Handling of heavy concrete blocks can give rise to a wide range of injuries. To reduce the risk of injury, the blockwork design, site conditions and the way the work is organised should be planned.
Points to be taken into considerations include:
- Minimising manual handling by delivering units as close to the place of use as safety considerations permit
- Moving units in packs and by mechanical means when ever possible
- Loading units out to above knee height
- Ensuring that normal protective equipment appropriate to construction sites is both provided and used
The manual handling of loads should not be attempted without a risk assessment as required by the Manual Handling of Loads at Work Regulations, 1992. Practical guidance in meeting the regulation is given in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Construction Sheet No. 37, ‘Handling Building Blocks’ which advises that:
- There is a risk of injury in the repetitive manual handling of units heavier than 20kg by one person
- Units, greater than 20kg, should be handled mechanically or by the use of a two person team if repetitively handled
Small numbers of units greater than 20kg i.e. quoins, reveals etc., would not fall into this category and would not be expected to be handled by a two person team.
Units of greater than 20kg may be specified and used to meet particular design requirements provided that appropriate handling methods are used.
For users who, for design reasons would otherwise select units of greater than 20kg but would prefer not to, a number of options exist. The appropriate choice from the options available will depend on the unit or wall properties dictated by the application.
Choices include:
- Using smaller units having similar properties e.g. Evalast Easilift, Party Wall
- Using lighter solid units having sufficiently similar properties
- Using cellular/hollow units instead of solid units (having almost identical properties to solid units)
- Using alternative construction techniques such as:
i) Laying units flat to form a 190 or 215mm width wall (suitable for finishes such as plastering or drylining)
ii) Collar jointing* units to form a 190 or 215mm wall (particularly suited to facing applications)
Whenever making the choice of units, it is essential to ensure that the desired performance characteristics of the finished wall are not compromised.
*Collar jointing is laying units back to back in normal aspect with a 10-15mm mortar joint between the adjoining faces of the units. The two leaves may be tied together. If tied, either normal ties or bed joint reinforcement may be used. Collar jointed walls are not suitable for sound separating walls in dwellings.