The Problem – Breaking Concrete Manually Without White Finger / Hand and Arm Vibration Syndrome

HBG had concerns regarding white finger and hand - arm vibration syndrome with a task they were facing of forming pockets in concrete casings to r.s.j beams and columns. This was to enable the Structural Engineer to assess the size and condition of the r.s.j and concrete surrounding them.

To form these pockets traditionally you would require an operative to break the concrete by hand. However Health and Safety guidelines recommend that you can only operate a medium breaker for small limited amount of time due to the vibration emitted from the machine.

HBG site management required the work to be done but could not ignore the HSE guidelines and the commercial implications that were facing them. Castle & Pryor (HBG Trading Agreement contractors) were asked to evaluate the problem on site and recommend a solution.

The Solution – Brokk Controlled Demolition Machines

Castle & Pryor use Brokk robotic electric machines to carry out many controlled demolition jobs and we recommended the Brokk 40 which was the smallest of the machines in our fleet. This particular machine was ideal for what was required on site because, not only could it break out concrete all day long, it could also access all areas because of its size and work comfortably in vulnerable areas, close to openings etc

The Brokk machines come with a range of attachments, which include crushing jaws, hydraulic breakers, digging buckets, and drums planers. They vary in size from 350kg to 4000kg meeting all site requirements. They are robotic so the operator is separate from the machine, and can crush concrete up to 550mm depth using the larger attachment on the bigger machine.

We are pleased to confirm that operations on site were completed successfully and fulfilled HBG high Health & Safety standards.

Contact us to discuss controlled demolition on your site to help beat white finger /hand arm vibration syndrome.