked.
An excellent video entitled ‘All Clear’ has been produced by Irish Industrial Explosives in association with the Irish Health & Safety Authority (HSA). The video focuses on best practices within the blasting process and is available in VHS or CD format (see website: www.iie-online.com/allclear_index.htm)
Face operations featured tracked backhoes or rubber-tyred shovels. Conventional static crushing plant was being replaced at a number of sites by contract mobile units. One of the larger sites was contemplating a face crusher and articulated conveyor link to a new static secondary plant.
On-site arrangements for the segregation of waste consumables were often impressive, although quarry-based recycling of construction and demolition waste was virtually absent.
Ready-mixed concrete plants featured both wet and dry batch systems. Concrete block manufacture was in evidence at many of the rock quarries, principally by ‘egg-layers’, though two factory processes were also seen. Asphalt production, in every case, was by a conventional batch process, invariably fuelled by gas-oil, although mains gas appeared to be a future option for some. Stone-mastic asphalt mixes have yet to supplant hot-rolled asphalt.
Evidence of progressive reinstatement of sand and gravel sites was hard to find and restoration plans were rare. The prevalence and extent of individual housing developments in the countryside constrains opportunities for future greenfield extractive sites in Eire.
Transport
Tipper lorries, mostly owned by third parties, were generally unsheeted, although newer vehicles did have ground-based, manually-cranked sheeting systems. Four-axle truckmixers were predominant in the wet-concrete sector.
Interaction with the Regulator
The Irish Health & Safety Authority appeared to dispense advice freely and their guidance was clearly acted upon. In 1999, the ICF (in association with the HSA) produced major guidance entitled ‘Health & Safety Management in the Aggregate & Concrete Products Industry’. Work is now in progress to prepare for the introduction of new Quarries Regulations & Guidance, to be broadly based on the UK model.
Practical expectations of the HSA inevitably differ somewhat from those of the HSE, added to which the legislation, though similar, is not identical. An adjudicator has, therefore, to apply some judgemental licence in forming opinions which would otherwise be based purely on the practice and expectations in another EU state.
Benefits of a strong trade association
Every site visited displayed information and guidance emanating from the Irish Concrete Federation, demonstrating to the workforce and visitors alike that this is a professional industry which communicates and acts upon identified best practice.
Health & Safety — a cultural matter
Proactive thinking with regard to one-way traffic-management systems was much in evidence, although somewhat rarer was evidence of actions to segregate people from mobile plant and transport vehicles.
Irrespective of nation or state, quarries and added-value product facilities frequently feature the bane of the plant attendant’s life, the sub-ground-level tail drum of an inclined conveyor. The pit needs a permanent pump and the plant attendant needs plenty of ‘elbow grease’ to remove the spillage to ground level.
In the site depicted in figure 10 incoming aggregates are dumped on grids which are approached via a shallow ramp. To the site’s credit, the removal of spillage is aided by lifting gantries adjacent to and above each pit. It is arguable, however, that had the reception grids been designed at a higher level they would have obviated the need for the gantries, the pumps and most of the human exertion and cost in keeping these tail drums continuously free of water and spillage.
ICF competition rating system
A quantitative methodology, devised by the ICF to rank the health and safety performance of the shortlisted entrants, was extended to accommodate a star rating system, thus providing an insight into the differing perceived qualities of the various category winners. Confirmation of an overall competition winner was clearly identifiable by this process. Congratulations are due to the entire team at Bunratty Quarry (Roadstone Provinces, Co. Clare) as the inaugural 5-star overall winner.
Two-way benefits
The visit provided valuable benchmarking and multiple discussion opportunities. Every courtesy was extended both on and off site. Thanks are due to John Maguire of the ICF and Simon van der Byl of the QPA for facilitating the visit, and in particular to Reddy Morley. A copy of the QPA’s ‘Health & Safety Good Practice Guide’ (Edition 1) was given to each site manager in furtherance of the spirit of co-operation (nb. Edition 2 has since been published).