Running a quarry safely is explained in a new publication from MinEx, the national Health & Safety Council for the New Zealand minerals industry.
The handout tells of obligations under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2013.
MinEx says many businesses – some of them farms -- are doing work that can be called ‘quarry operations’ as defined in the December 16, 2013 amendment to the act.
Work covered by these regulations are subject to codes, guidelines and regulations companies must know about and follow.
The industries in question are earthmoving (whether via contractors or a company’s own equipment), road construction and farming.
The three main issues quarry operators need to know about are:
The person in charge of each quarry site must hold a Certificate of Competency issued by the board of examiners.
Your operation falls under certain sections of the 2013 regulations referred to above.
WorkSafe guidelines and approved codes of practice, most importantly the WorkSafe good practice guideline ‘Health and Safety at Surface Mines, Alluvial Mines and Quarries’ expected to be issued in June.
www.minex.org.nz