QNJAC Working Group Updates
First published in the March 2025 issue of Quarry Management
Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group, and Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group
As the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee (QNJAC) continues to drive energy into improving revised guidance and strengthening engagement, the chairpersons of the organization’s Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group, Katherine Evans, and Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group, Malcolm Mellow, share their insights into current industry challenges and talk about their respective group’s priorities for 2025.
Now in its 30th year and chaired by Ben Uphill, operations director at Sibelco, 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 seven QNJAC working groups (Geotechnical, Contractors, Leadership & Workforce Engagement, Communications, Health & Wellbeing, Plant Fixed & Mobile, and Drilling & Blasting) 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.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group
Chairperson: Katherine Evans
Professional role: Equity in Safety, PPE and retention specialist at Bold as Brass Consulting Services
Katherine Evans, a mid-career mining geologist, began a sabbatical in September 2023 so she could focus on improving womens’ safety across heavy industry sectors. Her goal is to encourage greater diversity of thought through collaboration and teamwork. A creative thinker who is passionate about the industry she works in, Katherine has gathered extensive field experience in surface mining operations as well as working offshore and underground.
‘The experiences I bring to QNJAC are more relevant now than they’ve ever been, as we commit to changing our industry for the better,’ said Ms Evans. ‘Having worked in the field for 16 years, I have always struggled with the same problem: that the workplace environment has never been designed for my sex to survive there. Equity and inclusivity are closely linked to well-being, safety, and health, my QNJAC specialism, and are topics I’ve focused on improving within the industry for many years.
‘Our industry expects a lot from its workforce, but to stand a chance of achieving the country’s housing and sustainability targets we need to rethink ‘normal’ to make our workplaces safe and inviting for the majority, not just the traditionally represented. Not only does this require the skills gap to be more effectively bridged, but also, I believe, a recognition that, over time, we’ve inadvertently created environments for the minority to thrive in.
‘For the Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group to push for change in 2025 we will be focusing on educating our sector’s business leaders and line managers from both large corporates and SMEs. Through social media channels and online we’ll share short videos, written documents, and infographics on our topics for culture change. We plan to swerve the wellness washing and go straight for reflection-requiring subjects; those that underpin well-being, such as psychosocial and psychological safety, with a hope of reducing groupthink mentality so that, in turn, innovative thinking will be allowed to flourish. This way, everyone wins.’
Also on the working group agenda for the coming year are the following topics: Anti-Bullying, Strong & Respectful Communication, Recognizing & Understanding Trauma, Reducing Workplace Stress, Gender Appreciation, and Supporting Mental Load.
‘Our group believes we need to transform the way we approach well-being and move away from hoping that our workforce can deep breathe its way out of the pressures our safety critical workplaces exert on the people working within them,’ continued Ms Evans. ‘We’re looking to bring something valuable to the industry by increasing awareness of how we treat our staff, as well as how we allow them to be treated by others. Culture change isn’t easy or quick, but without it there’ll be no succession plans.
‘The Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group is a very small team, with fewer than 10 regular monthly attendees, however we are positive that we aren’t the only people in our industry who seek the change we’re proposing. We’re looking for creative thinkers to join us, people who see the world through a different lens, the status quo rebels, revolutionaries of change and those interested in learning more about the psychological impacts of stressors. We’re inviting like-minded industry individuals to give an hour or two of their time a month to contribute to our quest for culture transformation.’
To find out more about joining the Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group or to volunteer video-editing capabilities, email: Katherine@bold-as-brass.com.
Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group
Chairperson: Malcolm Mellow
Professional role: Unite the Union convenor/safety advisor
Malcolm Mellow has been involved with QNJAC as a member of the Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group since 1998, predominantly serving as the Chair and Secretary. He has worked for Imerys for 48 years, and over the course of 51 years has performed the roles of safety representative, Unite representative, then convenor. His passion and performance as a safety advisor is committed and longstanding, and during his time with QNJAC he has applied knowledge from his considerable experience working with companies, employees, and the Health and Safety Executive.
‘In terms of support, leadership, and workforce engagement, we are at a promising point within the industry right now, as at the highest level there is a real appetite for the area’s principles with the understanding that they are key to improving health and safety and reducing accidents and incidents,’ said Mr Mellow. ‘As a result, this contributes towards considerable financial savings over time, however there is still work to do to achieve full compliance with Regulation 40 at all quarry sites and have safety reps or representatives of employee safety present at all quarries.’
The Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group guidance is regularly revised and published on qnjac.co.uk to help train and advise safety reps or representatives of employee safety.
‘2025 will be an industrious year for the working group, as we make the most recent version of our leadership and workforce guidance – which has just been updated – available, known about, and put in place everywhere, supporting everyone to work together to improve health and safety at all levels: a fundamental of the QNJAC aspiration,’ continued Mr Mellow.
‘By growing our social media channels, making our website more user friendly with an improved user interface, increasing press activity, and our presence with the Institute of Quarrying, we’re taking an omni-channel approach to building valuable engagement. In doing so, we’re widening our reach towards not only the larger, multinational-owned quarries, but also the smaller independents, reinforcing our support to achieve compliance with Regulation 40.’
The quarrying industry can only benefit from QNJAC’s onward growth. The Leadership & Workforce Engagement Working Group is looking for more voices to add fresh energy and ideas from younger members of the industry as well as those with extensive operational experience. Fill in the online form at www.qnjac.co.uk/get-involved-safety-guidance/ to find out more about getting involved.
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