Safe Quarry - Health and Safety Authority

PART 3
GENERAL SAFETY PROVISIONS
of the quarry and its plant which are liable to create
significant risks, including off-site risks, if conditions
deteriorate. (Off-site risks are risks affecting areas
outside the quarry boundary such as dwellings,
schools, roads or other places of work arising from
quarrying operations or geological failures such as
potential instability of tips, lagoons and stockpiles,
and dangers from blasting operations.) These areas
should have been identified in the safety statement
as a result of hazard identification, risk assessments,
and geotechnical appraisals or assessments.
The detail of the scheme for the quarry will also
depend on the work activities, the nature of the
materials, face and tip heights and weather conditions.
For example, periods of heavy rain may result
in loose materials, failures of tips and faces, and
roads being washed away.
The scheme needs to include information on the
frequency and level of detail of inspection, and the
experience and any qualifications required by the
people involved.It should, where necessary, include
practical advice as to what defects are significant
and on action to be taken if defects are found,
particularly in cases of imminent risk. It is particularly
important that the scheme covers:
(a) vehicles;
(b) machinery guarding;
(c) safety devices such as reversing aids, interlocks
and trip wires and emergency equipment;
(d) quarry electrical equipment;
(e) pressure systems including air receivers on
vehicles;
(f ) pedestrian routes, roadways and edge
protection;
(g) excavations, tips and lagoons;
(h) buildings or other structures where a
significant reduction in the structural integrity,
for example by corrosion, decay, overloading or
impact damage, is foreseeable;
(i) any barriers that are required around the
quarry; and
(j) any equipment required to carry out shotfiring
operations.
It is likely that the scheme will take the form of a
general inspection to which more detailed schedules
for different types of plant and areas are
attached.
Faces above working places must be inspected to
ensure that loose ground or rocks do not create
significant risks. In other cases where the risk of
deterioration is high,inspection will also be required
at least once per shift.These inspections may identify
a need for maintenance work, such as scaling, or
influence the frequency of future inspections.
In all cases, the frequency of inspection needs to be
reviewed in the light of experience but a daily
inspection must be carried out by a competent
person and a record of each daily inspection made.
The daily inspection must include the inspection of:
Working quarry faces, sides and overburden;
Every road used by persons at work are to be
inspected for loose ground or loose rock; and
All external parts of all machinery and
appliances.
There is no generic record form for daily inspections
and one must be prepared according to the operations
carried out at the quarry or at least in line with
company procedures but it must at least address
the matters listed above.A sample inspection record
is shown overleaf:
SAFE QUARRY GUIDELINES TO THE SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (QUARRIES) REGULATIONS 2008 27