While operating your concrete pump, it is important to remember that there are inherent dangers and necessary safety precautions associated with any heavy machine or construction equipment.
A concrete pump presents unique dangers that must be understood before it can be used properly.
In this post, we talk about the safety guidelines while using concrete pumping. But, first let’s learn what concrete pumping is.
Concrete Pumping
Concrete pumping is a popular method of delivering and setting down new concrete at construction sites. Concrete pumping technology has come a long way since it was first developed in the 1960s.
Concrete pumps are utilised all over the world, from the simplest home renovation to the most complex and high-profile construction projects, to transport concrete of varying qualities over enormous horizontal and vertical distances.
As concrete is pumped, it undergoes a series of transformations. Poured concrete is transferred from a truck mixer into the pump's hopper, where it is mixed and then forced into the pump's piston.
After that, the concrete is forced by the piston across the pipeline at high pressure. Concrete is either sheared or shoved as a plug during the pumping operation. Finally, at the placement site, the pressure is released from the fresh concrete and it is poured into the mould.
It is the responsibility of the employer to identify and mitigate risks, and this includes potentially dangerous manual handling duties. Control measures must be put in place to limit the likelihood of harm occurring when performing these duties if it is decided that serious injury is a possibility.
These and other forms of manual handling are known to cause injuries and should be avoided:
- Failure of a Concrete Boom
- Collisions between booms and power lines
- Deteriorating of delivery hoses
- Dangerous moving parts
- Identifying the hazards
Discovering the potential dangers of concrete pumping is the first step in managing that risk. Finding potential dangers to humans is what hazard identification is all about.
Concrete pumping presents numerous potential dangers to the well-being of workers.
In order to spot potential dangers, consider the following:
- Take a look around the office. Think about the soil conditions where the pumps will be used, as well as any nearby plant life, humans, or structures, and especially any overhead power lines. It's important to plan the location of the concrete laying boom in relation to any above obstructions.
- Logbooks, incident, injury, and near-miss records should all be inspected, tested, and maintained.
- It is recommended that PCBUs, concrete pumping operators, labourers, and others be consulted regarding specific hazards and issues. The inspection, maintenance, repair, transportation, and storage of concrete pumping equipment could all be at fault.
- There is also the possibility of danger due to the environment at work. For instance, regional climate can cause unexpected risks. A concrete placement boom that is subjected to high winds poses a safety risk because of its potential for unpredictable movement.
- When it rains, the ground can get slick, which can make the equipment unsteady. Lightning strikes are a real danger while operating booms during a storm.
Assess the risks
You should still conduct a risk assessment, even if you already know what the potential dangers are and what controls will be necessary to mitigate them. The severity of the risk, the type of action required to mitigate the risk, the timeliness with which this action must be performed, and the ownership of this control measure can all be ascertained by a thorough risk assessment.
Any of the following calls for conducting a risk assessment:
- The potential for harm from a threat is unclear
- There are numerous potential dangers involved in the task at hand, or
- If there is a knowledge gap about the potential interactions between these risks.
There are a few things to keep in mind when doing risk assessments:
- The efficiency of current preventative measures
- Workplace practises as opposed to theoretical models
- Processes, and rare or unusual events)
- Upkeep and sanitation
- Equipment failures, and
- Security and safety system breakdowns
As part of the evaluation, it is also important to:
- Determine the kind and extent of the damage (Note: additional considerations, such as the
- Depending on how far they fall, injuries could be more severe.
- Number of persons who could be put in harm's way must be taken into account.
- Estimate the likelihood of harm
- Think about how often this happens or how near people are to the danger.
- Implementing control measures
To comply with WHS rules, you must take all feasible measures to remove or reduce potential hazards. To keep your employees safe from the hazards of concrete pumping, you'll likely need to employ several different kinds of control mechanisms.
Discussion of site-specific needs, such as those for concrete pump selection, concrete delivery, and traffic control, is an important part of risk management.
The term "hierarchy of risk controls" is used to describe the order in which various methods of risk management are ranked according to how much security and trust they provide. To effectively handle risks, you must follow this order of operations.
Wherever possible, try to get rid of any potential dangers. All risks that can't be removed must be reduced as much as possible through the use of measures like isolation, substitution, and engineering controls.
Make sure you and your staff are familiar with the risks and precautions involved with using a concrete pump before beginning work. Concrete pumps, when used appropriately, can be a great asset to any construction site.
