| Eliminating exposure to respirable silica dust |
The secondary crushing and screening plant at Hanson’s Builth Wells Quarry in South Wales was built in 1966 and has changed very little since. The processing plant operator was located inside this building in a control room located next to the three cone crushers.
The operator raised concerns about the levels of dust and noise in the control room.
Despite independent testing showing that noise and dust exposure levels were below the legislative exposure limits, it was felt by both the employees and site management that it would be much better if the operator could be relocated outside the processing plant building.
It was clear that this was going to be a significant project and the challenge was made greater by the current financial pressure that all quarrying companies are under. This prompted the employees to tackle the project themselves.
A steel container and second-hand control cabin were sourced from other Hanson sites and a steel frame was constructed for the control room to sit on.
The site electrician and fitters installed a new wiring system for the control and monitoring of the processing plant.
The employees pulled together and at very little cost to Hanson, erected, refurbished and rewired the new control room allowing the operator to control the processing plant remotely and in a clean and quiet environment. |