Members Day in Bendigo

CMPA Secretariat reports on the successful day recently held in the north of Victoria for CMPA members.

THE Members day was held on 23 October 2013, commencing at All Seasons Hotel in Bendigo with a sandwich lunch and a presentation by Tej Panesar of TSP Group of Companies, the sponsor for the morning session. TSP Group provided a short presentation on the evolving improvements on wear life and design of Cutting Edges with a focus on TEDGE, the proprietary cutting edge with extended life. It was well received and generated good discussion later in the day.

This Work Safely Refresher Training course was fully booked and was delivered by David McKelvie of DMcK Management Pty Ltd, also a sponsor of the course. Expectations were met with participants gaining a further understanding of the issues.

“I always expect to learn something new at a presentation and I wasn’t disappointed. Great safety overview. The sponsorship session was very interesting and informative.”

“A good reminder about what I have already learnt in past safety courses.”

“Easy to understand, clear and down to earth – Keep it Simple.”

The next event of the day was to get aboard a bus to travel to All Stone Quarries at Newbridge about 30 minutes’ drive north west of Bendigo. More members joined the Work Safely group on the bus for the site tour. Brad Carr the Quarry Foreman of the Newbridge site, who also attended the Work Safely refresher course, gave a brief introduction to the site on the bus. Tim Bird, Wes Bird and other All Stone Quarry (ASQ) personnel welcomed us to the site which was in a splendid condition.

ASQ had done a great job in providing each visiting member with written guidelines and contacts for the safe visit.

The sponsors for the site visit were Terex Jaques and Indeco Australia.

Terex Jaques had staff at hand to explain the Crusher and answer questions from the visitors. Many visitors had not seen such a large crusher and material flow from such close distance.

Indeco showcased their specially designed Rock Breaker installed on a hydraulic arm that could be remotely maneuvered. This generated lot of interest.

The participants were divided into three groups and rotated between the two sponsors and David McKelvie who continued with his safety theme. However, there was so much interest in the plant and the groups went by the way side as Members inspected the crusher which was not working at the time to allow for closer viewing.

Then it was back on the bus to return to the All Seasons Hotel in Bendigo for the General Meeting.

Members were able to grab a quick cup of coffee or tea and the meeting was opened by John Mawson, Chairperson of CMPA, who gave the welcoming address to about 50 attendees.

He first outlined the current activities of the CMPA and then went on to outline future issues for CMPA next year:

• Rehabilitation bonds
• Simplifications of Work Plans
• Fees for the Extractive Industry
• OH&S Act review
• Land management issues, e.g. Native Vegetation, Cultural Heritage Management Plans
• Workshop on Guarding with a view to developing Guidelines
• Development of Dust Management Guidelines
• Further training developed from real job profiles
• Further WorkSafely refreshers with an updated WorkSafely Manual
• Development of guidelines on recycling, mobile/fixed crushers

Next was the opportunity to be updated on key issues by the experts such as:

• VicRoads, Dr Sven Scheppokat, Quarry Products Consultant. Looking at the changes to Section 812 – Crushed Rock for Pavement Base and Subbase
• Department of State Development, Business and Innovation; Dr Danny Suster; Manager, Earth Resources Legislation and Reform. Talking about the Government response to the EDIC Inquiry into Greenfield mineral exploration and project development in Victoria.
• WorkSafe Victoria Tony Ferrazzo, Senior Mining Engineer and Christopher Walschots, Senior Inspector. Looking at traffic management in quarries
• Manufacturing Skills Australia, Paul Kennett, Adviser – Vic. Jobs and skills profiles.

“Very interesting and relevant topics.”

“Good range of current issues presented.”

Hard copies of the presentations were provided to attendees as a refresher and post-meeting discussion with the presenters. This was followed by a barbeque dinner and networking with other members. A total of about fifty CMPA members, government staff and other industry personnel participated in various aspects of the day. Thanks to all who helped make the day such a success especially the presenters.

Thanks to our sponsors TSP Group of Companies, DMcK Management Pty Ltd, Terex Jaques and Indeco Australia.

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