Clamp injuries are number five on the list of most common occupational accidents, according to Statistics Norway’s overview for the period 2015-2017 .
Squeezing in your office drawer may not be the worst thing, but wedging your hand in a drive drum is something worse. In our industry, the risk picture is completely different, and the measures in advance are all the more important.
Typical crushing hazards in quarries
Some types of machinery and equipment in quarries are at greater risk of clamping damage than others. Rotating equipment is one of the most dangerous, which is why the comprehensive Machinery Directive has clear rules on the covering of fixed rotating equipment.
Some important places to check for crushing hazards in quarries:
- Do you have a cover on all straps?
- Do you have grilles along the sides of conveyor belts?
- Protective cover over drive and turning drum?
- Do you have long-term protection around the feathers?
- Good signage and focus when using jacks and hoists?
Think only of clamping injuries
“Inflicted violent injury” is in fourth place on Statistics Norway’s list. First of all: don’t deng the apprentice when he’s messed up the 17, 19 and 24 inch wrench.
In addition, you have fall injuries, cuts/stabs of a pointed object and so on. The most effective is to take one thing at a time. If you try to find all errors at once, and rectify everything that can be rectified at once, nothing will be done.

Fix what goes on clamp damage, and you can switch to fall protection and everything else eventually. Also, I hope you can skip over violent injuries without any more scrutiny.
See how Franzefoss works with HSE:
The major advantages of having HSE central to the operation of quarries
Important round in the work
The first thing you should do is set aside an hour and bring a group from different levels of the company on a tour of the work. Bring the operations manager, operators, maintenance manager out into the work and map.

It might be enough with 3-4 on the round, if there are too many people it slips out quickly. Everyone who participates in the round must be given the opportunity to participate actively, otherwise it is easy to lose focus and start talking about other things.
Set aside some time, do a concrete lap and stay focused on just crush injuries.
Involve them outside of the round
The second thing you should do is set aside even a little more time for everyone’s input. Yes, we know that time is money, and day-to-day operations are important, but taking care of employees is more important. And sick leave is expensive, too.
Of course, the time you spend must be in style to the operation. If you have 3-4 men on some mobile phone crushers, maybe fifteen minutes after the café and ask, “Where is it easy to squeeze?”
Read more:
How to get more money for new equipment in quarries
At a larger stationary facility, you probably already have routines. I think the most important thing is to divide the HSE work into chunks, and include all levels of the organization. Everyone gets to give input on one topic at a time.
How about using January on only clamp injuries?
Who does what?
After all the crushing hazards in the quarry are found and noted comes the real job: to do something about it.
Make a list of all relevant points:
- Who will order parts needed?
- Who should mount grilles around rotating equipment?
- Who should hang up signs in the workshop?
- Who should clean up the warehouse regularly?
This is possibly the most important point: to make a concrete plan for who is responsible for carrying out the various measures.
Do you need new equipment to avoid injuries?
Then you can download this spreadsheet that maps lost costs and helps you convince management. Enter the cost of sick leaves, and see how the math turns out then.