Contractors Working Group Update

13 June, 2025

Contractors Working Group chair Cath Pickett and co-chair Rob Cross

First published in the June 2025 issue of Quarry Management

Continuing a series of articles on the essential health and safety guidance its team of volunteers is committed to delivering, QNJAC (the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee) Contractors Group chair Cath Pickett talks about how, since a reinvigoration in 2022, she and her committee members have been assisting other contractors and clients in driving improvements in health and safety on quarry sites.

Chairing the Contractors Working Group

Cath Pickett is national health and safety manager for Chepstow Plant International Ltd and has worked in the UK quarrying industry for more than 30 years, first as a quarry manager, then as HM Quarries Inspector for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). She has been performing her role at Chepstow Plant for the past three years and is proud of the innovative and safety-focused approach both her position and company have realized in embedding safety principles and practice within the quarrying industry.

The group’s co-chair is Rob Cross, who is national asset manager for EPC Groupe. His 35 years of experience in the quarrying industry have focused primarily on operational management and health and safety. His work involves close collaboration with contractors from the quarry operation perspective. He has consistently relied on the expertise and specialist services of contracting companies over the course of his career and has gained valuable industry insight from the contractor’s viewpoint.

Collaborative working

‘Back in 2022, when Rob and I took the chair, Viv Russell, the QNJAC main board chair at the time, felt confident that the contractors’ sector had reached a point of maturity from which professionals could use first-hand experience to support the wider industry with reviewed or new guidance to improve the health and safety on site operations,’ Cath Pickett explained.

‘The time was right, and the passion to create the group was there. Many of us had not only worked as extractives’ contractors throughout our careers, with knowledge of the specific issues faced, but had ourselves drawn on QNJAC’s guidance and expertise as a resource, finding the direction invaluable.’

Members of QNJAC Contractors Group

Cath Pickett – National health and safety manager, Chepstow Plant International Ltd
Rob Cross – National asset manager, EPC Groupe
Pat Bowles – Industry schemes manager, MP Awards
Roy Bush – Director of health and safety, British Aggregates Association
John Clark – General manager, MP Awards
Alex Harris – Contract maintenance manager, Bulldog Plant and Equipment Ltd
Amy Harris – Health and safety manager, Mineral Products Association
Roksana Malczewska – SHEQ advisor, United Plant Services
Ants McCann – Health and safety manager, SMT GB
Colin Mew – Head of health and safety, Mineral Products Association
Colin Scott – Operations director, Thor Atkinson Steel Fabrications Ltd
Richard Solly – Group health and safety director, Rema Tip Top
Neil Wheeler – Group health and safety manager, Walters Group.

Roy Bush and Roksana Malczewska

Ants McCann and Colin Mew

Driving site improvements

‘Since joining the group, members have expressed how much they value the opportunities given to develop working relationships outside their day-to-day networks and influence positive change,’ said Cath Pickett. ‘QNJAC has the unique ability to bring decision makers from across the industry, the HSE, and unions together into one forum that develops practical tools and guidance, for industry, by industry. By being involved in this important subcommittee, members can develop their understanding of other sectors’ wider perspectives, including those where they don’t have direct involvement. Vitally too, becoming a member of QNJAC is an opportunity to help the sector to prevent fatalities and serious incidents occurring, and as contractors we believe it is crucial for us to have a voice in the industry so we can drive necessary changes to ensure a safer working environment for all.’

Currently on the agenda

‘Our plans at present involve the future publication of a self-audit document that can be used by contractors and clients alike to encourage improvements in site safety performance,’ Cath Pickett continued. ‘The contractors’ self-audit document will provide a single point of focus for both contractors and clients to use within their operations, opening avenues of minimum expectation and communication to aid continuous improvement in safety on quarry sites by the parties involved.

‘We feel the publication will be welcomed. One of our members trialled the self-audit document in a contract on a client site from start to finish and reported that it covered all expected elements and highlighted useful discussion points that could otherwise have been missed, potentially leading to difficulties as the contract progressed.

‘The importance of the self-audit, in conjunction with the group’s additional guidance work, is more relevant now than ever. The widening contracting sector is becoming more embedded within the industry and, as such, available access to quality guidance and tools that can be used by both contractors and clients will smooth the engagement process and ensure initial expectations are better understood.’

Bringing knowledge and expertise together

‘Such guidance also serves to help unify our sector and its culture. For various reasons the industry has increasingly moved towards the contractualization of core disciplines in areas such as blasting, crushing and screening, and load and haul from the face. It still employs traditional contractors, such as electricians and fabricators, as well as the use of external services, including geotechnical specialists and structural engineers. Therefore, it is vital that all the services involved fully integrate into the operation of the quarry and that external partners are properly consulted on how processes are performed. We believe that it is through bodies such as the QNJAC Contractors Working Group that voices of all partners, internal and external, can be heard; whilst the guidance produced provides a valuable resource to aid all contractors, including those with less experience of working in a quarry environment, to operate safely. By working this way, we hope the positive contribution contractors can make to the management of site health and safety benefits from greater client recognition, and more consideration at the contractor tender stage.’

Colin Scott, Richard Solly, and Neil Wheeler

Rewarding contributions

‘As busy contractors, with schedules to meet and workstreams to progress, our online QNJAC meetings are made short and punchy with action logs and subgroups created to deliver on our promises. We are all volunteers and the fact that our employing companies release us to do this important work deserves wider credit from the industry.

‘The difference we make is evident and there are career benefits to be had by joining the group. Being part of a QNJAC committee creates opportunities to meet and work with people who have a diverse range of experience from across the sector. It’s a place to develop valuable networks and I’d encourage anyone with an interest to volunteer their time, expertise, and energy to a QNJAC group. Giving to a group is more than recompensed by the positive contribution an individual can make to the industry in guiding others to work more safely.’

To find out more about getting involved, fill in the online form at: www.qnjac.co.uk/get-involved-safety-guidance/

To find out more about QNJAC visit: www.qnjac.co.uk or connect via the LinkedIn or WhatsApp groups: