Rugby Cement Plant’s kiln shutdown was completed during June and the first week of July. Phil Baynes-Clarke, the Plant Director, wants to thank everyone involved for the hard work and efforts to restore the kiln to operation. The next major kiln overhaul is scheduled for January 2017.

Some interesting facts about the recent shutdown:-

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The scope was significant but necessary to ensure the plant can successfully operate the kiln line through to 2017. The medium term goal is to overhaul the kiln every two years.

During the shutdown, the site is transformed and becomes a massive construction site, with many higher risk activities taking place daily. The safety of everyone on-site is the primary focus and a recognition scheme was introduced to acknowledge the contribution of individuals. The nominations were reviewed by a panel and the awards were announced by Philip Baynes-Clarke (Rugby Plant Director) on Friday 14th August during an award presentation. Congratulations to the winners…..

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In addition, during the shutdown over 100 canteen vouchers were issued as a small “thank you” to employees or contractors who stepped in to help ensure accidents were avoided.

The contract companies were also monitored for good performance, using a defined scoring matrix. The companies have proved that they and their staff are putting health and safety at the top of their priorities. Well done to all companies who participated and thank you to Total Plant Solutions, South East Arc and H&T.

Keith Jaggard, owner of Total Plant Solutions who won 1st place said “We are incredibly proud of this achievement. With a great amount of help and guidance from CEMEX over the years, we have evolved our processes which have been integral to our high performance and safety levels that we now achieving.”

Philip Baynes-Clarke commented “The shutdown is the most significant activity in our calendar and the shear scope demands a lot of everyone on-site. Thank you to all involved!! We still have work ahead in order to ensure we achieve our goal of zero accidents but I am confident we can do it. The collaboration and determination noted during the shutdown was excellent – thank you to all involved for putting safety first. I would especially like to congratulate the winners for their contribution and I know many others deserve a thank you as well. Please remember that the greatest reward of all is to go home safe and well to our families at the end of every day!”