Ben Uphill’s first year as Chair

19 September, 2025

Ben Uphill, Chair of QNJAC

First published in the September 2025 issue of Quarry Management

Twelve months since taking the role of Chair of the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee (QNJAC), operations director at Sibelco, Ben Uphill, reflects on his evolving role within an industry full of change and opportunity:

‘I’ve found my first year in the QNJAC Chair to be constructive, insightful, and extremely rewarding. It’s presented me with a view of the challenges, potential, and opportunities for our industry. While I recognize that currently there is a sense of disruption with a need for change across the sector, I’m confident that QNJAC will, as always, successfully adapt. Over the past 12 months I’ve been able to continue progressing actions intended by my predecessor, IQ President Ben Williams, directing a route that will constructively support the change that’s needed. Each group’s self-audit documentation has now been released, available at www.qnjac.co.uk, and I’ve also made steps to bring greater stability to QNJAC as Chair roles alter within individual groups.’

QNJAC’s remit is to give quarry operators clear guidance regarding legal expectations and the processes they can implement to ensure operations are safe. Volunteers within the QNJAC working groups (Contractors, Drilling & Blasting, Geotechnical, Health & Wellbeing, Leadership & Workforce Engagement, and Plant Fixed & Mobile) meet regularly to share best practice and collectively devise relevant guidance that is easy for operators to use and intended to improve safety for the long term.

Contractors
Cath Pickett – Chepstow Plant International
Co-Chair is Rob Cross – EPC-UK

Drilling & Blasting
Bob Woolley – EPC-UK

Geotechnical
Philippa O’Leary – Cemex UK

Leadership & Workforce Engagement
Looking for new chair

Mental Health & Wellbeing
Katherine Evans – Heidelburg Materials UK

Plant, Fixed & Mobile
Iain Ormrod – Chepstow Plant

Looking ahead

‘We’ve benefitted tremendously from the past Chair support given by Malcolm Mellow (Leadership & Workforce Engagement) and Simon Day (Plant, Fixed & Mobile) and wish them well in their future ventures. We are excited, too, by the appointment of Philippa O’Leary as the new chair of the Geotechnical working group, whose expertise and input will keep QNJAC relevant and progressive. Updating the industry, our quarterly articles in Quarry Management will continue to share details on the groups’ individual projects and achievements. QNJAC is still the only safety advice forum that’s independent, with representation across the board, which we believe to be a truly important thing. Each group’s collaboration between industry professionals, union members, and HSE specialists ensures we’re putting the best material out there to support our industry. Its origins could be from a company, group or individual, with the addition of the wider group’s expertise and experience making the advice as all-encompassing and effective as possible.

‘Commitment, and the desire to see things done better, is what drives our groups. My personal passion, having worked for more than 30 years in the industry, is seeing health and safety evolve. I’ve observed so much change for myself since the mid-1990s, from improvements in PPE compliance, training, and risk assessment to the delivery of safe systems of work. To the current day, and we’re increasingly focused on the efficacy of behavioural safety and sharing of best practice; learning from each other and seeing the positive results right there in the statistics, with overall incident levels on the decline.’

A new generation in the field

‘No one can rest on their laurels. Our challenges moving forward will include finding ways to address the knowledge and skills that will be lost through an aging workforce. This, of course, comes with opportunity, as increasingly those new to the industry now come from a variety of different backgrounds, bringing their relevant experiences and capabilities with them. It’s vital though, that concentration is placed on getting new demographics of operators indoctrinated in safe operational methods and culture, a place where QNJAC very much has a part.

‘Of equal relevance is the role QNJAC plays in advising operators and managers working for the growing number of international companies that are active in the UK market. Globally, the UK’s safety standards are considered stringent, and whilst many of the major international companies also strive for Zero Harm, they carry the complication of bringing their own safety systems into UK working environments. That’s where QNJAC comes in, communicating the specifics of the UK’s highly robust HSE Quarry Regulations 1999 universally, to keep everyone safe, no matter who they work for.’

Changing how we train

‘For me, the future is, from a safety point of view, going to be led by example through sharing best practice. Our industry’s world of work is changing so much, with greater diversity, a lot more flexibility, and the introduction of different ways of working. One relevant safety challenge, compared with a few decades ago, related to the fact that jobs were for life. Typically, you could build on someone’s skills to provide them with safety competencies to last a career. Now though, a person will likely work in the industry for just a handful of years, then leave. So, we must find ways to develop their operational safety quickly and effectively, to keep them and others safe. The approach to this must be flexible, demonstrating our industry’s understanding of ‘How People Learn’. Previously, the time to learn the safety standards to adhere to may have been reserved for the company classroom; now though, there are many ways to train. It could be face-to-face, online ‘at your own pace’, tutored, or through a colleague. Our industry’s role is to listen, learn, and get the way we train right for different people. Similarly, with the corresponding qualifications and certifications, we must be more flexible to support changes in the ways we work, skill up, and qualify.’

Next focus – the circular economy

‘I have another year left in post. In that time, I intend to look at the challenges affecting our industry, such as automation, people, and new business models. With many more businesses diversifying into operations in the circular economy, the traditional quarrying template is shifting. There’s now crossover into related sectors, with more waste and by-products to safely manage, and with it, employees with experience of different safety regulations to follow. QNJAC’s expertise will prove invaluable in this area, and I look forward to steering and supporting the work our groups voluntarily perform to help educate and unify on the importance of safety within our field.’

If you would like to get involved with QNJAC, fill in the online form at www.qnjac.co.uk/get-involved-safety-guidance/ to find out more.