Sharing best practice in health and safety

MPA Health & Safety Awards winners demonstrate that ‘Safer by Sharing’ is alive and well 

DURING an afternoon devoted to celebrating innovation and achievement, and on a day (10 November) when Mineral Products Association (MPA) chief executive officers, managing directors and selected representatives recommitted to achieving Zero Harm, Martin Whitmarsh, former chief executive officer of McLaren F1 Racing and now CEO of the Land Rover BAR America’s Cup Team, presented this year’s winners of the MPA Health & Safety Awards.

The winners – who were drawn from 140 entries from 36 different organizations, with submissions equally balanced between companies of all sizes – are as follows:

• John Crabbe Memorial Trophy for overall ‘outstanding excellence in health and safety’: Lhoist UK – in recognition that health and well-being is very clearly embedded in the business’s core values with a series of physical and psychological initiatives, including the introduction of a Zero Harm Behaviours Framework programme and industry peer reviews.
• Sir Frank Davies Trophy: Hills Quarry Products – acknowledging leadership, workforce engagement and the application of these principles across all aspects of the company’s business and links within the wider community.
• Bitumen; Asphalt; Contract Surfacing: Colas Ltd – for ground-based pumps for unloading bitumen.
• Worker Involvement: Celsa Steel Services UK – for improvement in health and safety communication and engagement.
• Transport Initiatives: Tarmac Ltd – for vehicle and pedestrian movements review following new products and vehicles.
• Occupational Health and Well Being: Brett Group Ltd – for Pocklington Patio Project pack building automation.
• Contractor Safety: Colas Ltd – for traffic-management access gate.
• Engineering Initiatives: Brett Group Ltd – for improving access to Penta tumble drum for maintenance works.
• Reducing Occupational Road Risk: FM Conway Ltd – for prevention of lorry accidents.
• Behavioural Safety; Safety Culture; Leadership: EPC-UK plc – for Espirit ‘d Equipe team spirit behavioural safety programme.
• MPA Special Award: MPA Transport HS Working Group: Nick Elliot (Breedon/Hope), Robert Wilkinson (CEMEX), Nigel Clamp (Hanson), Wayne Darwin (Tarmac) and Leslie Grabarz (CEMEX) – for producing and distributing 18,000 copies of the ‘MPA Drivers Handbook’.
• MPA Special Award for companies with more than 100 employees: FM Conway and CEMEX UK – for encouraging ‘safer and healthier by sharing’ through SafeQuarry.com and Safe Precast.com, which connect more than 30,000 people across 160 countries through safety alerts.
• MPA Special Award for companies with 1–100 employees: Singleton Birch – for maintaining excellent health and safety standards and contributing to health and safety initiatives within the MPA membership and in Europe.
• Ten individuals were recognized for their personal health and safety contributions: Rob Buston (Brett Group), Andrew Parsons (CEMEX UK), Stephen Bull (CEMEX UK), Steve Taylor (CEMEX UK), Nigel Mitchell (CEMEX UK), Ryan Wood (Colas Ltd), Chris Taylor, (Stanton Bonna Concrete Ltd), Richard Needham (Aggregate Industries), John Hudson (Colas Ltd) and Peter Smith (Colas Ltd).

Congratulating all the winners on their awards, MPA health and safety manager Kevin Stevens said: ‘The sharing of best practice shows how a like-minded community are doing their utmost to think outside and beyond our present circle of ideas to improve health and safety in our industry. Every idea gained and shared is another step towards Zero Harm.

‘We now hold the responsibility to ensure the excellent ideas from this year’s awards have maximum impact and are shared within and beyond our own industry to inspire others to contribute and share. We will utilize Safequarry.com and the Safequarry and Safeprecast Apps to achieve this.’

Videos from MPA’s Health & Safety Awards can be viewed on www.safequarry.com or the Association’s YouTube channel. Tweets from the event can be read via #MPAHSConf16 or on MPA’s Twitter profile. The MPA’s Twitter handle is: @MineralProduct.