Displaying items by tag: Safety

UK: Cemex has bought 10 Volvo 460 8x4 tipper trucks for use at its Angerstein Wharf aggregates depot in Greenwich. From there, the trucks will deliver sand and aggregates all around London. The trucks’ bodies are made of lightweight aluminium, and they conform to Euro 6 emissions standards. This corresponds to 80% NO_x emissions reduction and 50% particulate emissions reduction compared to Euro 5 standards.

Cemex UK fleet engineering manager Nigel Ponton said “The addition of these new trucks to our fleet will enable us to better meet customer demand, safely and efficiently. Safety is the number one focus whenever we add new trucks to our operation and these Volvos tick every box in that respect.” Ponton continued “These trucks will all be working in busy streets across London so it’s imperative we provide our drivers with the best tools possible to do the job and help protect any vulnerable road users. Moreover, thanks to the improved fuel efficiencies and enhanced payload these new Volvos are the most sustainable vehicles we’ve ever had and will help decarbonise our delivery footprint.”

Argentina: A man has died in a concrete silo collapse at Holcim Argentina’s Malagueño cement plant in Córdoba Province. Pedro Rivero, 67, had been working on the site at 11am on 15 June 2022 when the disaster occurred. Local press has reported that the collapsing silo crushed the crane which Rivero had been operating.

An investigation by the Argentinian Judicial Police into the causes of the event is currently underway.

India: The Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) has named Ambuja Cements’ Rabriyawas cement plant as winner of its National Safety Award (Mines). Its winning initiatives include its Behaviour Based Safety training programme and Reward & Recognition employee engagement programme. Ambuja Cements said that the award confirms that Ambuja's Zero Harm policy has borne fruit.

Jamaica: Caribbean Cement says that its Rockfort cement plant in Kingston has surpassed 1000 days without a health and safety incident among employees and contractors. Health and safety coordinator Andre Haynes said that the achievement demonstrates that parent company Cemex’s Zero4Life zero-incident policy is possible.

Haynes said “As a company, we have invested heavily in the people aspect, with training geared towards improved safety and culture, and capital expenditure to improve the overall safety of the plant.” He said that the Rockfort cement plant will advance to its next safety milestone by keeping its focus on ‘closing all unsafe conditions’ and developing employees as health and safety champions.

Nigeria: BUA Cement’s Sokoto cement plant has resumed operations following a fire that killed three workers. The Sun newspaper has reported that the fire began at a diesel storage tank depot near to the plant, where third-party contract workers were welding a diesel storage tank. The group said that it activated a swift response in order to prevent any escalation of the incident.

India: A gas pipeline explosion at JP Cement’s Naubasta cement plant in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district reportedly injured three workers in February 2022. India Today News has reported that the incident resulted in the hospitalisation of all three workers. 15 – 20 local people subsequently attacked the plant on 11 March 2022, where they threw sticks and stones at staff and vandalised equipment. A spokesperson for the rioters accused the company of suppressing news of the pipeline disaster.

Mexico: GCC has reported that a worker at its Chihuahua cement has died in hospital following an explosion on 25 Feburary which injured five others. The company says that it activated all safety protocols in response to the disaster and coordinated its actions with the responding authorities. It continues to support the investigation into the cause of the blast.

The company said “Unfortunately, one of the six injured died in hospital. We are currently in contact with his family, to whom we have expressed our deepest condolences, and with the families of our other injured collaborators to make all our support and resources available to them at this difficult time.”

US: Eagle Materials’ consolidated sales rose by 13% year-on-year to US$1.45bn in the third quarter of the 2022 financial year from US$1.28bn in the corresponding quarter of the 2021 financial year. Its sales of cement rose by 12% year-on-year to US$261m, while its earnings from the segment were US$79.8m, up by 13%. Cement volumes totalled 2Mt, up by 7% from third-quarter 2021 financial year levels.

Chief executive officer and president Michael Haack said that the results reflected both continued strength in US construction activity and excellent execution by Eagle Materials as Covid-19-related supply chain challenges continued. He said “We continue to see positive demand trends across our geographic footprint, driven by increased residential construction activity and expanded infrastructure investment. These trends should support growing construction activity and contribute to attractive pricing across our heavy and light materials businesses. We enter the last quarter of our fiscal year in a position of strength, with an excellent balance sheet enabling us to continue to execute on our core strategies.”

Haack added “I’m also proud to share that, during the first nine months of our fiscal year, we achieved the best safety performance in our history, demonstrating our deep commitment to our people and their wellbeing. During the quarter, we also continued to make strides towards our environmental stewardship goals. We are now producing and selling our eco-friendly Portland limestone cement (PLC) from four Eagle cement facilities.”

Kenya: Bamburi Cement has launched Women on Wheels, a women-centred recruitment programme aimed at encouraging more women into truck driving. The Kenya News Agency has reported that the company plans to recruit at least 100 new cement truck drivers annually under the scheme. Women on Wheels will additionally work to increase health and safety, challenge entrenched sexism and improve working conditions for all of the company’s drivers.

Managing Director Seddiq Hassani said “The gender gap is far from closed, however we are determined to increase the promotion of women in every aspect of our operations.”

UK: A court has fined Breedon Group Euro350,000 for endangering workers at one of its quarries. Environmental Data Services News has reported that a blast caused a flyrock projection event as workers set off explosives at the quarry.