Limestone quarry reversing truck fatality

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• A risk assessment identifies the hazards, who may be harmed and what precautions are needed, so that the risks can be controlled.
• The assessments are five years old and cover blasting and the quarry face, but they do not cover vehicle movements, so the main cause of fatal accidents at the quarry was not assessed.
• Moving vehicles, such as large dump trucks and loaders with poor visibility, can strike or crush people on foot.
• Other hazards include rockfall and instability of the quarry face, blasting, dust that contains silica, noise, conveyors and machinery, and work in the dark.
• The assessment should consider who may be harmed, including cleaners, fitters, contract drivers and visitors who work on foot near vehicles.
• It should evaluate the likelihood and the severity of harm and the controls that exist, such as the reversing alarms, which were broken.
• The collisions and near misses in months 2 and 3 showed that the risk was high and known, and the assessment should have been reviewed.
• The assessment should apply the hierarchy of control, for example by separating people from vehicles, using one way routes and designing out reversing.
• The assessment should be done by a competent person, in consultation with the drivers and workers who know how the site really works.
• The significant findings should be recorded, and an action plan with owners and dates should be made.
• The assessment should be reviewed after changes, such as the extension, after incidents and near misses and at planned intervals.
• The results should be communicated to the workers and the contract drivers, and the controls should be checked to see whether they work.

Practice points counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Prepare a written traffic management plan, based on the risk assessment, that covers all roads and work areas on the site.
• Separate vehicles from pedestrians as far as possible, with marked and protected walkways, barriers and crossing points.
• Create a one way system and reduce the need to reverse, for example by turning areas and by positioning the crusher hopper so that trucks drive through.
• Where reversing remains necessary, establish an assessed safe system, including a trained signaller where needed, safe positioning and a stop rule when required communication or visibility is lost. Do not place a signaller in a crush zone.
• Select suitable visibility and warning aids for the vehicles and site, maintain safety-critical equipment and restrict use when safe operation cannot be demonstrated. Do not assume every vehicle needs an identical set of alarms, cameras and mirrors.
• Set and enforce a speed limit with clear signs, and use speed checks and discipline for drivers who ignore it.
• Provide good lighting at the crusher and the stockpiles for the night shift.
• Require everyone on foot to wear clean high visibility clothing, and replace it when it is worn.
• Use a permit or lock-out so that vehicles cannot enter the area where people are working under the conveyor, for example by closing the road.
• Carry out planned inspections of vehicles before every shift, and keep records.
• Make sure that drivers are trained, competent and authorised for the vehicles that they use.
• Monitor the controls with inspections and audits, and include contract drivers in the rules.

Practice points counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The quarry face should be designed and inspected by a competent person, with safe slopes and benches so that rockfall and collapse are controlled.
• No one should work close to the face unless it has been checked after blasting, bad weather or a change in the rock.
• Blasting should be carried out only by a competent contractor, with a written blast plan, an exclusion zone, warnings and a check that everyone is clear before firing.
• Stockpiles should be kept at a safe height and slope, and nobody should go near the base of a high stockpile.
• Conveyors and crushers need fixed guards, emergency stop cords and lock-out of the power before anyone cleans or repairs them.
• Cleaning under a conveyor should be done only after the conveyor has been isolated and locked off, or by a method that does not need a person to be in the area.
• Dust should be reduced at the source with water sprays, enclosures and dust extraction at the crusher, and by wetting haul roads.
• Where dust cannot be controlled, workers should use suitable respiratory protective equipment that fits, and the level of dust should be measured.
• Respirable crystalline silica can cause lung disease, so health surveillance of the workers who are exposed should be arranged.
• Noise should be reduced by enclosing the crusher and by maintenance, and workers should have hearing protection, training and hearing tests.
• Safe systems of work and permits should be used for high risk jobs such as work at height on the crusher or entry into a hopper.
• Workers should wear protective clothing, such as safety footwear, helmets, goggles and gloves, as shown by the risk assessment.
• Equipment should be inspected and maintained, and any defect should be repaired before use.
• The quarry should be fenced and signed so that unauthorised people cannot enter.

Practice points counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The pressure to increase the tonnage and the rule that lorries must not wait show that output is put before safety.
• Drivers are paid by the load, which encourages speed and risk taking.
• There are no figures for near misses, and the near misses in months 2 and 3 were not investigated, so reporting and learning are poor.
• The safety duties were given to the maintenance supervisor, who has a conflict of roles, and there is no competent safety adviser.
• The cleaner's request for a barrier and a banksman was ignored, which shows that workers' concerns are not heard.
• Senior managers should set a policy that puts safety first, name the people who are responsible and provide the resources.
• They should change the targets and the pay system so that safety is included and speed is not the only reward.
• They should appoint a competent safety adviser who is independent of production.
• They should be visible on the site, listen to workers and act on the reports that they receive.
• They should consult workers and contract drivers, and set up a way to report hazards without a penalty.

Practice points counted: 0 of 10

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Employers must give workers the information, instruction and training needed to work safely, and the amount should match the risks.
• Induction should be given to every driver and visitor before they start work, and should cover the site rules, the traffic routes, the speed limit and the right of way for pedestrians.
• The induction should be in a language that the drivers understand, with maps, pictures and a short test.
• Drivers should be told about the danger of reversing, the rule that a banksman is needed in congested areas and the action to take if the alarm or the mirrors do not work.
• Workers on foot should be trained to stay out of vehicle areas, to wear high visibility clothing and to make eye contact with drivers.
• Cleaners and maintenance staff should be trained in isolation and lock-out before they work under a conveyor.
• Banksmen should be trained and should use clear signals that drivers understand.
• Supervisors should be trained in their duties, including the control of contractors, the investigation of near misses and the handling of production pressure.
• Hilltop should agree in writing with the haulage firms who is responsible for the training and the condition of their vehicles.
• Refresher training should be given at intervals and after incidents and changes.
• Training should be recorded, and its effect should be checked by observation.
• Communication can be improved with signs, daily briefings, notice boards, radios on each shift and a simple way to report hazards.

Practice points counted: 0 of 12

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• An emergency plan should be written, based on the risks, for events such as a vehicle accident, a rockfall, a fire and a blasting incident.
• The plan should name the people who have roles, such as the incident controller, the first aiders and the person who calls the emergency services.
• The alarm should be heard in all parts of the quarry, including the crusher and the stockpiles, and tested regularly.
• At Hilltop the alarm was a hand siren in the office, so it could not be used quickly at the crusher.
• Every supervisor and each shift should have a radio or a telephone, so that help can be called at once.
• Emergency numbers and the site address should be displayed where workers can see them, and kept up to date.
• A trained first aider should be present on every shift, and there should be a first aid room and equipment to match the risks, such as equipment for severe bleeding and crush injuries.
• There was no first aider on the night shift, so the injured worker received no help until the ambulance arrived.
• The plan should have a clear access route for the ambulance, with a person at the gate to guide it.
• Because the hospital is 45 minutes away, a plan should be made for the care of the injured and for the transport to hospital.
• The emergency services should be told about the site and its hazards, and a joint exercise should be held.
• Drills should be held at intervals, and the result should be used to improve the plan.
• After a serious accident the site should be made safe, the evidence should be preserved and the incident should be reported.
• Workers who saw the event should be offered support, and the plan should be reviewed after any emergency.

Practice points counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• The aim of the investigation is to find the causes, so that the incident can be prevented from happening again, and not to find someone to blame.
• The first step is to give care to the casualty, make the scene safe, call the emergency services and preserve the evidence, including the truck.
• The team should collect information: photographs, the log, the maintenance records for the truck, the training records for the driver and statements from witnesses.
• The investigation team should include a manager, a supervisor and a worker representative with suitable competence, and an outside expert may be needed.
• Witnesses should be interviewed soon, separately and with care, and the driver should be given a fair hearing.
• The team should build a timeline and look for immediate, underlying and root causes.
• Immediate cause: the truck reversed into the area where the cleaner was working, and the driver could not see him.
• Immediate cause: the reversing alarm was broken, the mirrors were cracked and there was no banksman, so nobody warned the cleaner.
• Underlying cause: there was no traffic management plan and no separation of vehicles from people at the crusher, and the lighting was poor.
• Underlying cause: the cleaner was working under the conveyor without any system to stop vehicles from entering the area.
• Underlying cause: the defects in the truck and the earlier collisions were not repaired or investigated, and the drivers were paid by the load.
• Underlying cause: the driver was a contractor who was given little induction and training.
• Root causes include a poor safety culture, in which production pressure came before safety, unclear responsibilities and no competent safety adviser.
• The team should make recommendations with an action plan with owners and dates, report the incident as the law requires and share the lessons with all workers.

Practice points counted: 0 of 14

Tick each point that your answer made clearly and only once. Points here are this site's own. A real examiner may accept other valid points.

• Moral: a worker was killed doing his job, and nobody should lose his life at work.
• Moral: the family of the cleaner has lost its income and a loved one, and the driver and the other workers may suffer lasting distress.
• Moral: Hilltop has a duty of care to contract drivers and cleaners as well as to its own employees.
• Legal: employers must provide safe plant, safe systems of work, information, instruction, training and supervision, and must assess risks.
• Legal: the failures at Hilltop, such as the broken alarms and no traffic plan, are likely to be breaches of these duties.
• Legal: the authority may inspect the quarry, issue a notice or prosecute, and managers and directors may be personally liable.
• Legal: the family may bring a civil claim for compensation.
• Financial: the direct costs include the loss of production while the area is closed, the repair of the truck and the cost of the investigation.
• Financial: fines, compensation and higher insurance premiums may be large.
• Financial: customers such as cement works may move to other suppliers if the quarry has a poor record.
• Financial: good management reduces such losses and improves productivity and morale.
• Reputation: a fatal accident draws the attention of the regulator, the media and the neighbours of the quarry.

Practice points counted: 0 of 12