Water and life savers winners of industry awards

pcm_admin19/03/2020, 3:54 am19/03/2020

A sand stockpile ?dewatering? system that saves 35 million litres of water a year and a cement agitator stability system to reduce the likelihood of rollovers were the big winners.

The CCAA EHS Awards recognise outstanding examples of industry best practice across the cement, premixed concrete and extractive industries Australia-wide.

This year?s National Environmental Innovation Award went to Hanson for its development of a new ?de-watering? process at its Golden Grove sand quarry near Adelaide.

In the past, washed and processed sand was stored on a concrete slab to dry out before being sold to customers. Apart from taking over a week to dry, a significant quantity of water ? estimated to be 35 million litres a year ? was lost to evaporation and ground seepage.

The washed sand is now stored on a large sloped pit lined with plastic and filled with aggregate, and connected to the dam via a drainage pipe. As water drains from the stockpile, it travels through the aggregate and into the drainage pipe where it is transferred to the storage dam for reuse in production. Relying on gravity flow rather than electric pumps has further reduced the system?s environmental impact.

The National Health and Safety Innovation Award was presented to Boral for the development of an agitator stability system. The system designed by Boral and Mack Trucks involves modifications to a standard Metroliner agitator to improve its stability on corners, off-setting the unique nature of a premixed concrete load and the way it shifts during transit within a revolving mixer.

Electronic sensors on the vehicle detect a range of variables including roll, pitch, yaw, suspension pressure and brake application. The system reacts if it senses the risk of rollover, applying individual wheel brakes or reducing engine torque to enhance vehicle stability ? all in fractions of a second. According to Boral, the cost of the new stability control package is minimal, at about three per cent of new vehicle costs, compared with the human and economic costs associated with a vehicle rollover.

More information about the winners and submissions can be found at the CCAA website.

IQA Awards

CMIC12 gave both the CCAA and the IQA the opportunity to bestow both individual and group awards on their members. Five industry sponsored awards and seven individual awards were presented by the IQA. The recipients of the industry sponsored and individual awards included:

? IQA Service Award – Peter Mayo, AIQEF secretary, Queensland and David Lane, Holcim, WA.

? IQA Honorary Fellowship Award ? John Malempre, Boral, Victoria.

? The Bradken Gold Hard Hat Award – Adrian Wolfe, Rocla Redcliffe, WA.

? ESCO Young Members Award – Scott Lancaster, Chevron.

? Atlas Copco Award ? Professor Jim Joy, Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre, University of Queensland.

? Caterpillar Continuous Improvement Award ? Todd Kalajzich, Boral Dunmore Quarries, NSW.

? Rocktec Innovation Award ? Michael Oppedisano, Boral, Port Melbourne, Victoria.

? Volvo Travel Award – Peter Allitt, Holcim, Queensland.

? Hap Seng Fellowship Award – Mike Cooper, managing director, Cooper Consulting Pty Ltd, Queensland.

? Alex Northover Award – Brian Nicholas, Hanson, Tasmania.

? The Ron Parrott Award for the best exhibit ? Atlas Copco and Locker Group.

Sources: CCAA, IQA