Ever use a concrete pump? - New guidance

[Tony McC]

From the Safety Elves....

11 February 2009 - Two construction firms prosecuted following fatal accident on 1 December 2003.

Michael Broughton was working with a group of employees pouring concrete to form the floor of an office building at the Redhouse Interchange near Adwick le Street, Doncaster. A truck-mounted concrete pump was being used to take fresh concrete from delivery lorries to the building floor. A suspended hose used to pour the concrete "whipped" violently when the pump was restarted, throwing one man some distance and fatally injuring another.

HSE Report

The industry's representative body, Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA), has since published guidance, 'Code of Practice for the safe Use of Concrete Pumps'. This Code lays out the simple steps to take to reduce the risk of injuries involving similar equipment that were in use at the time of the accident. All contractors and machine operators involved in this kind of work should now be familiar with the Code of Practice.

See Code of Practice

[oioisonnyboy]

I am involved in pump work quite regularly, IME if the driver and the pump is any good, you should not get kicking on the hose.
Surprised as the report says it was a pochin machine, their drivers are very good IME, all new putzmeister machines, some of their newer ones do even have control valves to prevent kicks like this.

I have seen a few pump related accidents, (Clips in the teeth, d!ckheads pulling on the hose...and getting covered, going arse over appetite when pulling ground lines etc etc) all caused by either lack of experience or people just being stupid, but even if the hose does kick then people should not get killed as long as the man on the placing hose knows what he is doing.

TBH I do not think HSE can adequately cover risks involved in pumping as there is so much that is variable. good supply, good placing gang and good driver all make accidents less likely.

[GB_Groundworks]

i was pumping on friday, experienced driver 20 + years and a good mix was fine no kicks etc those safety elves but poor guy. since the birth of my son 8 months ago kinda focuses your attention to risks etc.

i found best to stay out the way of it and not fight the hose kinda caress or dance with it . also a stiff mix can cause the pump to surge we found.

[seanandruby]

a horn should sound before the pump starts and stops pumping. the hose should be held before pumping begins because it does whip aroud violently. pumping the cleaning ball through especially on a static pump is very dangerous as it is blown through at about 3000 psi. you see balls flying everywhere followed by concrete as a lot of ops dont use the ball catcher. ive seen 4 men stand on the line being cleaned and were launched skywards breaking lots of bones. i was in london when we pumped the grout through prior to the concrete, to line the pipes and bang the metal pipe blew because a sponge was still up the line from a previous pour. cars, windows and people covered in grout. pumps in the wrong hands are dodgy. :p

[GB_Groundworks]

our pump guy said they aren['t allowed to use the rubber balls anymore only the sponges, because of that reason

[lutonlagerlout]

last pump we did. the pump guy himself had just come back after suffering a broken pelvis,caused by a whip.he said his firm had lost 2 men in the last 10 years
its like the alaskan crab fishermen ,but with crete

"the deadliest crete"
LLL

[seanandruby]

yes they are sponges, but they still go like a cannon ball when soaked in concrete

[oioisonnyboy]

the pump guy himself had just come back after suffering a broken pelvis

oof

we had a driver once who was helping us lay out the ground line first thing one morning. He put a flexi on his shoulder off the side of the truck and suddenly fell down flat on his back, moaning and groaning

Hernia the size of a football, had to lie there for best part of an hour and massage this thing back in.

Like some other trades (Steelfixer, conc finisher), seems to be a difficult and dangerous job, and doesn't seem to be many young pump drivers about...bit of a worry really