Rwamamara, R and Simonsson, P (2009) Health and safety in concrete casting processes. In: Dainty, A R J (ed.) Proceedings of 25th Annual ARCOM Conference, 7-9 September 2009, Nottingham, UK.
Abstract
Construction injuries lead to human tragedies, disrupt construction processes and adversely affect the cost, productivity, and the reputation of the construction industry. Therefore, the use of ergonomic production methods to prevent this can have a significant human, social and financial impact. This paper presents a case study of comparative analyses of ergonomic situations for concrete workers performing concrete casting processes. Ergonomic risk assessment methods were used to assess the physical strain, hand-arm vibration and noise affects risks involved in concrete casting work tasks. The combination of technical and managerial factors results in a system where workers are as efficient and safe as possible during their work tasks, and thus, makes the construction work environment sustainable. The preliminary study presented in this paper concludes that the present ergonomic risks emanating from work methods used in the normally vibrated concrete (NVC) casting can be significantly reduced. With the use of self-compacting concrete (SCC) awkward work postures, hand-arm vibration and noise are eliminated. Thus musculoskeletal injuries can be reduced if not eliminated among concrete workers during their concrete casting work tasks.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | work environment; worker safety; concrete casting; risk management; ergonomic risk |
| Index terms: | risk management, work environment, construction work, construction process, risk assessment, vibration, construction industry, health and safety, case study, injury, comparative analysis, productivity |
| Subjects: | management, financial risk, health safety and environment, building construction, health conditions and diseases, industry analysis, mechanical systems, data collection methods, risk assessment, operations management, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Site Management, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management, Risk Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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