Spillard News

Members of the Quarry Products Association Northern Ireland (QPANI) underlined their continuing commitment to sustainability recently with the staging of a ‘showcase’ event –– the first of its kind to be held in Northern Ireland –– to demonstrate the considerable efforts that have been made towards the environment and health and safety.

Hosted by BBC newscaster Mark Carruthers, the event was held at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast with an audience comprising leading industry figures, MLAs, senior civil servants, key regional highways officials, planners, and NGOs.
The showcase exemplified member companies’ projects and operations, reviewed the industry’s performance across a range of disciplines and underlined its approach to a sustainable development strategy for the sector.

A core element of the showcase was the announcement of the 2005 Environmental and Health and Safety Awards. FP McCann, Readymix, Northstone, Kennedy Quarries (Lagan Group), and Edentrillick Quarries all received awards in the environmental categories, while Acheson & Glover, Readymix, Whitemountain Aggregates, Hanson, Roadmix, Ulster Industrial Explosives and Tarmac were the award-winners in the health and safety categories.

Preventing falls from vehicles

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Health and Safety Executive have teamed up to produce a best-practice industry guide entitled ‘Preventing falls from vehicles’, which is designed to give simple advice to help duty holders in the transport industry control risks from work at height.

Each year 60–70 people lose their lives and nearly 4,000 suffer a major injury as a result of falling from height while at work (about 700 of these are falls from vehicles). Historically, this is the biggest killer in the workplace and the second biggest cause of major injuries.

The new guide, which is intended to help the HSC meet its target of reducing injury rates relating to falls from height (across all industries) by 10% by 2010, has been designed as an easy-to-read document that highlights areas where it is felt that simple risk-reduction methods can have most benefit. The guidelines also explain how employers can comply with the Work at Height Regulations 2005, which came into force on 6 April.

FTA’s head of health and safety, Robin Sharp, said: ‘Whether it is unloading a lorry or using a ladder, a simple slip could result in serious injury. These guidelines are intended to help reduce avoidable accidents with simple advice. Working at height will always carry a certain amount of risk, however by following these straightforward guidelines, the risk of injury or worse will be significantly reduced.’

To obtain a copy of the new guide, contact Jackie Langridge at the FTA Press Office on tel: (01892) 552253.
Jackie Langridge
Tel: 01892 552253