Hydrodemolition horror…

Hydrodemolition specialist fined over double accident.

A Hampshire-based firm has been sentenced for serious safety failings following two incidents in less than a week which left two employees with life-changing disabling injuries.

At Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday (26 Sept) Hydro Pumps Ltd was fined £46,500 after incidents arising from work to the Tay Road Bridge, Dundee in July and August 2007, which were investigated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and the Crown Office Health and Safety Division.

The court was told the company had been subcontracted to cut away concrete top sections of the support columns on the bridge to allow engineers to replace worn out support bearings.

On 26 July a 27 year-old employee was using a hand-held jet gun that delivered a high-pressure concentrated stream of water at a 5mm distance from the surface of the concrete. He suddenly slipped and fell losing his grip on the gun. He toppled forward as he had been balancing himself against the force generated by the gun and the water jet penetrated into his abdomen.

Due to his severe injuries he has been unable to return to work since.

The work was suspended pending an internal investigation. However, within ten minutes of it resuming on 1 August a second employee, who had been brought in to replace the first, was himself seriously injured when the same gun came apart in his hands and he lost control of it, resulting in the water jet shooting into his knee.

He was taken to hospital with severe leg injuries but despite two operations to try and save his leg, it needed to be amputated.

Hydro Pumps Ltd, of Highmead, Fareham, Hampshire, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974 by failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees; in particular failing to ensure that they were not exposed to injury from the use of a high pressure water jetting gun. Hydro Pumps failed to conduct a suitable and sufficient risk assessment in relation to the work (particularly as they had modified the gun by shortening its lance to a length less than recommended by the manufacturers and industry guidance and employees were operating the gun at almost twice the force recommended by industry guidance). In addition, the company failed to provide a safe system of work, failed to provide and maintain safe equipment, and failed to supervise the use of appropriate protective equipment.

Source Ref: http://www.demolitionnews.com/2013/09/30/hydrodemolition-horror/

For information on the products and services we offer at Sabre Jetting please visit us online - www.sabrejetting.co.uk

Bearing Removal

Due to the ability of our operatives, we are able to undertake hydro demolition projects of any nature ranging from intricate work such as bearing removal all the way up to bulk projects such as parapet demolition. The skills of our workforce have been developed due to the many highly technical midland links contracts we have successfully carried out as a key member of the area 9 partnering scheme. Find out more about our hydro demolition service by visiting our website.

Tank cleaning

Sabre Jetting are able to save time and money from being able to clean many tanks by the use of remote cleaning heads ensuring that there is no need for the operators to enter the vessel. The remote cleaning head prevent the jet form over speeding to enable the water jet time to cut through the product. When the remote cleaning head is not an option, Sabre Jetting Services are able to clean the tank using a hand lance with a vessel entry. For further information about our tank cleaning services and systems please call us on 0121 706 9801 or visit us online at http://www.sabrejetting.co.uk/

Surface preparation Birmingham

Surface preparation uses a wide variety of pressures, flows and nozzle designs. The starting point for surface prep is a twin jet rotary nozzle which uses pressures of 450 BAR. This is very effective for cleaning bridges, floors and factories and removing all loose concrete and carbon build up. If you would like to know more about the procedure please visit our website at: http://www.sabrejetting.co.uk/index.php?webpage=surface_preparation

Surface preparation

Based on the scale of the job, we employ a wide variety of pressures, flows and nozzle designs for surface preparation to remove almost any product. For cleaning bridges, floors and factories and removing all loose concrete and carbon build up we often tend to use the twin jet rotary nozzle with a pressure of 450 BAR. Whilst for a more aggressive slab of concrete we would use a single nozzle at 1100 BAR. Find out more about our surface preparation service by visiting our website.

High Pressure Water Jetting Birmingham

Here at Sabre Jetting Services, our first hydro-demolition contract was completed successfully in 1989 for Edmund Nuttal. We now employ twelve operators who are permanently engaged in concrete demolition, often completing contracts ranging in value from £850 to £500,000 - making us the countries most experienced hydro-demolition contractor. Find out more by visiting our hydro demolition page here.