Safety guidelines for quarry workers

The Victorian Government has launched new safety guidelines it says will better protect workers in quarries.

The ‘Working Safely with Geotechnical Risk in Quarries’ guide contains practical safety advice for workers and contractors at quarry sites.

The resource outlines potential geotechnical hazards, such as a pit wall collapse, how to identify unexpected rock movement and what measures can be taken to ensure the safety of people on-site.

The guidelines also provide advice on effective ways to rehabilitate quarry sites progressively.

Victorian quarries produce more than 40 million tonnes of hard rock, sand and gravel a year, generating more than $676 million in sales and providing raw materials for construction projects.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio launched the guidelines at a workshop hosted by the Construction Material Processors Association (CMPA), which prepared the resource in consultation with the Victorian regulator, Earth Resources Regulation.

The resource will sit alongside the regulator’s ‘Guidance Material for the Assessment of Geotechnical Risks in Open Pit Mines and Quarries’.

For a copy of the guidelines, contact CMPA.