Block Stone fined for safety failings
Quarrying company prosecuted after site office ends up at the bottom of quarry in landslip
BLOCK Stone Ltd, the quarrying arm of one of the UK’s largest dimension stone businesses, Realstone, have been fined for safety failings after an office at the top of a quarry in Derbyshire ended up at the bottom of the site in a significant landslip.
North Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court heard how, in early January 2014, New Pilough Quarry (pictured) suffered a significant face failure that was not reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) under the Reporting of Industrial Diseases, Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013.
Before the 2013 Christmas shutdown, Block Stone had identified surface cracks in the superficial deposit of the southern face of the quarry. At this point they should have involved the site’s geotechnical specialist so that remedial action could have been taken. This might have involved moving the office and machinery to a place of safety.
The court was told that the quarry operator’s failure was not involving the geotechnical specialist when the design of the quarry was changed, nor when the surface cracks were identified at top of the southern face.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE Inspector Richard Noble said that had the quarry been properly managed in accordance with the legislation, this event could have been avoided.
‘It is fortunate that the incident occurred during the Christmas shutdown,’ he commented. ‘Had it occurred during a normal working day, people may have been in the office area and they could have been killed or seriously injured.’
On 22 July 2015, Block Stone Ltd were fined a total of £14,000 and ordered to pay £16,333 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 30: Quarries Regulations 1999 and Regulation 7: Reporting of Industrial Diseases, Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
