Safe Quarry - Health and Safety Authority

PART 2 SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT
3. OPERATOR TO BE APPOINTED BEFORE
COMMENCEMENT OF QUARRYING
OPERATIONS (Regulation 7)
7. No person shall be deployed to carry out
quarrying operations at a quarry unless an
operator has been appointed under Regulation 6.
This in effect means that no person should be
required to carry out any quarrying related work
prior to the written appointment of an operator
who takes charge of all work activity at the quarry.
This is aimed at ensuring that persons assigned
work come under the control and responsibility of a
competent operator.
The duties imposed on the operator do not relieve
individual employers of their duty to comply with
statutory duties. For example, a contractor at a
quarry supplying and using vehicles for use by his
or her employees at the quarry still has duties to
provide and maintain safe plant and equipment and
safe systems of work under Section 8 of the Safety,
Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. However, a
contractor must also co-operate with the operator
to ensure that the operator can carry out his or her
statutory duties and observe the quarry rules and
safe operating procedures.
4. NOTIFICATION TO AUTHORITY
(Regulation 8)
8.
(1) The operator shall ensure that written notice
in an approved form is given to the Authority not
later than 14 days following the occurrence of
any of the following events in respect of the
quarry:
(a) his or her appointment as operator;
(b) the commencement of quarrying operations;
(c) the permanent cessation of quarrying
operations.
(2) The quarry owner shall, not later than 14 days
after the appointment of a common operator
under Regulation 6(5), give written notice of that
appointment in an approved form to the
Authority.
Notification must be sent to the Health and Safety
Authority within 14 days of:
The Appointment of an Operator (including a
change in the name of the appointed operator
or quarry)
The Commencement of Quarry Operations
(such operations to include putting in roads,
clearing topsoil or building offices or
workshops);
The Permanent Cessation of Quarry
Operations.
Notification should be posted to or sent by fax
to the Head Office of the Health and Safety
Authority (A sample notification form is shown
in figure 1.)
On opening a quarry notification must be in writing
and must include:
The name, address, telephone and fax number
of the operator;
The name and address of the quarry including
Ordnance Survey grid references;
The telephone and fax number of the quarry;
A brief description of the quarry and the
mineral to be extracted; and
The date when extraction of minerals is to
start/finish.
In addition to notifying the Health and Safety
Authority when the name of the quarry changes,
operators should also notify the utility companies
of any changes. Delays have occurred during
emergencies when the power to a quarry needed
to be isolated, but the name for the quarry used by
the quarry personnel and the electricity supplier
was different from that notified.
When a quarry closes, any remaining excavations or
tips must be left in a safe condition. In the case of
abandoned tips, the notification needs to include
the information gathered through geotechnical
assessments.
SAFE QUARRY GUIDELINES TO THE SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (QUARRIES) REGULATIONS 2008 13