Pressure grows to make life safer for employees in the stone industry
For a small sector, the stone industry has a high incidence of death, injury and ill health among its workforce.
To raise awareness of the dangers, and the responsibilities of firms to protect employees, Stone Federation Great Britain was launching a campaign called StoneSafe this month (April) after NSS had gone to press.
Last month they supported a health & safety workshop by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) at the premises of Federation members Marmi & Granito in Vauxhall, London.
The workshop was the first of its kind and was considered such a success that more are now being arranged.
Directors, managers, owners and supervisors of stone companies who deal with marble, granite and other stone finishes for the domestic end of the market attended the event.
The Stone Federation’s StoneSafe campaign is concentrating on the main areas of health & safety affecting masonry companies: Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) including White Finger; noise; manual / mechanical handling; and respirable crystalline silica dust. The campaign will roll out in the coming months with a range of material.
In the past five years there have been at least five fatalities across London and the South East as a result of squash accidents from handling slabs of stone. In another case a stone company employee had his arm amputated in an emergency roadside operation after it was squashed by toppling stone slabs. The HSE have now issued a formal Safety Bulletin about stone handling (see the website: www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/stoneslabs.htm).
At least three UK stone companies have been convicted and fined after employees were found to be working in environments where respirable crystalline silica dust was way above the legal limit – a mason who worked at one of the companies has even subsequently had a life-saving lung transplant.
Most people in the industry know masons who suffer from White Finger or who have difficulty hearing, and at least one company has been successfully sued for a six figure sum by employees suffering from HAVS, which is a recognised industrial disease. Penalties for breaches of health & safety regulations have been increased significantly in the past year.
The health & safety workshop at Marmi & Granito included presentations and demonstrations delivered by experts from the HSE.
Topics covered included the moving and lifting of slabs, safe unloading of slabs from vehicles, the control of silica and other dusts, and controlling noise and vibration from hand-held tools.
HSE Inspector Steve Kirton said afterwards: “The stone safety awareness day at Marmi & Granito was a great success. We have been overwhelmed by the response to this event.”
Simon Hunter, Managing Director of Marmi & Granito, said: “We were very excited about being asked to host the event, as we could demonstrate to our own staff and to the stone industry our commitment to health & safety. We firmly believe that continuous improvement is required to establish oneself as a premier manufacturer and contractor.”
Jane Buxey, Chief Executive of Stone Federation, said: “Stone Federation applauds this excellent initiative and is pleased to be part of it. The combination of the theoretical presentation and practical demonstrations was an excellent mix and made for a very informative morning. The HSE showed a great awareness of commercial reality and responded accordingly.”
Tony Porter from Albion Stone, who attended the workshop, said: “It was very useful to meet other contacts in the industry and to discuss matters specific to our operations. We particularly found informative the sessions on dust and hand-arm vibration. We have taken on board suggestions to help reduce these risks to our employees.”
Anyone wishing to attend future events should email the HSE on: