Education

Aggregate Industries kicks off annual apprenticeship program

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In the U.K., Aggregate Industries launched its 2020 Apprenticeship Program, designed to offer people the chance to earn while they learn. Successful candidates are given the opportunity to gain on-the-job experience, while achieving professional qualifications – helping them to lay a solid foundation for a career in construction.

Each year, the Aggregate Industries offers placements for the apprentices across a variety of business divisions, including working at some of the U.K.’s largest quarries, state-of-the-art asphalt plants, and on major road improvement projects – as well as areas such as finance and HR.

“With the continued need to address the ongoing skills gap faced by the sector, a key focus for us is our 2020 Apprentice Program, which demonstrates our commitment to training and investing in the next generation of talent,” said James Roberts, human resources director at Aggregate Industries U.K., in a press release. “Successful applicants will be exposed to a wide range of roles within the business and learn valuable skills.

This year’s program will include nearly 30 nationwide positions, including apprenticeship roles in areas such as business administration, mobile and stationary plants, minerals management, electrical and mechanical engineering, plant operations, and sales. In the program’s 15th year, Aggregate Industries has successfully trained more than 300 graduates and apprentices in a number of these roles to date.

“In recent years through our Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, we’ve also worked hard to increase the uptake of the females,” Roberts added. “To support this, we’ve introduced a successful female mentorship program designed to help our female apprentices tackle the unique challenges they may face within the sector. We look forward to welcoming this year’s recruits and helping them reach their full potential in the future.”

U.S. mining fatalities drop in 2019

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The 24 mining fatalities in the U.S. in 2019, represent the fewest annual fatalities every recorded, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) reports. In addition, 2019 marks only the fifth year in MSHA’s 43-year history that mining fatalities were below 30. MSHA is still reviewing two cases of possible chargeable fatalities which, if added would make the total in 2019 the second lowest number of fatalities ever recorded.

There were four deaths each in Kentucky and West Virginia; two each in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas; and one each in Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont, and Wyoming.

“The low number of mining deaths last year demonstrates that mine operators have become more proactive in eliminating safety hazards. But I believe we can do even better,” said Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health David G. Zatezalo, in a press release. “A disproportionate number of mining deaths involved contractors, and we saw an uptick in electrocution accidents, with three deaths and another two close calls. In response, the Mine Safety and Health Administration launched a targeted compliance assistance effort, visiting thousands of mines to educate miners, operators, and contractors on procedures that could prevent accidents like these.”

After a two-year increase in 2017 and 2018, when about half of all deaths resulted from vehicle-on-vehicle collisions, failure to use a functioning seat belt, and conveyor belt accidents, MSHA responded with a multifaceted education campaign and initiated rulemaking. In 2019, the percentage of deaths caused by powered haulage accidents dropped to approximately 25 percent of all mining deaths.

MSHA collected 147,500 samples from coal and metal/non-metal mines in 2019, a record high. The data revealed an all-time low for average concentrations of respirable dust and respirable quartz in underground coal mines, and the exposure to dust and quartz for miners at the highest risk of overexposure hit all-time lows as well. Metal/non-metal mines achieved the second lowest average respirable dust and quartz concentrations since 2009. Metal/non-metal mines also achieved the second lowest average elemental carbon concentration and average total concentration since 2009.

Approximately 250,000 miners work in around 12,000 metal/non-metal mines in the U.S. and approximately 83,000 work in around 1,000 coal mines. In 2019, MSHA conducted 37,471 inspections at nearly 13,000 mines employing 330,000 miners, which resulted in 99,663 citations and orders. MSHA inspected all underground mines at least four times in 2019, and it inspected surface mines and facilities at least twice, as required by law.