Fighting Hand and Arm Vibration Syndrome - Old Bond Street, London
Requirements
- Breaking concrete manually without causing white finger, known as hand and arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)
- Enable the Structural Engineer to assess the size and condition of the RSJ (Rolled Steel Joints) and concrete surrounding beams and columns.
- Overcome BAM's concerns regarding HAVS as they were tasked with forming pockets in concrete casings to rolled RSJ beams and columns.
- To form these pockets traditionally you would require an operative to break the concrete by hand. Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines recommend that you can only operate a medium breaker for small limited amount of time due to the vibration emitted from the machine.
- BAM site management required the work to be done within HSE guidelines and the commercial limitations.
- Castle and Pryor were asked to evaluate the problem on site and recommend a solution.
Solutions
- Castle & Pryor, a controlled demolition company use Brokkâs. A robotically controlled demolition machine that carries out many controlled demolition jobs. In this particular case we recommended the Brokk 40, which is one of the smallest of the machines in our fleet.
- Brokk 40 is ideal as it can constantly break out concrete and can access all areas because of its size, while working comfortably in vulnerable areas, close to openings.
Key Benefits
Environmental
- Safe to use as removes all chance of the operator suffering HAVS as the operator manages the Brokk remotely.
- Brokk demolition can crush concrete up to 550mm depth using the larger attachment on the bigger machine.
- There are zero pollutant emissions as the Brokk 40 is an electric machine.
Financial
- Project completed successfully.
- Substantial cost reductions as demolition machinery reduces required man hours if completed manually.
Time
- Completed on time and within parameters.