The European Aggregates Association is invested in making everything technically possible to eliminate or reduce respirable crystalline silica in our workplaces towards the safety of our employees. Sharing good practices is at the heart of this process and UEPG is committed to the NEPSI social agreement in this sense.
NEPSI
NEPSI is the acronym for the *European Network for Silica* formed by the Employee and Employer European sectoral associations having signed the Social Dialogue "Agreement on Workers' Health Protection Through the Good Handling and Use of Crystalline Silica and Products Containing it" on 25 April 2006.
UEPG is a signatory and active member of NEPSI, promoting the biannual NEPSI reporting within the aggregates industry, while also industriously participating in the renewal process of the NEPSI tools. Therefore, NEPSI is at the heart of UEPG's fight against respirable crystalline silica.
UEPG RCS Working Group
Crystalline silica may be significantly present in quarries and sandpits, depending on the type of rock extracted, the concentration of this substances varying between 0-100%. With the extraction process and the ensuing mechanical processes used in the production phase, respirable fractions of crystalline silica may be released in the air.
The UEPG RCS Working Group meets twice a year and reunites Health & Safety experts from the industry who discuss about RCS and how can it be effectively mitigated. This working group also serves the purpose of sharing good practices, so that workers can operate in a healthy and clean environment.
