Displaying items by tag: GCW39

Lafarge UK has scored a notable success recently at its Cookstown Works reaching 10 years without a lost-time injury (LTI). It has emerged that this is the longest a Lafarge Group plant anywhere in the world has gone without a LTI. Cookstown also set the record the previous year in 2011, showing how far ahead it is of the rest of the group.

LTIs are generally defined as any work related injury or illness which prevents a worker from doing any work the day after the accident. Another similar measure is Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which takes into account hours worked by staff.

For example, in April 2011 Global Cement Magazine interviewed the safety manager at the Ste. Genevieve plant in Missouri, USA. He revealed a rate of zero lost-time incidents rate over the last 1.2 million-man hours and no LTIs over the last 700 days. Through construction the plant employed 2300 personnel and then 200 operational employees when it went live. By comparison Cookstown employs only 80 workers. Its LTIFR will be much lower.

The Mineral Products Association recorded a 81% reduction in LTIs between 2004 and 2009 for the UK cement industry. It has since set itself the further target to halve the LTIFR between 2009 and 2014. As of 2009 the UK LTIFR for direct employees was 3.59 per million hours worked. The MPAs target LTIFR for 2014 is 1.79 or lower.

Regardless of how you present the figures the Cookstown Plant LTI achievement is impressive. The challenge, as ever, lies in bettering it.

TÇMB: Board members of the Turkish Cement Manufacturer's Association (TÇMB) were selected at its 54th General Assembly in Ankara on 28 February 2012. The board re-elected Mustafa Güçlü as the Chairman of Board of the TÇMB by acclamation.

An economics graduate from Ankara University, Güçlü has held positions in the Turkish Finance Ministry and Foreign Trade Inc, becoming the General Manager of General Directorate of State Monopolies in 1991. In May 2000, Güçlü started to work as the General Coordinator and the Chairman of Executive Committee in Çimentaş Group.

Hanson UK (HeidelbergCement): Chris Coton, Hanson UK's concrete technical services manager for the south west, died suddenly on 26 February 2012. Coton, aged 59, began his career at the Swansea plant of the now-defunct Pioneer, which was acquired by Hanson, part of the HeidelbergCement group, in 2000.

Coton became area technical manager for Hanson in 2000 and in 2004 he became technical services manager responsible for over 40 concrete plants. Hanson's national technical director Charlie Jones, said, "Chris was a great character and well respected throughout the industry. I will miss him greatly as I am sure many of his colleagues will. He was a good friend and an industry stalwart. Our condolences go to his wife Elaine."