Risks in the paving trade - Help us spot them all

[Tony McC]

Apols if you've already got this from the mailing list or twitter....

Risks and Hazards for paving contractors


Here’s an interesting mental challenge for you over the next couple of weeks or so as the days are short, the weather crap, and the work scarce.

As some of you will know, I’ve been part of a Health & Safety Executive working group looking at how we can minimise risk of injury and long-term health problems in the paving trade. As someone who had to retire from the tools at the all-too-youthful age of just 36 due to an injury that was a direct result of laying too many kerbs and flagstones for too many years, this is something I feel passionately about.

So, this group is trying to create what is known as a “Risk Matrix�, which is essentially a big table listing all the identified risks and hazards, along with links to suggested workarounds, alternatives, relevant legislation, etc. in order to create a sort-of one-stop risk assessment aid for anyone working in the hardscape trade.

If you want to see a very crude and basic draft of the Risk Matrix template, you can view it as a PDF available on the pavingexpert website

On this working group, while the other members are equally committed, I’m the only one who has actually earned a living by laying paving, and as such, it has fallen to me to list all the possible health and injury issues that occur in our trade.

Obviously, there will need to be some judicious editing. For example, scratches to hands, broken nails (of the finger variety), blood blisters on thumb will all be grouped together under “manual handling�, but at this stage, we are solely interested in learning about as many possible hazards and risks as we can.

The next stage will be to look at how these risks can be minimised. We did something similar a few years back with the compulsory dust suppression when using a cut-off saw. I know some think this is more of a hindrance than a help, but over the long-term, we *will* see fewer paviors having to take early retirement or even dropping dead because of COPD (dust on the lungs).

We’re also very interested in any photies or other images which you think perfectly illustrate a risk or hazard. These will need to be either your own images to which you’re willing to grant HSE basic reproduction rights (sorry, but there’s nowt in it for you other than eternal fame and glory) or images you know to be copyright/IP free.

This is YOUR chance to improve working conditions and practices in OUR trade. The decisions taken in building this risk matrix will determine how paving is handled and laid for years to come. Don't let faceless desk-jockeys tell us how to do our job: let's tell them how WE want to do it!

So: off you go. Tell me about all your aches and pains, accidents and near-misses, and anything else you think the trade should know about….



Edited By Tony McC on 1355060617

[local patios and driveway]

If im honest i would like to avoid all of the excessive red tape that make our trade and others a nightmare where nothing gets done on a single day due to paperwork, method statements and not being allowed to work because because the elastic on my face mask is a bit frayed or im kneeling on the floor without a knee pad.. Or even worse i have to hire a guy to plug in the mixer in case someone unqualified to plug something in gets an electric shock.

[seanandruby]

Hats off to you boss. With a site like this that has a lot of Diyers, chancers and villages amongst some guys who are at the top of their game, i think there is a great need for an assessment of possible mishaps, injuries etc: Of course the biggy ' copd' is the one to highlight. Others would be HAVS. As someone who has the scars of that, i think a lot can be done to stop others suffering. Trigger times on power tools is one way to beat it, or slow the onset of it. Wearing warm and waterproof clothing, especially on the hands can also help. Watch for the warning signs for the onset, pins and needles especially at night, pain in the wrists, fingers etc: Lets not go on about 'red tape' lads, the boss is trying to do something to help us here.

[rab1]

joiners have a lot of problems with HAVS right now due to the amount of time they use cordless drills/impact drivers.

[London Stone Paving]

Sean & Rab, bearing in mind the site is used by all sorts of people with different levels of skill and experience it would be helpful if you spoke in normal language

I've been around the trade for a while and I dont know what some of those phrases are

[Tony McC]

LAPD - this isn't about making more bureaucracy. It's to prevent people such as myself being pensioned-off out of the trade at too early an age because the industry didn't have a proper picture of just how much damage is being done to its operatives each and every day.

If we can, for example, highlight the number of lads giving-up block laying because their joints have gone after years of kneeling in damp sand to screed-off, then that gives us the opportunity to show the tools and techniques that can be used to eliminate the kneeling.

We promote the ERIC principles: if there's a problem, risk or hazard....

E liminate, if at all possible,
R educe, if elimination isn't possible
I nformation - show how work can be accried out in a better, safer way
C ontrol - last resort. If all else fails, make it mandatory

The WHOLE exercise is about improving the lot of those on the tools. It is NOT about more legislation, nannying or proscription.

Maybe you'll change your tune if or when you lose your ability to work. Those of us who can't work due to preventable injury tend to have a slightly different viewpoint.


Jargon -

COPD = Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (dust on the lungs)

HAVS = Hand and Arms Vibration Syndrome (used to be White Finger)


Lads and lasses are having to give up work due to conditions such as these, and when they leave the trade to drive a taxi or work in a call centre, they take their irreplacable experience and expertise with them. Worse still, 10 construction workers a week, that's two every working day, are dying solely because of COPD that developed as a direct result of their work in the building trade. Some of us want to change these sad facts.

[rab1]

Steve, myself and Sean are used to these terms as they are used on a daily basis and drummed into you on a daily basis you take it for granted that everyone else understands as well. but fair point as most non construction people will have heard of these acronyms.

[rab1]

The mindset in the construction industry now is that its not the big things (falls from height are no1) that are the major killer of the majority its the slow damage done over the years that kill. 10 smokes a day wont kill you short term but 10 smokes a day for 40yrs certainly increase the chances.

[enigmaenigma]

A few bullet points off the top of my head

Musculo-Skeletal injuries…short term / long term

Short term acute injury due to incorrect manual handling...look at manual handling and TILE (task individual load environment) and long term strategies by mechanization

Long term due to occupational exposure levels and repetitive tasks and or compounded by weather conditions… mechanization and use of machinery to load out where possible, and PPE to reduce long term exposure (knee pads, wrist supports, rest breaks etc)

Eye injuries from hand or power tools…in regards power tools, and in particular grinders, redirect towards any specific grinding wheel risk assessment (risk of ejection of the wheel or ejection of cutting material / dust)

Slips, trip and falls…uneven ground and or wet / muddy conditions, and correct footwear / safe walk ways / housekeeping

Hearing…short term versus long term exposure levels and tinnitus etc

Skin cancer and exposure…in addition to the cover up, issues surrounding wet weather and Musculo-Skeletal

Burns…chemical from mortars and limes, especially in regards concrete and foundations

Electric shock, overt and hidden risk…overt risk being cables, whilst hidden risk from power tools and inspection / maintenance of power tools

Welfare…toilet facilities and so far as reasonably practical, in regards on-site facilities for larger sites, ditto comfort breaks / areas such as drying rooms

[London Stone Paving]

The dust is a killer. It's an issue very close to my heart because we employ stonemasons. I am all for anything to improve h&s for blokes on site

[enigmaenigma]

PMSL don’t forget the public either, as you could write War & Peace on that alone…segregated works areas for public highways / location of job in regards children / vulnerable adults (work on / near schools, nursing homes, hospitals etc)

Domestic / private work still has public present, either walking past or the client…ranging from children to adults, and with varying levels of associated risks attached.

[London Stone Paving]

There is also the risk of dust being taken home in the hair and clothes and passed onto partners & children

[seanandruby]

It would be wise to remember that the use of the proper face mask is advisable. There are different grades for different tasks. For instance at the moment i am cutting pipework in a controlled area and am using the type with the changeable filter, the one that makes the wearer look like an alien. The reason being is because the pipework is painted, so it will give off fumes. I also use the ordinary ones that you use but with the red elastic, big difference in price but a lifesaver.

[London Stone Paving]

Little safeguards like, checking your mask before you work to make sure it's working properly and also storing your mask in a place where it can't get contaminated

[lutonlagerlout]

things that spring to mind
always use a transformer and 110 volts,i still see lads with 240 leads for mixers
keep your hands as clean as possible, cement burns

could they do away with 900 by 600 PCC flags?
its all very well big jobs having slab lifters and tele handlers
but the small builders get lumped with laying these by hand ,especially for slab on edge details and they are a back breaker

I have had tinnitus and hearing loss for 16 years as a direct result of excessive noise exposure, its obviously not a killer like the dust but it changes your life

I am not sure about it but when we did an asbestos course last year the guy told us that smoking vastly increases your chances of ingesting small particles
so i guess smoking is another issue
LLL