The UK’s
Martin Isles, director of health and safety at the
In his current role at the MPA, and also as president of the
In 2000, at the behest of the chair of the then Health and Safety Commission, he signed the voluntary Hard Target pledge on behalf of the Quarry Products Association, the forerunner of the MPA. During the ten years that followed, he was at the centre of instilling a common culture among the QPA’s members for continuous improvement in health and safety performance, sharing good practice and incident information and raising standards of behavioural safety and worker involvement.
In 2005, he oversaw the creation and launch of
In 2009, he introduced the novel Safer by Design initiative seeking to improve the “designed-in” safety of the industry's heavy mobile plant, by working with the manufacturers, standards-makers and regulators. This initiative has since achieved global recognition, and Mr Isles is now driving the development of a raft of new “Safer by...” initiatives.
Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s chief executive, said: “The tremendous contribution that Martin Isles has made to saving lives and reducing injuries in the UK minerals sector is shown by the 83% reduction in reportable injuries he oversaw from 2000-2009. He expresses total commitment to achieving further improvements in safety and health and his enthusiasm, confidence, motivation and integrity are second to none.”
Martin Isles said: “When one looks at the list of past winners of this rare accolade, I am humbled to be in such exalted company. It has re-doubled my motivation to achieve even greater strides to the benefit of all who work at the sharp end in this fascinating yet challenging industry.”
