Breaking Up Concrete Safely and Effectively
When it comes to demolishing old concrete, you need to know how to do it as safely as possible.
When it comes to demolishing old concrete, you need to know how to do it as safely as possible. Training and retraining your concrete workers is the secret key to success. Here is a look at how to break up concrete safely and effectively.
Tools That Are Needed
Issuing everyone with tools is essential. Take, for instance, if your job site is a residential area: the homeowner may not know what to do, and that’s why you were called. Everyone in the crew needs shovels, sledgehammers, pry bars, bolt cutters, mattocks, wheelbarrows, and hand trucks. The more tools you have access to, the better. That will make the whole process much more manageable. You’ll also need plastic sheeting, drop cloths, and several different types of personal protective equipment or PPE.
PPE for Demolishing Concrete
Next, be sure that all of your protective equipment is in good working order and that they don’t need to be repaired or replaced. Safety glasses or goggles, gloves, arm protectors, vests, helmets, steel-toed boots, hearing protectors, and face masks to shield the eyes, nose, and mouth are all examples of vital PPE for your concrete workers.
Breaking Up Concrete Slabs
Breaking up the concrete slab depends on the size of the piece. If it is a block, then wire cutting, wall-sawing, and dry ice blasting might be better methods. Sometimes, a small slab will need a sledgehammer to break it up. More massive pieces will call for a jackhammer, and then the largest slabs and support beams will need explosives to bring down. Reinforced concrete, especially when it has rebar in it, will be harder to break down.
Use a shovel to create a void under the slab. This where using ground-penetrating radar or GPR might be useful. After all, you don’t want to make the void under the concrete too large, or else it might become dangerous for everyone involved in the process.
Continue to break down the concrete using the tools at your disposal. However, even for the most experienced concrete workers, it is essential to rest and take breaks, especially on days with intense heat.
Prioritize Employee Safety with G&M Services
G&M Services is proud of our employees and the dedication they have for safety in the workplace. We reward our employees for displaying positive safety practices. We incorporate weekly and monthly discussions and meeting to ensure that all involved are aware of how to handle equipment and potential situations that could occur during a project.
G&M Services offers services in the way of concrete drilling and sawing, concrete scanning, and FireStop. To get started with us, call today at 410-787-8828 or visit our contact page. Follow the official company page today on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
