Quarrying industry beats its ‘Hard Target’

THE quarrying industry has surpassed its 'Hard Target' by reducing all reportable injuries by 52% from a baseline of 655 five years ago to 317 in the reporting year 2004/05.

Speaking at an event to celebrate the achievement, HSC Commissioner Hugh Robertson congratulated all those who had helped reach the target. ‘The quarry industry has shown that a competent management and a genuinely involved workforce will deliver targets, making it an exemplar to other traditional heavy industries,’ he said.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, the industry’s achievement has included significant progress against each of its priority programmes –– falls from height; slips and trips injuries; manual-handling injuries; and workplace transport injuries.

Helen Turner of the HSE's Manufacturing Sector has now called on industry to recommit to a further 50% reduction in reportable incidents by 2010. She said: ‘In order for injury reduction to be sustained into the future we must ensure not only that we share a common vision of where we want to be, but also that it is the right vision, and that we know the steps we must take to get us there together. The thrust of the HSE's efforts over the last five years has used the overall concepts of commitment, competence and involvement, and these remain key underpinning requirements.’

The Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee (QNJAC) is adopting the title of ‘Target Zero – a World Class Industry’ for this next stage.

Other speakers at the celebration event highlighted areas of activity that remain priorities if injury reduction is to be sustained. These include occupational ill health, workforce involvement, working effectively with contractors and hauliers, equipment design, gaining and supporting improvements in small and medium-sized businesses, and maintaining emphasis on the competence of all who work in the quarry industry.