Yavuz IŞIK
Chairman of the Board
Chairman of the Board of the European Ready-Mixed Concrete Organization (ERMCO) and the Turkish Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (TRMCA)
Since its foundation in 1988 the Turkish Ready-Mixed Concrete Association, together with its invaluable members and shareholders, has long been committed to making efforts to popularize the production and use of quality, correct, eco-friendly, and sustainable concrete required to build safe and strong buildings in Turkey. Our association audits and certifies ready- mixed concrete related products, ensuring their compliance with the national and international standards. The Turkish Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (TRMCA) has been a full member to the European Ready-Mixed Concrete Organization (ERMCO) since 1991. In addition, our association was elected this September to act as the ERMCO president for the next three years… 215 million cubic meters of ready-mixed concrete is annually produced in the European countries represented at ERMCO. Turkey, on the other hand, produces 107 million cubic meters of concrete itself alone. Turkey, which met ready-mixed concrete 100 years later than the European countries, today is a leading country in concrete production. With our sector experience, we will continue our efforts to support the development of the European and Turkish ready-mixed concrete sectors.
Occupational health and safety is very important for the ready-mixed concrete sector, which has been rapidly growing in recent years. Our association has been holding a contest named the Blue Helmet Occupational Safety and Health Contest in order to help avoid work accidents and highlight the importance that should be given to human health and life. The companies participating in this contest find a chance to see how their organizations are doing when it comes to occupational health and safety regulations. The contest also helps companies improve their shortcomings.
At our association we pay a great deal of attention to occupational health and safety practice. We provide concrete mixer truck drivers with a 40-hour operational training. The drivers are first given a class on advance and safe driving techniques within this training. The training sessions include classes on different subjects such as vehicle maintenance and usage, vehicle tire maintenance, anger management techniques, traffic, first aid procedures etc. in addition to general information about concrete applications. Safe driving training sessions include techniques aimed at load transferring on turns, a special mixer truck rollover simulation, and methods to prevent such rollover accidents. These hands-on training sessions also explain the importance of using the steering wheel not harshly but softly. The successful drivers are awarded with certificates following this 40-hour training. In addition, there are also vehicle tachometers that are designed in a way to warn mixer truck drivers about the speed limit.
It is very important to process concrete properly and on time during a construction so as to build long-lasting structures resistant to earthquakes. With this in mind, concrete should be poured on supporting building elements such as columns and beams etc. at once. To this end, it is recommended to review the time when concrete carrier vehicles hit the roads.
As the ERMCO and TRMCA president, I would like to state that our efforts will continue at full speed within this very framework. At our association we are ready to act as a leader to help sector and public problems be shared with the relevant authorities. We also invite all other companies, which are not members to our association, to send their concrete mixer truck drivers to our training sessions. We will continue our efforts not just to build safe and durable structures but also to ensure a safe, quality, and sustainable work ethic.
We have big goals: We need to work very hard to introduce positive economic and practical effects of ready-mixed concrete to the world, improve our sector technologically, establish new collaborations, and ensure an understanding that prioritizes occupational health and safety.
