Improvement of working environment in concrete construction by the use of self–compacting concrete

Exposure of workers in construction to excessive noise levels is a serious and well-recognised problem. Health and safety initiatives aiming to reduce the levels of construction noise have been introduced at both national and international levels but with a limited impact so far. High noise levels are not only directly detrimental to health of the construction workers, noise makes effective communications much more difficult and increases the probability of misunderstanding with potentially serious consequences. The best way to reduce the noise in construction is to use materials, that do not require noisy processing or handling. Introduction of Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) represents a major advance in noise reduction in concrete construction, it is sometimes called a 'quiet revolution'. One of a number of substantial benefits that SCC technology offers are the much-improved working conditions on a concrete construction site. This paper reports results of practical trials, that confirm the excessive noise exposure produced by vibration of traditional concrete and the great reduction of noise exposure when SCC is used. In addition, using SCC eliminates entirely the additional adverse effect on health of handling vibrating tools by the workers and lowers very significantly the physical strain they encounter when placing concrete.