Health & Safety

The highest priority for SAMSA members is the health and safety of their employees, contractors and visitors. SAMSA members have signed up to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Hard Target initiative and has worked to achieve the halving of incidents between 2000 and 2005. The official outcome of the HSE Hard Target for the surface extraction sector as a whole was a 52% reduction of incidence in the period 2000 -2005 (www.hse.gov.uk). Best practice is shared between members at an annual health and safety conference. The Association has now set a new target of a further 50% reduction in reportable accidents between 2005 and 2009.

SAMSA is a key participant in The Social Dialogue Agreement on Respirable Crystalline Silica, with its sister European trade association EUROSIL (http://www.ima-eu.org/silindex.html) who are members of the Industrial Minerals Association of Europe. (www.ima-eu.org). The agreement relates to workers health protection through the good handling and use of crystalline silica and the products containing it. This multi-sectorial agreement was signed on 25th April 2006 by Unions and Employer associations representing around 2 million employees in the EU and it came into force in October 2006. The agreement, which is recognised by the European Commission, is accompanied by a good practice guide for the reduction of exposure and the provision of a high level of protection of the employees potentially exposed to respirable crystalline silica. For full details click on : http://www.ima-eu.org/silhsefacts.html

A new website (www.safequarry.com) has been launched which contains health and safety best practice ideas, a database of incident alerts, toolbox talks and the latest on the quarrying industry’s hot topics. Safequarry.com is one element of a package of resources that encourages the sharing of health and safety knowledge across the quarrying and quarry products industry.