The team in Spain have kindly shared their latest Safety Alert relating to an incident where a colleague fractured his arm while clearing spillage from the base of a bucket elevator on a Concrete plant.

It was fortunate our colleague’s injuries were not even more severe, we wish him a good recovery.

You can find the Safety Alert in the download section of the UK News website:  Safety Alert - Employee hit by bucket elevator (740 downloads)

Please review the Alert with your teams, as it includes several learning points that are relevant not only to plant isolation, but also wider safety aspects.

Some of the following contributory and root causes provide good discussion points:

• It was past the employee’s usual finish time at the end of his shift.  In such circumstances, how do we ensure we don’t put ourselves under pressure, take short cuts, or suffer from distraction?
• The bucket elevator was not properly isolated, with the locking bar not inserted right through the elevator and padlocked.  It is essential we comply with isolation procedures, however, in this case, it was identified that the isolation procedure was generic and did not consider some plant specific requirements.
• Do we involve our teams in developing clear, concise safe systems of work?  By involving the people who do the tasks, we can ensure a good understanding of the procedures and confirm they are practical.
• Do we consult on the effectiveness of existing safe systems of work, encouraging people to speak up if there are any shortfalls or improvements that can be made?
• The injured person’s arm was “in the line of fire”.  This could have been avoided if better access was available at the base of the elevator and a more suitable tool used.
• Do Managers and Supervisors monitor compliance with key safety systems?
• Finally, a Take 5 assessment should have been completed, and it should be remembered that any work on a bucket elevator requires a Permit to Work in accordance with CEMEX Global Standards.

Please also display the Alert on relevant noticeboards.