Occasionally, a bitumen delivery which has commenced cannot be completed for a number of reasons. When this happens, the weight of the remaining bitumen in the truck trailer puts pressure on the hose and this poses a safety risk for uncoupling.

Eurobitume has developed a new guidance document, ‘Recommendations to disconnect hoses in case still under pressure’, which shares good industry practises about how to safely disconnect hoses when a delivery is incomplete.

This new guidance document is available in English, German and French

This document provides guidance shared by MPA members on the elimination or significant reduction of risks to health and safety during the cleaning of pan mixers, taking account of incidents that have occurred within the industry, HSE research and good practice. The guide is for managers and operatives.

It highlights the nature of the health and safety hazards which can arise during cleaning operations and the ways in which these can be eliminated or reduced by good design, automation and safe working practices.

This document has been produced as part of the suite of resources to help eliminate 'The Fatal 6' - It has been produced by the Working Group for Fatal 1 - Moving machinery and isolation.

This guidance covers the generalities of the Management System for Electrical Installations at quarries, associated non quarry sites and mobile equipment.

Plant Information Sheet 1 - (Version 2, January 2021) - review date: 2026

QNJAC has produced an even more user friendly version of their Isolation Self-Audit tool, with improved functionality which now allows the question set to be completed electronically. Members are reminded of the importance of guarding and isolation and conducting regular audits to check that their arrangements and procedures are sufficient. In this regard, the QNJAC Self Audit tool should prove very useful.

The industry operates equipment that has the potential to cause harm if not operated or isolated correctly.

We have learnt from incidents within the industry, the critical importance of giving employees and contractors as much information and guidance on the risks involved when operating heavy machinery and a better understanding of the different types of energy they need to be protected against.

This document will describe LOTOTO (Lock-Out – Tag-Out – Try-Out), the process for isolating equipment to ensure that maintenance and cleaning can be undertaken safely.

Prepared by the MPA and Reece Safety, this document shares best practice and will help to raise awareness of ‘LOTOTO’ and to guide the industry to the achievement of a safer working environment. In this document you will also find also find product information to safe guard the workforce.

This 171 page, A5 Guide has been prepared by the MPA and a specialist working group of members to assist supervisors and managers on site and supports other industry technical guidance.

One week to go before the 1st MPA webinar on LOTOTO - register now for free webinar

See flyer for more information on the two webinars on LOTOTO being run by MPA in conjunction with Reece on  31st January and 14th March. The webinar is titled 'Do not disrespect LOTOTO'

Please see information on two webinars on LOTOTO being run by MPA in conjunction with Reece on  31st January and 14th March. The webinar is titled 'Do not disrespect LOTOTO'

ALSO

Please see information on a Midland Region  Health and Safety Awareness Day on the 11th April. 

Please read the incident alert that is being sent out with this hot topic alert. 

The incident reports on the a recent event in which an isolator switch failed, if the fitter had not followed the 'try out' part of the LOTOTO procedure he might have incurred a serious injury or worse whilst maintaining a pump.

In addition to reading the alert, please also remind yourself of all the resources available from the Fatal 1 section of Safequarry. These include downloadable guidance documents, links to MPQC training modules and posters.

The fourth edition of the Code of Practice for the Safe Installation of Precast Concrete Flooring and Associated Components launched by the Precast Flooring Federation on 30th November 2017

Following a court hearing concerning the death of one man and serious injuries to another, HSE inspector Michael Kingston said: ‘These tragic consequences could have been avoided. This case highlights the importance of implementing effective power isolation procedures when interacting with machinery and the need to monitor compliance to make sure these procedures are followed.

‘The HSE will not hesitate to prosecute companies or individuals who fail to implement and monitor safe systems of work.’

Stonegrave Aggregates Ltd was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £48,952. A Director was given a 12-month community order and the site manager was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Description of incident

Two employees at a recycling plant had stopped the trommel and entered the drum to clear a blockage. While they were inside the drum, two other employees, who were unaware anyone was in the machine, restarted the production line. The two men were trapped inside the revolving trommel drum for approximately four minutes before the line was stopped.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the following

• There was a history of blockages occurring on the waste-processing line
• Operators were regularly having to enter the trommel to clear materials
• The line was not adequately guarded to prevent access to dangerous parts of the machinery
• Control systems, including emergency stops, were not compliant with relevant standards.
• Management did not adequately monitor or enforce machinery isolation procedures
• CCTV showed that the guarding that was provided on the trommel was regularly being bypassed by staff, including the site manager

Follow this link on Safequarry to the section on FATAL 1 - Contact with moving machinery and isolation – where you can download the MPA resources on LOTOTO.

MPQC have developed an elearning package which supports and complements the guidance and other resources produced by MPA on moving machinery and isolation.

In additino to the topics covered in the MPA guidance, MPQC also highlights the emotional impact following incidents, further emphasising the part that our behaviour plays in preventing incidents, and includes an important message to the participants direct from industry leaders.

Vision Zero was launched at the MPA and British Precast Health and Safety Leadership Conference on the 11th November.

A video of the whole conference or the individual sections can be viewed on the MPA's YouTube channel.

Please review the resources available from MPA to help you raise awareness of the high consequence hazards in your work environment that are associated with 'contact with moving machinery and isolation' - one of 'The Fatal 6'

They can be downloaded from Safequarry

Please book your place on the MPA's Welsh Safer by Sharing Seminars

21 June 2019 - South Wales
Copthorne Hotel, Cardiff 

11 October 2019 - North Wales
Llyndir Hotel, nr Wrexham 

 In response to the identified "Fatal 6", the Safer by Sharing Seminars for 2019 will focus on two key elements "Isolation of Energy and Lock-Off" and "Falls from and Working at Height.

e-mail - [email protected]

CEMEX presentation to raise awareness of the issues surrounding guarding, to prompt review of existing guarding by management and ensure guarding standards are to an acceptable level. Guarding requirements must be fully understood, if guards are not in place or adequate there is a significant potential for someone to be killed. The unauthorised removal and failure to replace guards securely are serious offences.