Phase two of campaign to eliminate entrapment
Strategic Forum launches second phase of campaign with release of site energy isolation self-audit
THE Strategic Forum for Health and Safety in the Mineral Products Sector has been continuing in its work developing detailed plans to support its aim of making 2019 the year to eliminate entrapment incidents within the sector.
The Forum brings together partners from across the industry, including companies, trades unions, regulators, trade bodies and others, who are able and willing to make a positive contribution to tackling the challenges faced by the industry.
In April this year the first phase of the campaign was rolled out with the distribution of the MPA ‘Guide to Energy Isolation and LOTOTO’.
This month has seen the launch of the second phase of the campaign with the release of the site energy isolation self-audit, which has been developed by a working group from the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee (QNJAC).
The purpose of the tool is to provide a structured framework to enable organizations to carry out self-audits of isolation procedures, to prove their effectiveness as well as to identify weaknesses in the system that could lead to serious injury or loss of life.
It can be used and adapted by any organization operating machinery that needs to be isolated from sources of power, typically for maintenance purposes.
Viv Russell, chair of QNJAC, commented: ‘Through the discussions at the Strategic Forum, it was clear there was a real need to provide a structured approach to enable all organizations to fully understand the risks of their current operations.
‘The working group has developed this tool not only to identify those weaknesses, but also to develop an action plan for implementing improvements and monitoring the progress.
‘The strength of the working group is the industry knowledge, experience and expertise of those contributing.’
The self-audit will be available through SafeQuarry and all the partner organizations of the Strategic Forum. The working group will also be presenting the self-audit at IQ branch technical events to raise awareness and develop discussions of how it can be used.
