Quarry industry cuts reportable injuries by 50%

The quarry industry has celebrated surpassing its 'Hard Target' in reducing all reportable injuries by 52% in five years from a baseline of 655 to 317in the reporting year 2004/05.

Health and Safety Commission (HSC) Commissioner, Hugh Robertson, congratulated all those who had helped reach the target adding: "The quarry industry has shown that a competent management and a genuinely involved workforce will deliver targets making it an exemplar to other traditional heavy industries.”

The achievement has included significant progress against each of the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) priority programmes falls from height; slips and trips injuries; manual handling injuries; and work place transport injuries.

Helen Turner of HSE's Manufacturing Sector called on industry to recommit to a further 50% reduction in reportable incidents by 2010.

She said: "In order for injury reduction to be sustained into the future we must ensure not only that we share a common vision of where we want to be, but also that it is the right vision, and we know the steps we must take to get us there together.

"The thrust of HSE's efforts over the last five years has used the overall concepts of commitment, competence and involvement and these remain key underpinning requirements.”