Spillard News

Staff at Imerys’ Blackpool Pit have good cause to celebrate after their site was recently judged to be the safest quarry in the country by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Imerys say the award is a tribute to the efforts of their employees, in particular the staff at Blackpool Pit, where there has not been an accident resulting in time off work for more than three years – 1,200 days.
Workers from the quarry travelled to the NEC in Birmingham for the annual RoSPA Occupational Safety Awards ceremony, where they picked up the trophy as winners of the Mining and Quarrying Sector.

Imerys also picked up three Gold Medals at the awards for their drilling and blasting section and their operations at the Burngullow dryers and Trebal refinery, in recognition of their achievement of a very high standard of health and safety at work over four years.

Mark Richards, pit manager at Blackpool Pit, said: ‘We are delighted to have won this award, which is the result of a huge amount of commitment by our staff right across the company.

‘It’s an acknowledgement that, as a business, we are working hard to achieve the highest standards, but most importantly it is also a message to our workforce that we are determined to send them home safe and well at the end of every day.’
The company’s commitment at all levels to health and safety is also reflected by Ashley Shopland, Imerys’ UK operations director, also taking the role of safety director.

He said: ‘Five years ago we signed up to a challenge given by the Health and Safety Commission to the quarrying industry as a whole, to reduce accidents in the sector by fifty percent.

‘We are already well ahead of the rest of the industry, but what this award shows is that we are continuing to work hard to develop and refine our health and safety systems.’

Emotive approach to safety

AGGREGATE Industries have produced a hard-hitting true-life drama documentary-style video, bringing home the importance of attention to life-preserving health and safety practices.

Entitled ‘A Job for Life’, the video aims to prompt employees and contractors to live the potential consequences of their actions. The thought-provoking story graphically depicts a reconstruction of a quarry-based fatality, including the effects on the workforce and the family of the central character. As part of the film, interviews with real employees who have themselves experienced serious accidents are featured.

Richard Gouldstone, UK health and safety advisor for Aggregate Industries, said: ‘The response to the video has been very strong and positive, and while many people might find some of the scenes upsetting, if it helps to hammer home key health and safety messages, this is surely justified.’

To purchase a copy of the video contact Aggregate Industries on tel: (01335) 372470.