Tackling the 'Big Freeze'

Dec. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Britain is once again under the cosh and feeling the effects of another bitter winter. Again it seems like we have been caught short, with preparations for severe weather not being sufficient. These times of austerity are beginning to bite and with the sudden significant snowfall commencing in November this year, there is again much focus on the mining of road salt stocks and the use of this by local authorities.
During the winter of 2009/10, the UK’s salt miners and hauliers worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week to produce and ship enough salt to grit our roads and get the UK moving. However, this was still not enough to combat such cold weather, which became all too apparent as ‘the big freeze’ took hold of the UK.
In April 2010 the UK's leading road salt producers announced that they would be investing large amounts of money throughout 2010 as part of a number of steps to improve the security of the nation's salt supplies, such as The Salt Union ltd, who invested between £4million and £5million. A large part of this investment went towards improving the skills of employees that operate the mining equipment and those who manage the operational demands of salt mining, which by its very nature can be a hazardous occupation.
Thanks to this investment, we now have the stockpiles of salt needed to grit our roads, but there is still a fundamental problem - getting the salt to where it is needed.
The Coalition has made it clear that money is tight, but each time that the UK is disrupted through being unprepared for freezing conditions, the economy loses money.

The insurer RSA estimated that the freezing weather could cost the UK economy up to £1.2bn a day - a cold snap lasting a week could cost the country £6bn - and, according to research conducted by the Salt Union, without salting, delays would cost £2 billion per year on top of that.

Salting the UK’s roads costs the government £150m a year. When this is compared to the billions the UK economy could lose each year severe weather strikes, it’s clear that it would be sensible to invest in getting the right machinery and people in place to be able to distribute the salt that the Extractives and Mineral Processing industry has worked so hard to deliver.

Local authorities need to listen to industry, through Proskills, its Sector Skills Council, in order to direct investment into the skills, systems, and equipment that will put a halt to the disruptions and economic losses and keep Britain moving through the freezing weather.


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Notes to Editors

Proskills Group

Proskills UK Group comprises Proskills UK - the Sector Skills Council for Process and Manufacturing Sector and the Proskills Academy.

Proskills UK is the bridge between employers and Government on skills and training.
Employer-led by 9 key industries, Building Products, Coatings, Extractives, Furniture, Glass, Glazed Ceramics, Paper, Print and Wood industries which make a third of the UK manufacturing sector. Proskills UK helps to raise the profile and sets the skills standards and qualifications for the sector and ensures that the skills and funding delivers against the current and future needs of the industries.

As a commercial arm of Proskills UK, Proskills Academy is the first step in identifying and accessing the training your business needs to reduce costs and boost productivity.

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Proskills UK is an employer-led organisation that represents the interests of the industries that make up the process and manufacturing sector to government.