Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/708006
AGGREGATES MANAGER / July 2016 19 and easily fi nd what he needs. We do that to be more effi cient, but the key is not just to win the awards, it's to maintain that organization going forward." One thing that was done recently pertains to hazard training for customers. At most sites, offi ce personnel go over a hazard recognition form with anyone who comes on site. Rutherford Quarry has implemented a kiosk, an area in the scalehouse with a computer, where those entering the site can watch site-specifi c hazard training videos and then print off a form with their signature showing they've completed the training. "That was a 5S submittal when safety fi rst became a part of the program," McGaffee notes. "That idea came out of Whites Creek Quarry. Brian Dillard came up with that, and after he did it, I did it. Now, kiosks are being put in at every site." Safety meetings take place every morning to get all the employees focused on safety before they go to work. A range of topics are discussed, includ- ing anything related to Rogers Group's company-wide near-miss program. If an incident occurs that didn't result in an injury, but could have, each site is responsible for writing up a near-miss report that says exactly what happened, what the contributing factors were, and what preventive measures going forward would help prevent it from happening. "We don't pattern our safety pro- gram after MSHA, we go above and beyond that," McGaffee explains. "Our main goal is to not get people hurt. We have safety committees made up of hourly people who go to other sites to do inspections. They see things that people who are there every day might not see. They take pictures and do a write up at the end of the day, and then they present it to the plant manager. He goes over it with them and sets up dates to fi x anything that's found. It's just an extra thing we do internally to try to head off injuries and incidents. It's a good thing." Looking to the future The primary, secondary, and pug mill were built new in 2007, but the tertiary plant has been in operation since the plant was built in the 1980s. The tertiary plant was slated to be replaced in 2008, but the economy went south, so the proj- ect was tabled…until recently. In April, the project was being discussed and considered once again. "Maybe by winter, we'll have a set plan, and we can start requesting early capital for it next year," McGaffee says. "It'll probably be a six- to eight-month project. I fi gure we'll probably be fi nished with the project by the fall of next year, if it gets approved through corporate. I've got it laid out so we'll be able to continue running the old plant while we're build- ing the new one, and we won't have to shut the old one down until we get ready to tie the new one in, which shouldn't be more than a couple week process. "That's kind of what we see in the future. The market will support it, and the reserves are defi nitely here to support it. The reserves will be here long after we're gone." AM At the tertiary plant, one dry product is taken out, then the rest of the material is sized, crushed, and sent to a wash plant to make wash products for ready-mix asphalt customers. A tunnel running underneath the live storage surge pile feeds material onto a conveyor that carries it to the secondary plant, where it is processed through another crusher and an enclosed screen tower.