Follow our Footsteps A Toolbox Talk for Pedestrian

Follow our Footsteps A Toolbox Talk for Pedestrian Safety In Quarries and Surface Mining This toolbox talk may be freely reproduced except for advertising, endorsement or commercial purposes. It has been developed by the Quarries National Joint Advisory Committee (QNJAC) to help quarry operators, contractors, managers and others make health and safety improvements in the quarry industry. This guidance represents good practice which may go further than the minimum you need to do to comply with the law. If you use the information provided in this document please acknowledge ‘QNJAC’ as the source.

Note to Presenters This Toolbox Talk is to be presented in conjunction with the QNJAC Guide “Pedestrian Safety in Quarries and Surface Mining”

Definition of a Pedestrian A “Pedestrian” can be defined as someone who is ON SITE and ON FOOT but is not in an office, weighbridge or welfare building on site. – – – Employees Contractors Hauliers Delivery drivers Official visitors (including enforcement officers/regulators) Members of the public: • Customers/visitors to site • Persons using public rights of way that cross through operational areas of quarries (this category might also include cyclists and horse riders) • Persons accidentally or deliberately trespassing At some point, everybody will be a pedestrian on site

Why Pedestrian Safety On a Saturday morning a foreman and quarry operative were processing materials in a small quarry. Following a midmorning tea break together, in the canteen near the quarry entrance, they both set off to return to the working quarry. The quarry operative drove his front end loader and the foreman walked along the haul road to his 360 tracked excavator. This was something they had done several times a day for over six years. It was a bright sunny winter day with the sun very low in the sky. As the quarry operative drove the front end loader forwards along the quarry floor to the processing area, towards the low sun, he did not see the foreman and ran over him. The foreman never recovered consciousness and later died of his injuries.

What Should Sites Consider • Identification of hazards. • Apply the hierarchy of control. • Design and implement a scheme for the safe management and movement of pedestrians on site. • Educate workforce regarding pedestrian safety. • Monitor and review effectiveness of scheme.

Where to Start • Involve the workforce: – Pedestrians – Work area representatives – Safety Committee • Go, Look, See. • Review the area for current Hazards & Controls. • Consider hazard control option.

Can we Remove the Need for Pedestrian Access Removing the need for pedestrian and mobile plant interaction provides the most comprehensive control, examples may include: – – – Service vehicle access Pedestrian free areas Radio communication Observation points Drone surveying CCTV

Physical Controls • • Segregation Dedicated walkways Crossing points Pedestrian entry barriers

Procedural Controls • Documented information for the safe operation on site: – – Parking Traffic routes Competence requirements PPE – Emergency arrangements

Personal Protective Equipment • Is a last line of defence. • Selection and suitability for the environment. • Will deteriorate over time and through washing process. • Needs to be readily available. • Requires means of ensuring compliance with site rule on wearing.

Behaviour Controls • Physical and procedural controls need to followed by the people who are affected by the hazards. • Management systems need to ensure there are means of monitoring compliance with controls: – Worker consultation – Safety walks & observations – Periodic audits

As a Pedestrian • • • Be seen Don’t assume you have been seen Observe communication protocols Observe dedicated walkways Use dynamic risk assessment to assess changing situations

Assessing Changing Situations • Use dynamic risk assessment to apply controls in changing situations: Same Road, changed weather conditions – Weather conditions – Changes to traffic routes – Additional site activity

Why Pedestrian Safety…

Consider Pedestrian Safety on Your Site…. Open Discussion…. . • • • What are we doing well? What opportunities do we have? Who are our pedestrians? Are we doing all we can to protect them? How can I make a difference?