Modern Quarrying July-August 2017

QUARRY FOCUS

Showplace Quarry, AfriSam Newcastle (Marius van Deventer).

working environment. Legal compliance workshops are again being arranged for all members to understand and use the MH&SA and Regulations with confidence. About Face Environmental: The 2016 audit programme includes a training and awareness session that specially discusses environmental legislation, the responsi- bilities of individuals and management in relation to the legal requirements, and includes a discussion and presentation on bad and good practice. As in 2015, the 2016 audit was upgraded with additional emphasis placed on legal compliance and on phys- ical aspects. Legal compliance increased to 12%, physical to 32% (30%) and mon- itoring 9,0%, ie a combined 52% com- pared with a combined ±42% in 2015. The 2016 audit results have confirmed the continuing improvement of member environmental management systems and a greater commitment to environ- mental awareness and stewardship. This is reflected in the improved scores and the greater number of Showplace Awards in 2016. However, there is still a lot to be done on the physical side at a number of oper- ations where system documentation has resulted in a more flattering overall score. The Aspasa About Face 2017 audits are being run in two parallel sessions, one focusing on the operation’s manage- ment system and documentation, and

This is the Newcastle operation in 1985 (Alan Cluett).

Table 1: Year-on-Year Achievements Grading/ Year

the second focusing on physical aspects. By splitting the audit into the two parallel sessions, additional time is available for inspection of physical aspects including monitoring results – water and fall-out dust, stormwater control, alien vegetation removal, waste handling and disposal, hazardous substance and liquid chemical storage. Training on the Aspasa About Face 2017 and ISO 14 001:2015 has been offered country wide. Table 1 summarises the 2016 audit results. Nine operations achieved above 99% for the audits with the highest score being 99,60%. At these operations, both physical and system documentation sat- isfy the audit criteria almost completely.

2012 2014 2015 2016

Participation <50%

0

0

1

0

One Fish Eagle Two Fish Eagles Three Fish Eagles Four Fish Eagles Five Fish Eagles

2

4

1

1

6

3

3

2

4

4

2

10

25 12 3

7

24 36 13 64

Showplace 15 36 13 64

Report by Dale Kelly and photographs courtesy Aspasa

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MODERN QUARRYING July - August 2017