British Aggregates Association safety scheme gains momentum

At the 887 British Aggregates Association’s annual meeting a record number of nine certificates were awarded to member companies that had successfully completed the Association’s Assessment of Operating Standards Scheme.

The successful companies included 3768 Huntsmans Quarries; Henry Streeter (Sand & Ballast); Johnston Quarry Group; 6577 Middleton Aggregates; Tillicoultry Quarries and 4599 Raymond Brown Minerals & Recycling.

The awards were made by Eric Darlow MBE who has chaired the awarding panel since its inception in 2007.

During the past year the member involvement in the scheme has greatly increased with well over one-third of all BAA members having now signed up.

Since the scheme’s inception 38 assessments have been conducted, and these have ranged from small quarry one-day assessments through to larger operations which have taken several days to assess.

The BAA says it is particularly pleased with the scheme and as to date no company has withdrawn from the process and all that embark do eventually gain certification.

The BAA and 2938 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are currently working together on a pilot intervention strategy scheme which should further enhance the standard of health and safety within small and medium sized quarrying companies.

A further imitative that the BAA is investigating is to extend the scheme to larger multi-site companies so that the scheme can be of benefit to all its members.