PPE for Concrete Lab

[BigH]

Colleagues:

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for concrete lab, in general, and the tests that are run in the lab (say test specific). What does your firm specifically require?
Example: in the lab in areas where no tests are being currently performed.
Example: for melting the sulphur for capping the concrete cylinder specimens.
Example: in performing gradation testing (sieves) - running through splitter, putting into sieve stack, placing sieve stack on shaker, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[iandig]

Hi BigH
A quick summary below, I will chase the lab up and see if I can source the H&S Risk assessments, but in summary:
Long-sleeved gloves/gauntlets for the techs when removeing/adding cubes to curing tanks. Barrier cream for use before and after testing [three different hand creams for different stages!]. Gloves for techs to use when handling cubes. Aprons, boots etc... Plus also checks on Legionella because of moist air.
Individual face fitted Dust masks with appropriate filters for silica dust and damping down of areas. Use of specialist vaccum cleaners for lab area with filters to prevent dust.
We can't use sulphur capping! If there is an alternative we have to use that, so sulphur capping not been used for many years!
For gradings, we have a clean room with filters and v.high extraction. Very expensive to install, but again, under our H&S [Health & Safety at Work Act etc...] if there is an alternative we have to do it, cost is way down on the priority list from the HSE. When we first installed the extraction system, none of the doors in the lab could be closed, and it pulled all the reports off the shelves and desks in the Engineer's office up-stairs. When running the lab, balances have to be used inside perspex cabinets becaise of the draft. Seive shakers are also in a seperate sound-proof room inside the grading room.
Needless to say, not as much money in testing as there used to be as not every lab operates like this and we still have to be competitive!

 

[BigH]

mmmmm, Ian, quite disturbing . . . ouch!

 

[diazmeyer]

Should you wear a helmet in your car to get to work in the mornings?.
I can imagine that having a cup of tea at home will soon be more hazardous than the work environment.

 

[KateP]

Dear Colleagues,

Generally, also the Standards say: You need... , should be... have to... So we use it without doubt or not (?)

 

[iandig]

We have done risk assessments on the drinks machine, with 'caution hot liquids' sign put up...dur it's a coffee machine! Warnings that packets of peanuts MAY contain nuts [and yes I know a peanut is from the pea family and not a true nut]. It goes on and on. It has got to the point now where I ask "When did health & safety replace common sense?".
There are two things here though, a lot of the things we do now make it much safer, no question [read the other thread re collapse of trench killing a Geotech Engineer] which is good, but there does seem to be a real lack of common sense to some of the approaches, which in turn means that what we really should do is lessened by 'silly' requirements.
For example we have trained staff in the use of forklift trucks and had a special attachment made to empty the lab bins and technicians sampling using bulk sample bags so small you need 3 for a 'single' bulk sample. Does seem OTT initially, but no more bad backs in the lab, which must be good.

 

[emmgjld]

BigH,

I was starting to consider what we do and then iandig posted.
iandig, you have my heartfelt sympathy.

This reminds me of some testing drilling we did several years ago for the US Dept of Energy, during planning for removal of low level radioactive mill tailings, adjacent to some old, buried fuel tanks (UST). We spent more time having the Health & Safety techs (4 techs, if I remember correctly, 1 for each suspected hazard) shooing us away from the rig, while they monitored, than the actual time drilling and sampling. A full day to get 2 20' holes drilled, sampled and monitor wells set. Then there was the Drilling Health & Safety tech, always questioning and 'cautioning'. He was the real danger, he kept distracting the crew from the actual job.

 

[bb29510]

common sense, get rid of the stupid people

 

[BigH]

brownbagg - I agree. Google "common sense obituary" and read the article published some 10 years ago. Interesting reading. I am waiting for the day that we have to tie off each step as we walk up a flight of stairs!!

 

[BigH]

Here's a link -

http://lukeamerica2020.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/common-sense-obituary/

 

[Dinosaur]

Our guys wear cotton lab coats, steel toe boots and plastic goggles all the time. There are also medical gloves and heavy vinyl glooves for some jobs. Occasionally they will wear hearing protection as when they batch test mixes or work in the seive room.

 

[concretemasonry]

There are situations when the standard requirements are not enough. Testing can be a experience into what is possible.

When we made high strength concrete block, the technicians ultimately had to turn the steel top lab tables on the side and hide behind them before the particles from the explosion/testing could injure them. The failure mode can be very rapid. They learned from experience (after the first test) and not some standard requirement.

A 8x8x16 hollow block at about 9000 psi net compressive strength takes a lot to break it and it is hard on the equipment. The required load pushed the 600,000# T-O machine to its limits (and a sudden failure/shock) resulting is some repairs and ultimate rebuilding. They also had to increase the platen thickness because of the deflection over the area to provide a uniform loading distribution. Research has shown that the higher capacity equipment can provide more accurate and reliable results at higher strength levels.

Unfortunately, we did not inform the lab in advance what strength level/loading was expected. They were treated as "garden variety" block that are usually only 50% over ASTM minimum (now 1900 psi compared to our average of about 3000 psi). Thereafter, we contacted the lab about what to expect.

It was a surprise to the lab, the technicians and an educational process that did not injure any personnel. I did not think the 9000 psi was expected, but assumed 8000 psi was likely. Some of this and later prism research (8" and 12" hollow prisms) ultimately ended up in some ASTM changes in the platen thickness requirements because of the platen flexibility since a simple concrete cylinder testing machine cannot accurately determine the strength on larger units like high strength concrete block assemblies.

Dick

 

[SirAl]

Enjoyable Thread - Safety/H&S is an expanding universe to be sure. I can relate to many of the comments.

In our lab, face shield, ear protection, hard toe footwear, gloves are a must when handling and breaking specimens. We still use sulfur or related capping compound so ventilation masks with side filters are added for that process. The sulfur pot and capping molds are kept under a fume hood. Other than that, nothing fancy here.

 

[bb29510]

from past exprience, with capping pots, I keep some water very close. cylinder tank, sink with water in it. Five gallon bucket. You get some of that on your arm or hand, just a little speck. Put you hand in the water immediantly. I know you wear gloves but that stuff gets in placed it not suppose to and accident happens.

It mainly common sense. I'm not going hide behind a table, but not going stand in front of the machine. I admit I dont wear gloeves with cubes or 4x8, but beams I will. If its noisy I grab My ear plugs.

I tink the worst think is weight, everything is heavy. even if somebody helps you they end up hurting you worst