The latest innovations and good practices helping to keep workers in the UK mineral products industry safe and well have been showcased in today’s MPA Health & Safety Awards & Conference.

MPA is delighted to announce that winner of the coveted John Crabbe Trophy for outstanding performance in health, safety and wellbeing was infrastructure services company FM Conway, while the top prize for SMEs - the Sir Frank Davies Trophy - was awarded to explosives, drilling and blasting specialists EPC-UK.

Attended by more than 300 professionals from quarrying, construction materials and industrial minerals – with many more watching online from sites and offices around the country – the event celebrated and shared recent good working practices from MPA members that address health and safety challenges, especially the causes of the ‘The Fatal 6’ high-consequence hazards known to account for the most serious incidents and health issues.

Returning to a live show for the first time since 2019, the conference was hosted by radio presenter Sybil Ruscoe and sponsored by IDC (Industrial Diagnostics Company). Held in London, the event also featured Jason Anker MBE, an acclaimed speaker on health and safety who, after a serious work injury, is confined to a wheelchair.

Jason explored what he learnt about himself, organisational culture, leadership and how the personal wellbeing of those on-site influences their behaviour and can impact on critical work-based decisions – essentially each of us has a choice to make about being safe, or unsafe, at work.

The MPA Health and Safety Awards are designed to share outstanding actions, initiatives, innovations and leadership practices - from individuals and small teams to national SMEs and major global players - that exemplify commitment to Vision Zero – Safe & Well Every Day, the foundation for the MPA’s health and safety programme until 2025.

Winners and finalists were first announced in eight category topic awards, followed by the Young Leader Award (sponsored by MPQC), ‘The Fatal 6’ Award for exceptional innovation to eliminate high-consequence hazards and the Eurobitume Trophy for the best entry involving bitumen, from production, storage and handling to delivery and highway contracting. Individual Recognition Awards were then presented followed by the coveted top prizes – the John Crabbe Trophy and the Sir Frank Davies Trophy.

Award winners were as follows:

Category topic award winners:

Jon Prichard, MPA Chief Executive congratulated the award winners and thanked all those who had submitted entries: “With 150 submissions from 40 MPA member companies, we’ve seen an impressive new array of health and safety initiatives and ideas shared from every corner of the industry. Our members can be justly proud that the UK is a world leader, not just in health and safety performance but in the way it continues to share innovations and practices to keep on improving. Most important of all, I hope that everyone who attended today’s event returns to work with fresh inspiration, new ideas and better practices to implement to make their own businesses safer than ever.”

MPA Chairman, Simon Willis said: “As an industry we have a collective responsibility to make sure everyone goes home safe and well every day. No one person and no one company has all the answers - we can all learn something from the entries into these awards and take action. We’re at our best when we learn from each other - everyone is safer by sharing and safer by action. We all have the same responsibility and the same right to safe working.”

MPA Special Adviser on Health and Safety Chris Leese said: “I congratulate every company that made an entry into the 2022 awards because each of them is helping to make our industry safer for everyone. This is because, as well as recognising and rewarding success, today was about sharing how, through good leadership, commitment and innovation MPA members are improving health and safety performance across our industry.  All the 2022 entries - as well as those from previous years - help to provide member companies with a wealth of good practices and ideas which they can put into practice where appropriate within their own operations.”

Details of all the entries into the MPA  Health & Safety Awards will be added to SafeQuarry.com, the free-to-access mineral products global hub for health and safety. Videos of the finalists and winning entries can be viewed on the MPA YouTube channel which also features a film of the whole of the 2022 awards event as well as previous years.

The MPA thanks the experienced team of award judges - Dave Bagshaw, Darren Broadhead, Jim Claydon, Rory Graham and Alan Smith. Thanks also to headline sponsor IDC (Industrial Diagnostics Company) plus category sponsors Eurobitume, Hargreaves, Hycontrol, Ibstock, MPQC, Weir Minerals and Spillard Vehicle Safety Systems.

Ends.

Media enquiries: Elizabeth Clements, Elizabeth.Clements@mineralproducts.org

• Image 1: Keynote Speaker - Jason Anker MBE, Proud2bSafe
• Image 2: 2021 Young Leader Finalists and Jason Anker MBE. (Left to right): Sarah Howarth, Aggregate Industries; Philippa O’Leary, CEMEX; Jason Anker MBE; George Beer, Wainwright; and Oliver Kibble, Tarmac
• Image 3: John Crabbe Trophy winner - FM Conway
• Image 4: Sir Frank Davies Trophy winner - EPC-UK
• Image 5: Young Leader Award (joint winner) - Michael Elliott, Brett, with Jon Prichard, MPA    
• Image 6: Young Leader Award (joint winner) - Shaun Holbrow, Hanson, with Jon Prichard, MPA  
• Image 7: Individual Recognition Awards