News

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.

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.

HSE is aware businesses may have received a bogus email from Mark J. Burrows claiming to be from HSE. We are investigating the source of these emails and the content should be ignored. Please don’t open any attached files or follow any links. There is no need to contact HSE.

MPA has produced 3 PowerPoints on Vision Zero which include notes for a presenter.

1. Vision Zero summary
2. Vision Zero and the 6 Core H&S Values
3. Vision Zero and 'The Fatal 6'

All the resources can be viewed and downloaded from the Vision Zero page on the Safequarry and Safeprecast websites.

The purpose of the PowerPoints is to provide an off-the-shelf tool to help raise awareness and understanding of Vision Zero, and explain to individuals their role in achieving its goals.

The presenter can adapt or add their own company branding to the slides. They can be used as a stand-alone aide or in conjunction with other MPA  Vision Zero resources.

The notes accompanying the slides are to help the presenter generate audience interaction and question how Vision Zero could be applied to the audience's work environment. 

Guidance on post-blast fumes and the steps to be taken to help reduce their production and avoid exposure to them.

Target Audience - All those involved in the blasting operation – especially the post-blast inspection process.