The latest Global Safety Alert describes an incident outside of the EMEA Region, where an employee sadly died when he was engulfed by coal.

Our colleague had been operating a front-end loading shovel, moving coal from stockpiles to a feed hopper, when for unknown reasons, he left the loader and was engulfed by the coal pile near the “grizzly bar” structure above the feeding system.

The Alert highlights learning points applicable not only to this specific situation, but also stockpiles more generally.

We are also sharing an industry Toolbox Talk from the UK, which can be used to supplement the Alert and reinforce key safety principles associated with the management of stockpiles, which include:

• Managing stockpiles in accordance with methods devised by a competent person in conjunction with the machine operators, having taken appropriate geotechnical advice.
• The daily inspection of stockpiles by a competent person before vehicles work on them.
• Preventing pedestrian access to material stockpiles.
• Coordinating activities so that vehicles and machinery are not adding material to a stockpile when material is being removed.
• Machine operators constantly monitoring stockpiles for signs of slumping, cracking or instability….. any defects should be reported, and appropriate action taken.
• Avoiding faces steeper than the angle of repose of the material, where the angle of repose is the steepest angle at which a sloping surface formed of loose material is stable.
• Restricting the height of the stockpile at the loading out point so it is no higher than the reach of the machine working it.
• Avoiding overhanging faces, as this may cause compacted material to collapse or slip.

Please discuss the Alert with your teams, identifying applicable learning points and display it on relevant noticeboards.

You can find the Alert and the Health & Safety Guidance for Quarries – Stockpiles document on the UK News Download page here

Cemex Global Protocols require all Fatal Alerts to be communicated and Managers to capture the signature of employees and contractors to confirm they have received and understood the information and the control measures they need to adopt.  In addition, operations are invited to observe a one-minute silence in memory of the deceased at the time of discussing a Fatal Incident Safety Alert.

Before starting any new task always STOP, THINK… & CHECK it is safe, and always STEP IN if you see anything unsafe.