AGL2605 - Operational assurance overview: Health and Safety: Introduction

Quarry sites and construction developments can pose various health and safety (H&S) risks to visiting staff. This section gives a brief guide to some of the more common H&S hazards that you may encounter whilst working at quarry sites, with practical advice on how to reduce their inherent risks. Everyone who works in or enters a quarry, asphalt plant or other similar sites should have access to and read these notes.

All managers are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of their staff. Assurance managers must ensure that RA2 risk assessments (on the About You intranet pages) are carried out before visits, that these are looked at in the light of experience and that appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is available to staff. Staff also have a general duty to take reasonable care of their own health and safety, and of others affected by their activities, and must co-operate with managers to enable them to comply with their responsibilities.

Because no two quarries or their managers are the same, these notes can only give guidance on generic hazards. Hazards, risks and safety measures will vary between quarries. Staff and their managers should ensure that local risk assessments are completed in consultation with their officers and the quarry operators, and that they address specific local circumstances - see About You intranet site: Risk assessment and control.

It is a legal requirement that all jobs should be risk assessed (Management of Health & Safety At Work Regulations 1999 refers). If staff are not aware of the existence of the risk assessment relating to their job, they should speak to their line manager.

Quarry owners have a duty of care to ensure that quarries are safe for employees and visitors and a duty to comply with H&S legislation (e.g. they should give adequate information and training about the safe system of work and full PPE if it is needed). This should be arranged prior to the visit.

There is also training available through Online Learning - enter search as Health and Safety in the Prospectus box.