Construction Health and Safety

QUARRYING

Section 15

15 - 1
 Acknowledgement
Special Acknowledgement is made to the Lafarge
Cement Co Ltd for their invaluable assistance in the
preparation of this section

CONTENTS

Introduction 15-3
Legal Requirements 15-3
Opening a quarry 15-3
Formal appointments 15-3
Person entitled to work the quarry 15-3
Quarry operator 15-3
Health and Safety documentation 15-4
Management structure 15-4
Risk assessment 15-4
Design and Safety measures 15-4
Instructions, rules and schemes 15-5
Vehicle rules 15-5
Permits to work 15-5
Explosives 15-5
Excavations and tips 15-6
Geotechnical appraisal and assessment 15-6
Revision and availability of
Health and Safety Document 15-7
Records and reports 15-7
References 15-7

NOTE
Whilst every care has been taken to ensure accuracy within
this work, no liability whatsoever is accepted by Construction
Health and Safety, its sponsoring organisations or their
advisers in respect of the information given.

No material from this. book may be reproduced in any

shape or form without written permission from the publishers.

15 - 2 December 2002
 QUARRIES ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS
Introduction
The Quarry Regulations 1999, are intended to protect the
health and safety of all persons working in a quarry and
all other persons who may be affected by quarrying
operations.
In many respects, these regulations provide the
framework within which health and safety is managed in
quarries. The detail, or specific legal requirements, are
contained within other health and safety legislation
common to all workplaces, for example, the Quarry
Regulations require the provision of operating rules in
relation to vehicles, however much of the plant construction
detail concerning suitability, reversing aids, visibility,
maintenance etc. is contained in the Provision and Use of
Work Equipment Regulations 1998
In addition, the requirements of CDM Regulations apply
to building, civil engineering or engineering construction
work at quarries prior to operations to extract mineral
resources. They also apply to those operations at quarries
which are not directly related to the extraction of minerals
including erection of or demolition of buildings.
The purpose of this guidance is not to spell out familiar
issues, but to explain some of the requirements specific to
quarries. These may be relevant if a quarry or "borrow
pit" is opened up as part of a wider construction/civil
engineering project.
A quarry is defined in the Quarry Regulations 1999,
though the definition can become clouded when the
mineral extraction is associated with a construction
project!
Any excavation used for the purpose of obtaining
minerals is a quarry however, where the
excavation/extraction is within a construction site and the
minerals are for use solely in connection with the project
the Quarry Regulations do not apply. The actual wording
from the Regulations is as follows: The Quarry Regulations
do not cover excavations made
(a) solely for the purpose of carrying out any building,
civil engineering or engineering construction work;
and
(b) where the minerals or products of minerals extracted
are used on the site at which the extraction has
taken place.
However, where materials are extracted for sale or use
at a location away from the extraction site (for example
aggregates extracted solely for use in a road project, but
away from the line of the road), the extraction site will
become a quarry as defined and the Quarry Regulations
1999 will apply. Practical experience of this situation
teaches that because the quarrying operations at this type
of site are limited in scope the implementation of the
Regulations, whilst tedious because of the paperwork
involved, is not difficult.
Meaning of Quarry and application of the Regulations
A quarry includes:-
– all surface mineral workings
– tips (even if they are outside the site boundary)
– storage of minerals, including stockpiles
– areas used for the preparation of extracted minerals for
sale
– buildings and structures at the quarry used for the
working of the quarry
– common areas, e.g. quarry roadways and railways,
but not public roads or railways under the control of a
rail company
– sites where prospecting with a view to extraction of
minerals is carried out (where this is not covered by the
Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations 1995).
December 2003
The Regulations apply at all quarries:-
– being prepared for extraction of minerals
– where mineral extraction or preparation takes place as
part of a work activity
– where work to prevent water or other material flowing
into an adjacent quarry takes place (even after
quarrying has finished)
– being prepared for abandonment, for example
landscaping.
The Regulations will not apply where a quarry is no
longer used for the extraction of minerals and HSE have
been notified. HSE do not need to be formally notified of
temporary closures lasting up to 12 months. However,
notification is required when quarries are abandoned or
suspended for periods of more than one year. As
indicated above The Health And Safety Executive are the
Enforcing Authority for quarries.
Opening a quarry
Where a contractor carries out excavations outside the line
of the easement with the aim of obtaining minerals he has
opened a quarry. This will require both planning consent
from the Local Authority and the completion of a formal,
written notification to the local office of the Health & Safety
Executive within 14 days of the start of the work.
Formal Appointments
A quarry cannot be worked unless a number of formal
appointments have been made, these include the
following:
The Person Entitled to Work the Quarry
and the Quarry Operator
The Person Entitled to Work the Quarry may or may not be
the operator, he is the person who owns the mineral rights.
However, whatever the arrangement, the Person
Entitled to Work the Quarry shall not permit another person
to be the Operator unless that person is suitable and has
provided sufficient resources, including plant, machinery
and expertise, to operate the quarry safely.
Where the Person Entitled to Work the Quarry permits
another person to be the Operator, he shall make a written
record of that permission, signed by both parties and a
copy shall be given to the Operator. The signed record
shall be retained by both parties for the duration of the
permission.
The Person Entitled to Work the Quarry must pass to the
operator, any information he has available, relevant to
working the quarry safely for example, geological and
geotechnical reports, details of past workings etc.
Quarry operator
The operator of a quarry is defined as the person, an
individual or corporate body, in overall control of the
working of the quarry and most of the duties under these
regulations fall on him. One of his duties is to notify the
Health & Safety Executive when the quarry is to be opened
or closed; he must also notify when the Operator changes.
There is no prescribed form for this process but the
correspondence must contain key details such as the name
and address of the Operator, the dates when quarrying
will begin or end and the exact location which may require
a map reference. The Regulations expect him to ensure so
far as is reasonably practicable that the quarry and its
plant are designed, constructed, equipped, commissioned,
operated and maintained so that it can be run in safety.
The Operator also has the duty to co-ordinate the
implementation of all health and safety measures and, on
completion of quarrying, ensure the quarry is left in a safe
15 - 3
condition.
The two key elements central to the successful
implementation of these regulations are:-
– the development of a Health and Safety Document,
setting out the framework for managing health and
safety at the quarry and detailing many of the specific
requirements laid out in the regulations, and;
– The establishment of a management structure to enable
the quarry to be operated in accordance with the health
and safety document.
Health and safety document
Regulation 7 of the Quarries Regulations 1999 requires
the quarry Operator to ensure that no work is carried out
at a quarry unless a health & safety document has been
prepared. To those familiar with the requirements of
HASAWA and CDM, the Health and Safety Document is to
quarrying what the Health and Safety Policy and
Construction Phase Plan is to construction.
The Health and Safety Document is required to:-
– Demonstrate that the risks to which persons at work in
the quarry are exposed have been assessed in
accordance with the Management of Health & Safety at
Work Regulations 1999 and other legislation requiring
assessments, e.g. COSHH, manual handling, etc.
– Demonstrate that adequate measures, including those
concerning the design, use and maintenance of the
quarry and of its plant, will be taken to safeguard the
health & safety of persons at work in the quarry and
those in the area immediately surrounding the quarry
who are directly affected by the quarry's activities.
– Include a statement of how the measures referred to
above will be co-ordinated.
The document should record the following information:-
– Any rules in place at the quarry to ensure the health &
safety of persons who may be affected by its operation
and the safe use of equipment. They shall be easily
understandable and made available to anybody at the
quarry who may require them.
– The arrangements for the review of safety measures in
place in the quarry.
– Details of the inspection and maintenance schemes
operating in the quarry.
– Vehicle rules.
– Permit to Work Systems.
– Shot firing rules (where explosives are used).
– Tipping rules.
– The conclusions of any appraisal or assessment of the
stability/safety of an excavation or tip.
– The arrangements for health surveillance.
Where appropriate, the document should also include:-
– A plan detailing the equipment and measures required
to protect persons at work at the quarry from the risk of
explosions.
– Where toxic gases are, or may be, present in the
atmosphere in the quarry, in such concentrations that
the atmosphere may be harmful to the health of persons
at work, a plan detailing the protective equipment and
measures required to protect persons at work at the
quarry from the harmful atmosphere.
– A diagram of the quarry indicating those areas to
which the Quarry Regulations 1999 do not apply.
The Operator must ensure that:-
– The Health and Safety Document, including any
information recorded therein, such as inspections etc.,
is both kept up-to-date and made available to all
persons at work at the quarry and, where appropriate,
their employer.
– Measures identified in the Health and Safety Document
are implemented and that any plans included in it are
followed.
15 - 4
– Each person identified in the management structure
shall carry out the duties assigned to him in the Health
and Safety Document.
Management structure
To ensure the health and safety of persons at the quarry or
those nearby who may be affected, the operator must
establish a management structure, that enables the quarry
to be operated in accordance with the health and safety
document, detailing the extent of the authority and duties
of all persons in the structure.
A competent individual must be appointed, in writing,
by the operator, to take charge of the operation of the
quarry at all times when people are working in the quarry.
A deputy should be nominated as a substitute in the event
of the appointed person being absent.
Risk assessment
The philosophy of risk assessment, i.e. anticipating
problems before they arise and taking relevant
precautions, is a crucial part of the management and
planning process. The overwhelming majority of accidents
can be prevented by proper planning, anticipating
hazards and risks and taking appropriate precautions,
before the task is started.
Some activities undertaken at quarries are common to
many locations and generic risk assessments may well be
available for those activities. However, non-routine tasks,
associated with maintenance and breakdown situations,
may not be covered by an existing risk assessment. Work
should not proceed until an assessment has been made for
that task and control measures have been implemented.
The significant findings from any assessment should be
recorded and retained as part of the Health and Safety
Document for future reference.
Findings from other assessments carried out,
particularly those involving the storage, handling and use
of hazardous substances required under COSHH
[including details of dust and silica surveys], Manual
Handling and Noise should also be retained.
It is also important to note that many
maintenance/breakdown situations are entirely
predictable, such as changing vee belts and building new
items of plant and therefore there is no reason why they
could not be risk assessed in a generic or draft format prior
to them being customised to make them "bespoke" as the
situation arises.
Design and safety measures
Risk assessments carried out during the designing of the
quarry must identify the safety measures required. Areas
specific to Quarries, that are referred to in the Regulations
include:-
– The provision of a suitable, properly maintained barrier
around the quarry boundary to discourage trespass.
The regulations are non specific as to the type of
barrier, which could include hedges, stock fence or a
ditch. However, the barrier must deter trespass and the
type of construction will depend upon local conditions,
e.g. proximity to centres of population.
– Benches and haul roads which must be designed,
constructed and maintained so that vehicles and plant
can be used and moved in safety. Road edge
protection should be 1.5m or the radius of the largest
wheel in height, which ever is the greatest. The
purpose of the edge protection is to stop the largest,
fully laden vehicle crossing it at maximum foreseeable
speed. Large boulders are often used for the purpose.
– Danger areas which are required to be clearly marked
with barriers installed to prevent inadvertent entry
where there is a risk of falling or being struck by falling
June 2007
 objects. Areas for consideration will include edges of
excavations liable to collapse, the bottom of faces
where material may fall, or places where people could
fall more than 2m along with water lagoons in sand
and gravel quarries.
Instructions, rules and schemes
The Operator should develop and implement site rules
(e.g. operating procedures) to secure the health & safety of
those working in the quarry and the safe use of equipment.
Such rules must include issues such as, but not limited to:-
– Carrying out a risk assessment before starting a task
and implementing its precautions
– Only undertaking tasks if trained and competent to do
so
– Complying with all other rules in force (Vehicle,
shotfiring, excavation/tips)
– PPE requirements
– Emergency procedures
– First aid requirements
– Reporting defects
Copies of all instructions, rules and schemes shall be
kept at the quarry and explained to and provided for
persons upon whom they impose duties in an effort to
ensure that they are understood by those to whom they
apply. The rules effectively form the operating procedures
and should be specific to the quarry. The rules will also
form an important part of the Induction process.
The Operator is required to prepare and keep up-to-
date a written scheme for the systematic inspection,
maintenance and, where appropriate, testing by
appointed, competent persons of all parts of the Quarry
including buildings and plant. Written reports shall be
made that record any significant defects and the actions
required to put them right. The scheme should outline the
frequency of inspections, what should be covered and
what remedial action should be taken (e.g. prioritisation of
remedial work)
The scheme of inspection should cover areas of the
quarry and plant liable to create significant risk. These
areas should include but are not restricted to:-
– Vehicles, including brake testing, reversing aids etc.
– Machinery guarding
– Other safety devices such as interlocks, pull cords and
emergency equipment
– Electrical equipment
– Pressure systems, including those on vehicles
– Pedestrian routes, roadways and any edge protection
– Excavations and tips
– Buildings and structures
– Boundary fencing
Vehicle rules
The operator shall develop a series of written rules to
ensure the safety of all persons at the Quarry from the risk
arising from the use of vehicles [the "Vehicle Rules"].
Vehicle Rules prepared for the Quarry need to cover the
following points:-
– Details for assessing the competence of drivers and
authorising them to operate vehicles.
– Security arrangements including the control of keys.
– Restrictions on where vehicles may be used.
– Restrictions [if any] on reversing.
– Speed limits.
– Restriction on traffic routes.
– Pedestrian safety.
– Fitting and use of safety devices, including seat belts,
visibility aids, e.g. CCTV, reversing bleepers, etc.
– Use of vehicles in adverse weather conditions.
– Precautions where quarry vehicles or trailers with
tipping bodies or tipping gear are loaded, unloaded or
sheeted.
December 2002
– Instructions to drivers concerning the reporting of
defects.
– Brake testing.
– Daily maintenance checks.
– Relevant cross-references to the scheme for inspection
and maintenance of plant.
Permits to work
Where any hazardous operations or other straightforward
operations which may interact with other activities to cause
a serious hazard exist, for example where control
measures have been removed [e.g. during maintenance of
plant say, someone entering a crusher], the operator shall
ensure that such tasks are not carried out unless a permit to
work has been raised for that task. Such tasks will have
been identified through risk assessment and may include,
but not be restricted to, entry into confined spaces, work
on machinery where isolation/lock off procedures are
insufficient and work on complicated/high voltage
equipment and other dangerous situations as defined in
Regulation 22 of the Quarries Regulations 1999.
Permits to work need to specify the conditions to be
fulfilled, the precautions to be taken before, during and
after the task and must be issued, signed and dated by a
suitable person in the management structure and accepted,
signed and dated by another suitable person. Therefore, a
suitable permit to work system should identify:-
– What work requires a permit
– Those authorised to issue and accept permits and the
limit of their authority
– How the safety of a proposed system of work is to be
checked
– How information about hazards is to be communicated
– The maximum time a permit may be valid
– Hand-over, hand-back, suspension and cancellation
arrangements for both completed and incomplete work
– Arrangements for monitoring and review of the system
Explosives
Where quarrying operations involve the use of explosives,
the Operator shall ensure that all explosives are stored,
transported and used safely and securely and that
operations are carried out by suitably qualified and
competent individuals. One of his key duties is to appoint
one or more competent individuals as Explosives
Supervisor[s], to organise and supervise all work at the
quarry involving the use of explosives. The other duties
imposed on the Operator in relation to explosives are to
ensure shot firing rules and written blast specifications are
prepared.
Shot Firing Rules need to cover arrangements for:-
– The appointment and authorisation of shot firers,
trainee shot firers, store keepers and others working
with explosives.
– Checking mechanisms that enable the Explosives
Supervisor to ensure that the equipment provided is
suitable and safe and the site conditions are in line with
the blast specification.
– Times when shot firing is permitted.
– The determination of the danger zone and its
evacuation and the provision of effective shelters when
shots are tested or fired.
– Warning systems including, as appropriate:-
The use of flags or notices.
A system of audible signals.
The positioning of sentries.
Direct personal notification of local residents.
– Inspection of the blast site after firing to check the state
of the face and whether a misfire has occurred.
– Ensuring that normal working is resumed only when the
shot firer is fully satisfied that it is safe and the all clear
has been sounded.
15 - 5
– Safeguarding charged but unfired shot holes at the end
of the working day.
– Dealing with misfires and the discovery of unfired
explosives from previous operations.
– Monitoring arrangements to ensure the rules are
complied with.
The Blasting Specification must be specific for each blast
and take into account the conditions on site. The
Specification should be designed to:-
– Ensure that the risk of fly rock being projected outside
the danger zone is as low as reasonably practicable.
– Minimise the risk of misfires.
– Enable the location of any misfired shots to be
determined accurately.
– Ensure that faces are left in a safe condition after
blasting.
The Specification should take account of:-
– Experience gained from previous blasts at the quarry.
– Any unusual circumstances present or likely to arise.
– The design of the excavation.
Matters to be considered when preparing for a blast and
the specific details that need to be recorded, in addition to
those above, in the blasting specification are:-
– The part of the quarry to be blasted, shown on a plan.
– The intended hole positions, showing the length,
diameter, the angle of inclination and direction at which
the drill is to be set for each hole, marked on a drilling
plan.
– The surface position and number or other identifier for
each shot hole.
– The angle of inclination, direction, length and diameter
and the extent of any sub grade drilling for each
completed shot hole.
– Where the minerals form a face, the profiles or other
data required to determine the burden around each
shot hole.
– Any geological anomalies which could affect the blast,
in particular those identified during drilling and
inspection, e.g. cavities, clay bands, joint planes,
bedding planes or discontinuities.
– By using plans and sections determine from the
available information the burden for each shot hole and
consequently the amount, type and placement of
explosives to be used, so that the blast can be carried
out safely.
– In addition to the amount, type and position of
explosives, the description and position of any
detonator and the type and position of any stemming
actually used for each shot hole.
– The system for initiation, including full details of any
delay sequence and timing.
– The danger zone, shot firing position and sentry
positions should be determined.
The visibility and other precautions required to minimise
the risk of:-
– Material being projected by the blast.
– Misfires.
– Injury during inspection of the site before and after the
blast.
– The date and timing of the blast and prevailing weather
conditions.
Excavations and tips
The Operator must ensure that excavations and tips are
designed, constructed, operated and maintained so as to
ensure that instability or movement, which is likely to give
rise to a risk to the health and safety of any person is
avoided.
Both excavation and tip are defined in the regulations:-
– Excavation:- "any place at the quarry where minerals
15 - 6
are or have been extracted and includes the ground,
faces or sides of the quarry and any other incline"
– Tip:- "an accumulation or deposit of any substance at a
quarry (whether in a solid or liquid state or in solution
or suspension) and includes, but is not limited to,
overburden dumps, backfill, spoil heaps, stock piles
and lagoons, and where any wall or other structure
retains or confines a tip then it shall be deemed to form
part of the tip.
Excavation and Tips Rules need to be prepared by the
operator to ensure the safe construction and operation of
excavations and tips. The rules must detail how operations
are to be carried out, the levels of supervision required, the
precautions to be taken to ensure safety and the inspection
and maintenance regeme.
Excavation and tips rules should specifically address, as
relevant:-
– Maximum depth/height
– Preparations necessary [e.g. foundations]
– Provision of drainage
– Height/slope of faces and thickness of layers
– Plant and machinery used
– Construction standards of roads, wheel stops and
bunds
– The responsibilities of Supervisors
– What action to take if a defect is discovered
– System of work for removing material
– Sequence of excavation/tipping
– Arrangements for maintaining faces
– Degree of compaction - solid tips
– In the case of lagoons: Provision of emergency
overflows, minimum freeboard heights, operation and
maintenance of pumps, recovery of material and
covering lagoons, protection and fencing of the edges,
the provision and maintenance of rescue equipment
and emergency procedures.
Geotechnical appraisal and assessment
The Operator must ensure that a suitable and sufficient
appraisal of proposed (or existing) quarrying operations is
undertaken by a geotechnical specialist. Where the
appraisal identifies a significant hazard, then a
geotechnical assessment needs to be undertaken. In this
context, a significant hazard is defined in the Regulations
as a situation where a failure would, directly or indirectly,
be liable to endanger premises, roadways or other places
where people are likely to be found off site, or likely to kill
or seriously injure anyone. Some situations where a
significant hazard is likely to exist are detailed below:
It is unlikely in the context of a quarry associated with a
construction site that either an excavation or a tip is likely
to present a significant hazard and thus require a
geotechnical assessment. However, for completeness, if
the following criteria are satisfied, then the hazards should
be treated as significant:-
Tips in a solid state:-
– The area of land covered exceeds 10000m2
– The tip height exceeds 15m
– The average gradient of land covered by the tip
exceeds 1 in 12
– Irrespective of size, other factors (e.g. geology, location
or proximity to an excavation) that could lead to a
significant hazard being present.
Excavations in:-
Moderately weak or stronger rocks (usually rock
requiring blasting)
– If the height of an individual face exceeds 15m
– The height of a benched face is between 15 and 30m,
and the angle is over 45∫
Weak or very weak rocks (usually extracted using
excavators or draglines)
– If the height of any part of the excavation is over 7.5m
December 2002
– The face angle is over 27∫ to the horizontal quarry, to ensure that control measures are in place and
And if the bottom of the excavation is more than 30m the are effective.
below any surrounding land or irrespective of the above,
other factors (e.g. geology, location or proximity to an Records and Reports
excavation) that could lead to a significant hazard being The Operator must ensure that records and reports
present. required to be maintained under the regulations, are kept
Where no significant hazard is identified, the appraisal at the quarry (or elsewhere if easily retrievable) for the
should be reviewed at appropriate intervals, and in specified time period. They include:-
particular following changes to working methods, at least Three years:
geological knowledge, evidence of failure or following – Inspection and maintenance records
incorrect assumptions during the appraisal. – Blasting specifications
The conclusions of the appraisal should be recorded in – Details of misfires
the health and safety document. – Conclusions of geotechnical appraisals and
assessments
Revision & Availability of Health and – Substances tipped
Safety Document Twelve months after the appointment has ceased copies of
The health and safety document needs to be available to written appointments of:
all persons at work in the quarry. It should be used as a – Quarry Manager (appointed person)
"live" document and regularly reviewed, especially where – Explosive Supervisor
there have been changes to the process or new equipment – Shotfirer
is introduced. – Trainee Shotfirer
The document should also be referred to by those – Storekeeper
undertaking health & safety audits/inspections of the

REFERENCES
Legislation All of the above reference material is available from:
Quarries Regulations 1999 Construction Industry Publications Ltd.,
Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 17 Gatelodge Close, Round Spinney,
Northampton NN3 8RJ
Approved Code of Practice Tel: 0870 078 4400
Health and safety at quarries - (L118) Fax: 0870 078 4401
e-mail sales@cip-books.com

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15 - 8 December 2002