Guidance

Over-pressurisation of silos during deliveries can result in silos rupturing or filter housings being ejected and a significant risk of ‘struck by’ injuries. ‘Struck by flying or falling objects’ is one of the MPA’s ‘Fatal 6’; the high consequence hazards responsible for most of the major injuries and fatalities within the sector.

The MPA checklist for bulk powder deliveries can be used by those businesses delivering mineral powders to take a structured approach to assess silo safety at customer sites. The checklist has been updated to emphasise that the main safety concern when delivering powders pneumatically is over-pressurisation, which can result in catastrophic failure. Checking that the measures and controls identified in this document are applied, fitted and functioning correctly will help to eliminate or reduce such risks.

The Employee guide on mental health and wellbeing provides information on how to recognise mental health issues and where individuals may seek assistance .

It is one of two guides on Mental Health and Wellbeing produced by the MPA, the second is a guide for managers. Both can be found by clicking on the Health and wellbeing tab on the top menu of Safequarry and then clicking on Mental health and wellbeing.

Free hard copies of the Employee guide are available to MPA members and can be ordered from david.yelland@mineralproducts.org"

Please contact Tony Entwistle for more information about the support MPA provides at tony.entwistle@mineralproducts.org"

MPA has relaunched a health and safety self-audit tool which is free and easy to use.

This is a key part of MPA’s Safer by Association initiative focussed on providing support to SME’s. It is based on a simple scoring system, which can be used by anyone with a good, basic knowledge of health and safety. This audit tool is a development of an earlier MPA system but has been upgraded with improved functionality and updated to reflect current good practice.

The purpose of this approved code of practice is to offer guidance to parties engaged in the process and management of loading bulk products onto rail wagons, such that the risks associated with the transportation of wagons are minimised. Included is the management of risk associated with residual / incomplete loading and unloading events.

The provisions of this guidance document relate to bulk products as defined: unbound, solid, particulate materials. It has been produced by the National Freight Safety Group.

These guidelines were prepared in consultation with MPA member companies. They provide guidance on good practice in the management of public safety and are complimentary to the existing statutory requirements.

They have been reviewed to ensure that they remain up to date and to reflect the importance of the collaboration with other agencies in raising public awareness about the dangers of open water such as water filled voids in quarries and quarry lakes. 

They recommend systems and actions to assist operators:

• To manage trespass issues on operational, closed or mothballed sites
• To help deter members of the public from entering sites uninvited
• To warn members of the public about the potential hazards
• To manage public safety particularly when there is a public right of way on a site.

This handbook has been produced to outline how the potential hazards associated with work at height activities can be either eliminated or mitigated. Based on the hierarchy of control, the handbook provides ‘clear, simple and smart’ guidance for those managing Work at Height.

An introduction is provided for each element of the hierarchy of control, along with examples of good practice and questions every site should be asking. The guidance should be considered when conducting a risk assessment and conducting a work at height safety review. The handbook is designed for use by managers, employees, and contractors within the mineral products industry. Please share it within your organisation.

NePSi published an updated version of a Respirable Crystalline Silica Monitoring Protocol in June 2021

The main objective of this monitoring protocol is to provide a harmonized methodology to measure exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) of workers employed at member companies of the NEPSI signatories. The project aims to provide a common basic methodology to help those sectors who do not have a standardized monitoring methodology in place and enable these sectors to collect RCS exposure data in a harmonized and representative way.

Guidance is provided on measurement strategy, appropriate sampling and analytical methods, and data management.

The implementation of the protocol is not mandatory, but should be considered as guidance for the development of a dust and quartz monitoring programme within all NEPSI partners.

The NEPSI Good Practice Guide provides practical information for industries working with materials containing crystalline silica to improve workers’ health protection progressively over time.

The guide provides a basic introduction to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and more detailed information on dust control measures and management guidance for specific industries and tasks.  The Good Practice Guide is a comprehensive resource for employers and employees working in the silica industries, available online and downloadable for free:

On Saturday 29th January, a number of changes to the Highway Code came into effect.

To assist its members MPA produced a summary of the changes. The objective was to help avoid the potential for confusion and uncertainty as road users become familiar with the new rules.

One of the most significant introductions is a ‘hierarchy of road users’. This will ensure that people who can cause the most harm in a collision, such as those in vehicles, bear the “greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they may pose to others”. The bulletin is therefore of particular relevance to drivers of HGVs.

MPA would like to thank CEMEX for allowing MPA to share its work in producing this synopsis.

Following reports of a number of loads for a key customer moving in transit on standard curtain side trailers hauled by sub-contractors, and particularly during the winter months, Wincanton formed a small working party to conduct dynamic testing on various paving products in order to understand and resolve the issues.

The attached presentation details the testing conducted for a wide range of load configurations (palletising, banding, strapping, spacing, corner boards, anti-slip mats) and identifies which configurations provide sufficient dynamic load security. The effects of seasonal weather conditions on dynamic load security are also considered.