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Technical Blog
Around 64,000 construction workers sustained a non-fatal injury at work, each year between 2014 and 2017 in the UK. Over 22% of these resulted in over a week off from work.[1]
One common and simple cause of this is the use of power tools on-site. Of course, for certain tasks they’re necessary, but where you can use less of them, you may just avoid any accident or injury potential.
At MEDITE SMARTPLY we’re innovators, and as innovators we work to create solutions that work in real world situations.
With this in mind, our product development team created SMARTPLY DRYBACKER, the pre-cut, heavy-weight bearing, structural OSB panel for pattressing. It’s been specially manufactured to accommodate ‘C’ shaped stud frames! Simply pick it up, slot it in, fix it in place and you’re ready to go; no need for circular saws, routers, hoovers or other power tools.
In this way, you can help avoid these top three hazards to dryliners at work…
- Slips, Trips and Falls on one level
- Hearing damage from high noise levels
- Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome
A construction site is chaotic at the best of times: wires and cables trailing from power tools add to the mish-mash of uneven surfaces, broken ground and loose objects constantly present on site.
Limiting or removing these trip hazards should be a key focus not only for contractors, but for manufacturers and material providers alike.
Noise is a major hazard in this industry, with repetitive, excessive noise causing long-term hearing problems as well as being a dangerous distraction, leading to many accidents.[2]
Some ear protection may not be totally effective against hearing damage either. While this should never be foregone, reducing the use of noisy power tools on site as well will perhaps be the only real solution towards ensuring less hearing damage is caused.
Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome is a painful and debilitating condition affecting blood vessels, nerves and joints, caused by prolonged use of vibratory power tools.
This is classed as an industrial disease and is cited frequently in the compensation claims of workers who worked for years with little to no protection with poorly maintained power tool equipment.
It’s difficult to treat, and to us seems an unnecessary hazard…
So, what are you waiting for? Work smarter, not harder, with SMARTPLY DRYBACKER.
[1] http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/industry/construction/construction.pdf
[2] https://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/news/the-most-common-accidents-in-the-construction-industry-1916
