On behalf of the Management team, another big ‘Thank You’ goes out to everyone for continuing to develop and implement their ideas that will help make CEMEX a safer place to work, with better quality and greater efficiency / effectiveness.

The following summary gives a brief overview of the ideas from the August 2022 competition:

• Berkswell quarry – Decided to create permanent wheel chocking facilities that require no input from the driver other than park in the correct position with one axle over the hump.
• Willington quarry – Had the idea to pump the dig water back to the plant site to both dewater the excavation and top up the plant water lagoon using one pump to do both jobs.
• Nottingham Readymix – Introduced visible signs with scanner placed in a dominant position to encourage drivers to ‘Scan In’ correctly.
• Angerstein Wharf – Introduced a pedestrian system incorporating a ‘Green / Red’ Man to show when it is and isn’t safe to cross over the walkway.
• Leamouth Wharf – Hired then subsequently purchased a polymer preparation and dosing system to eliminate manual handling risks and direct contact with hazardous chemicals.
• Yorkshire Readymix – Replaced the belt cleaner / removed the wheelbarrow used to catch spillage and replaced it with a skip designed to attach to telehandlers. This allows it to lock onto the tines once lifted and then be tipped without the need to get out of the machine and pull a handle like some other tipping skips.

After a very tightly fought competition, our congratulations go out to Leamouth Wharf who narrowly took the top award this month!

At Leamouth Wharf their small polymer dosing system was not very efficient or cost effective for the volume of product they were putting through. It also presented a hazard when re-filling the unit as small 25kg tubs would have to be lifted and decanted into a larger tub (manual handling and splash back risks). The team consulted their supplier who recommended a large polymer preparation and dosing system.

After hiring a large polymer preparation and dosing system, which eliminated the risk of manual handling and splash back, they realised it would be more cost effective to purchase the dosing unit as opposed to hiring. By purchasing the unit they will make a saving of £18,000 per year.

The team have now completely eliminated any manual handling and any risk of being in contact with the polymer. The system is more efficient which has increased quality.

You can find a high-level PDF in the UK News download page: EXCEED Leamouth Wharf (1009 downloads)

If you want further information on any of the ideas, please visit the Ideation platform via the link here:  https://cemex.idhall.com/