The Fatal 6

04 June, 2019

First published in the May 2019 issue of Quarry Management

Progress on the MPA’s high-consequence hazard strategy

In 2017 the mineral products industry saw an unprecedented number of incidents that resulted in fatal consequences across the sector, and whilst 2018 was comparatively less tragic, regrettably, it was not fatality free.

In response, and at the request of the Mineral Products Association (MPA) Council and Board, the MPA Health & Safety Committee looked back at the fatal incidents over the last decade, identifying six high-consequence hazards, ‘The Fatal 6’, that have been the main cause of fatalities over that period. The Committee recognized that if we are to achieve ‘Zero Harm’, we must first deliver ‘zero fatalities’ every day of every year.

The identified ‘Fatal 6’ high-consequence hazards are: Contact with moving machinery and isolation (including stored energy), Workplace transport and pedestrian interface, Work at height, Workplace respirable crystalline silica, Struck by moving or falling object, and Road traffic accidents.

By focusing on ‘The Fatal 6’, developing industry best practice and guidance, raising awareness using a variety of media, developing useable tools for reducing risk and doing all those exceptionally well with an uncompromising approach, the MPA Health & Safety Committee concluded that we could potentially reduce up to 75% of our most serious health and safety incidents. This analysis is supported by the MPA’s Council and Board.

It was agreed that the initial phase would start with the top three: Contact with moving machinery and isolation, Workplace transport and pedestrian interface, and Work at height.

A framework was agreed that could be used across all the Working Groups, utilizing the Plan, Do, Check, Act principle with which all companies are familiar. This was then subdivided into the ‘4Ps’ throughout the process: People, Plant, Process and Performance.

The first published toolkit has focused on the reduction of the consequence of contact with moving machinery and ineffective isolation, and includes ‘The MPA ‘Guide to Energy Isolation and LOTOTO’, which describes the principles of LOTOTO (Lock-Out – Tag-Out – Try-Out), a way to isolate equipment to ensure maintenance and cleaning can be undertaken safely, and is designed for all operational employees to put in ‘their top pocket’/ for use in toolbox talks and training sessions. Around 36,000 copies have been distributed plus three versions of high-impact posters for noticeboards and stickers for plant.

As part of the wider industry campaign on entrapment supported by the Strategic Forum for Health & Safety, the MPA provided the Institute of Quarrying with copies of the booklet for inclusion with April’s edition of Quarry Management. Copies have also been supplied to MPQC for training purposes. The MPA’s Safer by Sharing seminars for 2019 will focus on ‘Contact with Moving Machinery and Isolation’ and will be delivered by Reece Safety. Exchanging Places initiatives will focus on ‘The Fatal 6’ to ensure that there is a single drive to eliminate the high-consequence hazards within the MPA membership.

Further products in the pipeline include a suite of handbooks and a video for each of The Fatal 6 hazards, that can be used during training sessions.

Nigel Jackson, chief executive of the MPA, said: ‘Focusing on those high-consequence hazards identified as ‘The Fatal 6’, coupled with an even greater determination to prevent fatalities and serious injury, will help us take another significant step on our journey to achieving Zero Harm.’