Modern Quarrying October-November 2015

FACE TO FACE WITH ASPASA

techniques for additional HSE input. Countries like Australia have pushed hard for practical standards that can help pre- vent injuries. Its standards, for example, provide valuable input on guardrails, stairs and stepladders. By applying similar standards and best practices, designers are in a position to build access platforms at height to the correct specifications using suitable materials that will dramatically reduce injuries in future. These international standards provide technical informa- tion and common sense applications that can be used in additional to local requirements. “We therefore urge our members and all those involved in the quarrying indus- try to become familiar with requirements of regulations and to look at related global standards to ensure that future construction work and procurement of equipment is in line with requirements. Not only will it prevent future legal prob- lems, but it will assist our quarries to pre- vent accidents and fatalities in future,” Pienaar urges. Negating risks Responsible people within sand and aggregate quarries in South Africa should look beyond health and safety compli- ance requirements, to implementing custom requirements that are able to reduce hazards within their own specific operations. “By simply using common sense and adopting a stepped approach to iden- tification of risks, health and safety (HS) officers can play a large role in preventing accidents and making our quarries safer,” he says. For this reason HS officers should be given scope to evaluate and re-evaluate each process in a quarry and observe work in progress to try to identify potential problem areas. Also to gauge the workers’ uptake of guidelines and whether they are using the correct PPE at all times. “Aspasa has in place one of the most advanced health and safety systems in the southern African industry and all members are required to comply with the systems and standards. In order to ensure compliance, companies are also subjected to annual audits that are con- ducted by an independent auditor to

from strength to strength and the calibre of speakers has improved considerably as have the venues. Pienaar has asked that members visit the Aspasa website for the regional meeting dates, and try and attend. “It’s a great networking exercise and we update our members on the lat- est legislation and challenges we’re expe- riencing in the industry.” Better fall protection New fall protection regulations have placed a large onus on designers and builders of structures and equipment to include a high level of in-built protection to prevent fall-related accidents. Pienaar says the regulations call for attention to the provision of safer access to heights on structures and machines. “This is a welcome addition to eliminat- ing injuries in the workplace and will be particularly beneficial in the quarry industry.” The regulation makes it the duty of designers to ensure that applicable stan- dards are complied with in the design and construction of equipment and buildings to provide safer access to the workplace and prescribes that a risk-based approach be adopted to overcome hazards. “By paying closer attention to guard- rails, stairs, ladders and other access points, we believe the regulation will close any loopholes that may previously have existed that allowed unsafe access to be built into machines and structures. Now it requires that much thought be given to access to work areas at height. “Instead of rung ladders, for exam- ple, designers may be able to integrate a stairway or provide additional handrails to make access safer. In this way it effec- tively reduces future risks and completely removes the potential for falls in future. “This is in line with developments around the world where questions are being asked about existing safety stan- dards and how to improve upon them to take the workplace to the next level of safety. In terms of fall protection, a lot is being done around the world to improve codes and standards dealing with require- ments to prevent falling from heights,” he says. In addition to the new standard, com- panies are also being advised to look towards countries with similar quarrying

ensure legal compliance.

“Yet despite this, we still urge our members to take an additional long, hard look at their operations and evaluate each step of their processes with health and safety in mind. If, for example, the respon- sible person observes that a walkway may be slippery when wet and poses a risk of falling, then it needs to be evaluated and if necessary steps need to be taken to pre- vent an accident. “Evaluation should follow a stepped approach based on risk management principals, ie identification of risk, assess the actual risk, put steps in place to con- trol to eliminate the risk and then eval- uate the effectiveness of the measures,” Pienaar says. He explains that the above scenario may be handled as follows: 1. The risk of a slippery floor is identified and may cause a person to fall to the floor or over the guardrail. 2. This is assessed as a serious risk as injuries may occur and control mea- sures therefore need to be taken. 3. As a result non-slip strips are applied to the floor and are tested in simu- lated wet conditions. 4. If deemed to be a suitable remedy, no further action may need to be taken; however, it will need to be re-evalu- ated in real wet conditions. Similarly, the responsible HS officer needs to look at PPE and assess whether addi- tional protection is required in certain areas. For example where overhead con- veyors may pose a risk of falling objects, a hardhat will be a requirement by law, but additional eye protection may be wise as debris from the conveyor may enter a per- son’s eye and cause short-term injury or long-term eye problems. “Therefore in that particular applica- tion eyewear may become a requirement for the company even although it is not required by law. The same applies for hearing protection, fall arrest equipment, footwear, etc,” he says. “Often we need to stand back and take an impartial look at our operations. If we have not had an incident in a certain part of a plant, it may not be that it is safe; it may simply be that we are lucky and the area is an accident waiting to happen. We therefore implore our members and all involved in the quarrying industry to

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MODERN QUARRYING

October - November 2015