Read the latest stories about the current challenges and future expectations of Ontario’s aggregate industry.
Rehabilitation of a pit or quarry is the process of restoring the land from which aggregate has been extracted to either its former use or to a new use or condition compatible with the surrounding landscape. Aggregate extraction is an interim land use. Once aggregate is extracted from a pit or quarry, the site is rehabilitated into productive wildlife habitat, wetlands, golf courses, recreational parks, urban uses, conservation lands, forestry or agriculture.
Climate change is here. What were once infrequent events like flooding, drought and heat waves are happening every year. Average annual temperatures in Ontario have increased and are expected to continue increasing by 2.5 to 3.7°C by 2050. This is expected to have significant environmental, economic and health implications, and the aggregate industry is not immune to these impacts.
In the case of OSSGA member Fowler Construction, the producer recently took its own steps towards a greener world at its Rosewarne Quarry in Bracebridge. The company’s Rosewarne Power Conversion Project, completed in June 2021, involved converting the diesel generator powering its crusher operations to electricity supplied by the local electric utility, Lakeland Power.
Industries worldwide are saddled with a supply chain that has changed dramatically since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. Double-digit price increases, substantial surcharges and ever present uncertainty about order delivery times became the norm, causing major business disruptions for companies throughout the globe. Today, uncertainty continues to be the “name of the game” as businesses try to sort out whether this is a short-term issue or a supply chain norm for the longer term.
While vibrating screens are built for the harsh conditions in which they’re used, there are best practices to ensure they continue to perform despite the season. Whether your plant shuts down for the winter or you continue to operate throughout, winterizing and preventative maintenance best practices will help ensure equipment longevity and maximum performance, in addition to making the most of any scheduled winter downtime. Not doing so could mean expensive breakdowns and repairs down the road.
By undermining workplace situational awareness (SA), fatigue essentially adds to an individual’s cognitive workload on the job – not by adding new stimuli and stressors, but by impairing the ability to perceive and respond to the already-existing ‘normal’ ones. Fatigue reduces awareness, diminishes risk aversion and transforms dangers that would usually be minor, easily identified and avoided into serious and often life-endangering threats.
