At the turn of the millennium MidlandQuarry Products (MQP) were one of theworst performers in the quarrying

industry with regard to injury, incidents andbehavioural safety culture. Prior to the year2000, MQP’s flagship superquarry inLeicestershire (Cliffe Hill) was experiencing96 non-lost-time incidents (NLTIs) and 12serious lost-time incidents (LTIs) per year.Near hits were an unknown quantity at thistime but more than likely ran into hundreds,and the company was just recovering from anunfortunate fatality. Bottom of the class wasnot where MQP wanted to be.However, fast-forward just over 10 years to

2011 and MQP are now one of the bestperformers in the industry. Cliffe Hill Quarryhas achieved more than eight years withoutan employee LTI and three-and-a-half yearssince a contractor LTI, with NLTIs running atjust two per year. The site has won a numberof MPA safety trophies, culminating in theJohn Crabbe award for excellence in 2010, andhas been host to the Health and SafetyExecutive (HSE) and industry leaders.So, what miracle happened? Were the

pioneers of this change lucky or was thetransition from ‘worst’ to ‘best in class’planned, as shown on the statisticalgraph/timeline (fig. 1).

How did MQP achieve such a remarkableturnaround in their cultural safety behaviourduring the last decade? First, it is necessaryto turn to Anglo American’s vision of OTTO –Zero Tolerance Target Zero – and the safetyleadership and behavioural change theybrought to the quarrying industry in theirpursuit of Zero Harm. Anglo American’sbedrock or guiding principals for Zero Harm(OTTO) are the same today as they wereback in January 2000:• Get the basics right• Get the engagement/communicationright

• Get the competence of employees andcontractors right.

A key element of achieving Zero Harm(OTTO) was the education and training of allteam members, including contractors, sothat they became accountable for their actionswhen at work. This aligns with the MineralProducts Association’s (MPA) vision of ‘Saferby Competence’ and the drive towards a‘Competent Assured Workforce’.A key element in this was the appointment

of a competent and experienced SHE managerat senior level to manage and plan thecompany’s behavioural change process, andto work with key operational and executivepersonnel.The support of MQP’s joint-venture parent

companies (Hanson and Tarmac) throughtheir own health and safety strategies –‘Working Together - Safety Matters’ andOTTO (Zero Harm) – was also essential ifMQP’s own plans for behavioural changewere to be successful. Both parent companieswere extremely supportive, sharing bestpractice and root-cause analysis,disseminating safety alerts and encouraginginvolvement in their ‘Safety Matters’ workinggroups.A HSE culture survey carried out in 2000

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Safer byCompetence Dave Gazzard, SHE manager with Midland Quarry Products,discusses the company’s journey from ‘worst in class’ to ‘bestin class’ during the period from c2000 to the present day

FIG. 1

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identified MQP’s strengths and, in particular,weaknesses, such as risk taking, poor teamwork, claims mentality and lack of awarenessand accountability, to name but a few. It wasobvious that a structured, risk-basededucation and training regime was needed, soMQP embarked on their first ‘crusade’towards Zero Harm for all team members.The company’s ‘Safer by Competence’

programme was designed to improve theknowledge and awareness of hazards andrisks for ‘at risk’ trades. Individuals shouldunderstand the limits of their capabilities andbe able to actively participate in the risk-management process and decision-making inorder to minimize exposure to injury and illhealth. Improvements to site-supervisionskills and risk-management awareness wereenhanced through all ranks of managementattending the Institute of Occupational Safetyand Health (IOSH) ‘Managing Safely Courses’.All incidents were investigated by root-

cause analysis to prevent reoccurrence andto provide opportunities for further learning.A ‘carrot and stick’ approach was alsoimplemented with regard to adherence torules and procedures. Team members wererewarded for safety and behaviouralimprovements, an approach which continuesto this day under MQP’s current managingdirector.At the end of the company’s first three-year

‘People – Culture Change Event Plan’ theimprovement to injury incident statistics wasclear, as shown by the statistics in figure 1 andby a follow-up HSE ‘culture survey’ whichshowed similar improvements.Once the company had re-established the

‘Back to Basics’ bedrock for ‘Zero Harm’, itthen embraced, from 2002/3, the MPQCNational Vocational Award (NVQ) Level 2 inmobile plant and process operations, followedby the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE)NVQ Levels 3 to 5 awards for all managementgrades.The ‘Safer by Competence’ programme was

further strengthened by MQP’s deliverydrivers achieving the MPQC driver skillscard. The company’s approved contractorswere also encouraged to obtain the QuarrySafety Passport and to ensure that theirteam members were also engaged in thecompetence assured process, with manyopting for NVQs.A risk-based training-needs matrix, based

on essential skills required to carry out teammembers’ duties safely, resulted in thedelivery of further MPQC courses, such asgeotechnics, blasting, silica awareness,confined spaces and working at height. Quiteoften MQP acted as the pilot for suchschemes.As team members became better educated

and trained in minimizing risk and not working

beyond their capabilities, MQP had to turn toother indicators to measure behaviour andpotential injury incidents. The lead indictorselected was the reporting and root-causeanalysis of ‘near hits’, which commenced in2008/9.At the same time, the company introduced

positive intervention through workplace safetyobservations to observe safe behaviours and‘nip’ unsafe behaviours in the bud.Engagement and dialogue with teammembers was further reinforced throughregular workplace forums held by the currentmanaging director, together with safety‘Stand-Down Days’.The willingness of MQP’s parent companies,

Hanson and Tarmac, to continue to supportthese efforts was welcomed. Panels of Inquirywere introduced from Hanson; these enforcedthe ‘no-blame culture’ and involved widerteam member participation in arriving atsolutions and delivering a commitment tobehavioural change. Similarly, improvementsto MQP’s ‘root-cause’ problem-solvingtechniques were borrowed from Tarmac. TheMPA would call this ‘Safer by Sharing’.During the last three years MQP have

accelerated the move from being rule orprescriptive based, to being competence ledwith team members having a voice and theright to say ‘no’ and to ‘abstain from risk’.Toolbox talks and briefings are held �

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Training & Apprenticeships

26 www.Agg-Net.com April 2012

monthly under the ‘People – Culture ChangeEvents’ banner.All training needs are now completely risk

based, with skills (competence) matrix androle profiles developed to give better directionand value for money, and to allow CPDevidence to be obtained and recorded for theInstitute of Quarrying’s CPD Scheme. Team members exposed to risk, such as

engineering trades, expect and receive theskills needed to work safely.

The end of the decade culminated in MQPbeing awarded the John Crabbe trophy forexcellence in safety and hosting an industry-led visit to Cliffe Hill by Judith Hackitt CBE,chair of the HSE.The current emphasis on team members

having a voice, recognizing their own limitsand not working beyond their capabilities willcontinue to drive the company forward. Moving into the next decade, MQP have the

determination to reach ‘Zero Harm’ and

are looking towards the continuingprofessional development of theirsupervisory and management team. Signingup to the Institute of Quarrying’s CorporateProfessional Competence (CPC) schemerepresents the company’s ongoingcommitment to being a safe employer and asafe business partner.The company is now moving into new

territory where it wants competent, engagedteam members who are ‘unconsciously safe’and who can make the right ‘safe’ decisionswith limited supervision and referral (see fig. 2).Of course, ‘Safer by Competence’ was only

one of many key elements in MQP’s plannedapproach towards Zero Harm, the otheressentials being:• Get the basics right (do it right first time,every time, within your capability)

• Get the engagement/communicationright (involve all stakeholders)

• Reward and praise (say thank you)• Incidents not accidents (all events havecausations)

• Positive interventions (get out and aboutto identify poor behaviour)

• Root-cause analysis carried out(investigate thoroughly)

• Reduce compensation claims (savecash – reduce premiums)

• Get the design of plant and equipmentright (Safer by Design).

MQP believe a ‘Competent AssuredWorkforce’ is the key to the company’scontinuing success – it could be key to thesuccess of your company too. Q M

Recruiting for the futureFor many years the quarrying industryhas relied heavily on the coal industry forrecruits with competency in theengineering and related maintenancedisciplines, but with the decline inmining, this source has virtuallydisappeared. As a result, Midland QuarryProducts took the decision to return torecruiting young persons who hadexpressed an interest in pursuing acareer in engineering, by offeringapprenticeships. Without this move, MQPcould not see how they were going tosustain an employed, engaged, safety-conscious and competent maintenancefunction.As the success of this venture would be

the basis of MQP’s manager andsupervisor succession plan, the trainingand experience provided by the schemeneeded to be comprehensive, appropriate,thorough, rigorous and well controlledand recorded. It was soon recognized,however, that delivering this ambitionwithout some assistance, particularly

with regard to a facility where machineshop and electrical installation training andexperience could be practised, could not beachieved.A ‘Modern Engineering Apprenticeship’

was identified as a way forward. The basis ofthe scheme involves working through anumber of selected modules designed toprovide appropriate and comprehensivetraining with Level 3 NVQ accreditation.These modules are delivered by a local non-profit-making engineering training group,which was set up with government funding toserve the manufacturing industry in theregion. The training group provides amentoring assessor who ensures thatindividuals get the necessary training andexperience both at the training group’s ownfacilities and during their day-to-dayattachments to the maintenance teams. The‘apprenticeship’ is only completed by reachingthe NVQ Level 3 standard and is not just basedon length of time served.In addition to, and during, this phase the

‘apprentice’ studies towards an academic

qualification, such as an ONC/ HNC, andfollowing completion of the apprenticeshipenrols on either the Quarry or AsphaltTechnology Diploma course run by theUniversity of Derby (formerly known as theDAPS course), where he or she gainsknowledge of all aspects of the businessin preparation for future supervisory andmanagement positions.To date, MQP have had five young

persons enter this scheme and all arecontinuing to grow within, and makingserious contributions to, the business. Onehas gained an HND in ElectricalEngineering and a Diploma in QuarryTechnology and one has gained an HNC inMechanical Engineering and is workingtowards the Diploma in Quarry Technology.The remaining three are at various stagesof their apprenticeships, progressing welland already contributing to themaintenance team. The earliest recruit,who possesses the Derby Diploma, has justbeen promoted to the role of asphaltplants supervisor.

FIG. 2

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