Customer snapshot
Holcim’s Torr Works Quarry in the east of the Mendips is a large, complex operation producing around 5.5 million tonnes of limestone annually and employing approximately 150 people across extraction, production, maintenance, processing, distribution, and drilling.
With a footprint this large, consistent reporting, clear ownership, and fast visibility into what’s happening on site are critical for safe, efficient day-to-day execution.
CheckProof sat down with Alice Gouldbourne, Higher Apprentice at Holcim's Torr Works Quarry to understand the impact that CheckProof has had on their operations.
What Holcim needed to solve
Before implementing CheckProof, Torr Works faced familiar challenges for large construction materials sites: paper-based routines, issues raised across multiple channels, and limited visibility into whether problems were being picked up and followed through.
As Alice explains:
“The biggest one was definitely around paperwork and visibility. Before CheckProof, a lot of issues were reported over the radio or by email, and they might not have been picked up or followed through. Now, everything is captured, assigned, and visible.”
And on a site this size, even confirming an issue in person can slow response time:
“The ability to take a photo of a problem and for someone based in the main office to instantly view it on their computer or app is fantastic. That saves so much travel time, whereas before it could take up to an hour to get to that area.”
The approach
Torr Works’ goal was to move away from paper-based checklists, reduce document loss, put everything into a digital system and make site information available instantly - without delays between the quarry floor and the office.
“With CheckProof, the information is instantly available and doesn’t get lost on its way from the bottom of the quarry to the office. Since implementation, it’s really expanded - we now have 70 active users on site.”
The solution: how CheckProof supports daily operations at Torr Works
Torr Works is split into seven demarcated areas, and CheckProof is used to standardise reporting and connect teams across the site:
“Torr Works is a big site, we’ve split it into seven demarcated areas, including extraction and production, distribution and processing, maintenance, drill and blast, and the HSE department.”
Digital inspections and issue follow-up
Torr Works uses CheckProof to capture issues in the field, improve ownership, and reduce the time wasted travelling across site to validate problems.
“The ability to take a photo of a problem and for someone based in the main office to instantly view it on their computer or app is fantastic. That saves so much travel time, whereas before it could take up to an hour to get to that area. Plus, if there’s a deviation raised in a certain area, it automatically goes to that section manager. That’s been a big change for us.”
Health and safety oversight through consistent inspections
CheckProof supports Regulation 12 inspections and geotechnical inspections - across daily, weekly, and monthly routines - helping the team respond faster and stay proactive.
“We mainly use CheckProof for our Regulation 12 inspections and our geotechnical inspections - the daily, weekly, and monthly checks. The biggest benefit has been how quickly we can respond to deviations. It’s given us a much clearer picture of what’s happening across the site and helps us keep ahead of issues before they become incidents.”
Visibility for managers and senior leadership
With leadership based at the main office block, CheckProof helps management stay connected to daily site reality.
“Senior leadership is based up at the main office block, so they’re not necessarily down in the areas they manage every day. Having that visibility immediately on their computer or phone means they can see exactly what’s going on across the site. It’s built a much better connection between teams.”
Maintenance planning and coordination with the Planning Tool
Torr Works introduced CheckProof’s Planning Tool after identifying a need for a practical way to plan workload during daily briefs and coordinate work across shifts.
“We started using it after talking with our engineering manager, who wanted something his team could use to plan workload during a daily team brief. The idea was to have a touchscreen monitor where they could view the day’s work.”
The team chose the Planning Tool for its clear calendar view, then adapted the workflow to match site reality, changing the deviation template into a work order and adding extra fields – such as risk assessments, work times, and digital sign-offs. Allowing teams to move work orders around, view upcoming shutdowns, and instantly see what’s happening across shifts.
Weekly planning is combined with real-time flexibility, and shutdown windows are built into the schedule:
“Our maintenance planner uploads the work weekly, and the teams adjust it as needed. We also include our plant shutdown periods on there, so if, say, the primary crusher is down, they can pull related tasks into that window. The planning tool is probably the most beneficial feature for us at the moment because you can see a live snapshot of what’s going on straight from your computer.”
Faster environmental data collection and reporting
Torr Works also uses CheckProof to speed up environmental data collection, reducing manual input time and simplifying reporting.
“We use CheckProof for environmental data collection. For example, if we’re monitoring boreholes, we can extract that data directly from CheckProof, and it automatically populates our spreadsheets and hydrographs. It’s taken what used to be a one- to two-day data input task and reduced it to about five minutes.”
Capturing the “hidden work” that used to go unrecorded
Another shift has been documenting smaller, ad hoc jobs that previously weren’t recorded, helping teams build a full picture of work and workload.
“A big one was around tracking the smaller, ad hoc jobs that weren’t documented anywhere before. With CheckProof, we can see what every team member is working on and build a full picture of activity. I always tell the teams: ‘Put it on there as a work order,’ because it shows how much they’re doing and helps highlight where the workload really sits.”
Alice Gouldbourn from Holcim's Torr Works Super Quarry
Outcomes and impact
For Torr Works, moving daily routines into one digital system has reduced printing, cut time spent chasing paperwork, and improved visibility across teams. Providing a clear benefit to all. There is less printing and more time saved, and no chasing lost paperwork anymore. Having everything in one system and the ability to extract data is a real gain, especially on a site of this size.
Stronger asset history to support long-term decisions
Over time, Torr Works has built an operational record around each asset, linking deviations and work orders - supporting better decision-making and CapEx planning.
“The history we now have on each asset is invaluable. If a certain asset keeps having issues, that becomes clear right away. We can see hours worked, deviations raised, and work orders linked to that asset, which gives us the data we need for CapEx (Capital Expenditure) decisions. At the end of the year, we can look back at a full report of the site and pick out problem areas. That visibility just wasn’t there before.”
Why the system works: adoption, support, and flexibility
Alice highlights how quickly teams embraced the system once they saw it in practice, and how ongoing support and flexibility helped drive adoption across the site.
“I’ve been really proud of how everyone at Torr Works has embraced it. Usually, with a new system, there’s some reluctance, but once I showed them CheckProof for about five minutes, they were all for it.”
CheckProof’s responsive support has played a clear role in driving adoption. The platform is simple enough to manage in the background, while teams can make local updates without disrupting anyone else’s workflows. That combination of usability and flexibility has helped Torr Works achieve fast, broad buy-in across the site.
Summary
What began as a move away from paper-based routines has evolved into a connected, day-to-day system that supports inspections, issue follow-up, maintenance planning, and environmental data collection across one of the UK’s largest quarrying sites.
From improving visibility and response time to building stronger asset history and workload oversight, CheckProof has become part of how Torr Works stays proactive, aligned, and efficient, every shift, every day.
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