A quarry foreman has three clocks. The sun decides when the drill rig can run. The blasting window decides who must be clear of the bench. The rain decides if anyone works at all. Add a muster sheet that nobody fills until lunch and a contractor who brings his own gang, and the attendance record becomes a guess. Here is a way to write shift and leave rules that match the pit face.
Begin with how the day actually runs
Tour the pit with the manager at first light. Note when the drillers start, when the first dumper reaches the crusher hopper, when the weighbridge opens, and when the shotfirer clears the bench for a blast. Write the real times on a card, not the times in the old policy. Draw a line between roles tied to daylight, such as drilling and loading, and roles that run in a plant shed, such as crusher and screening hands.
Shift pattern for each group
- Drilling and breaking crew: daylight shift only, start timed to the first light, with a break before the blasting window.
- Excavator and loader operators: one shift, with a relief operator named for lunch and for the dumper queue.
- Dumper and tipper drivers: trip-based days with a start time, a last-trip time and a rest rule between runs.
- Crusher and screening hands: two shifts in busy months, with a written handover at the control panel.
- Weighbridge clerk and store keeper: office hours plus an on-call rule for early dispatches.
- Blaster and magazine keeper: a separate duty roster, because their hours are fixed by the blasting window.
Attendance that follows people to the bench
- 1
Make a daily muster at the pit mouth
At the start of shift the mate reads out names and ticks a sheet, with a second tick at lunch. This catches the worker who signs in and goes home.
- 2
Record contractor gangs by name
A gang leader's total headcount is not attendance. Ask for names on the sheet, even if the gang leader writes them.
- 3
Reconcile with the gate and the weighbridge
Compare muster sheets with vehicle entries. If a dumper made nine trips and the driver was marked absent, you have an error.
- 4
Sign off at close
The manager or supervisor signs the sheet daily. Send sheets to the office every week.
Terms the roster should name
- Bench: a stepped working level of the pit; rosters say which bench a crew is on.
- Overburden: the soil and weathered rock removed before good stone is reached.
- Shotfirer and blaster: the licensed pair who charge holes and fire the round.
- Magazine: the locked store for explosives, opened only by the keeper.
- Hopper and grizzly: the crusher feed points that jam and send hands in to clear them.
- Weighbridge slip: the printed trip record that settles a driver's pay and the contractor's bill.
- Transit pass and challan: the loading papers a dumper must carry out of the gate.
- Respirator and silica dust: the reasons a crusher hand needs breaks away from the screens.
Rain, heat and blasting delays
Write a stoppage rule with three possibilities. If work stops before a set hour, the day counts as a stoppage day with a stated pay treatment. If work stops after the set hour, it counts as a part day. If workers are asked to clean or maintain during rain, the hours count as work. Treat the blasting window alike: if the bench is cleared and the blast is delayed, who is paid for the waiting hour? A rule on paper ends the daily argument.
Leave in a workforce that travels
Quarry crews often come from villages that call them back for harvest, weddings and fairs. Trying to ban absence only pushes people to disappear without notice. Offer a clear weekly off, a short list of festival days, sick leave with a simple note, and a planned absence window for harvest with a replacement named in advance. Record advances and recoveries on one card so no one forgets what was given.
Piece rates, trip pay and idle hours
- State what counts as a trip, and who records it.
- State what is paid when the crusher is down for a repair.
- State a minimum payment for a day on which work was available but the worker did not come.
- Show advances on the card at every payday.
More from the hub
Turn this into a written policy with the attendance, shift and leave process. See how a granite quarry sets its attendance rules, and visit the mining and quarrying hub for related guides.
