Morgan Sindall is trialling a new hands-free percussion drill developed by concrete contractor Castle & Pryor.
The drill, called Sindrilla, is mounted into a frame, weighted, and guided by a drill mast. Castle & Pryor says it will help eliminate Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).
Operatives simply need to press a button to turn the drill on and it will lower itself and start drilling.
Castle & Pryor has also added a vacuum unit to draw up dust as the machine drills and claims it will save companies thousands of pounds a year in labour costs.
The drill is currently on trial with Morgan Sindall at Heathrow Airport. Castle & Pryor has also been using it on its own projects.
Andrew Swann, Morgan Sindall’s aviation project manager, said: “I see the concept of this machine as an innovative solution to completely eliminate HAVS exposure to the operatives who carry out the PQ pan drilling task.
“On an airfield project, this task can account for anything up to around 50% of the total time of exposure to HAVS – so this will help us to significantly reduce the risk of operative exposure within a project. The unique design is quick and easy to manoeuvre around, meaning that a high number of holes can easily be drilled in a shift.
“All in all, this piece of kit eliminates exposure to hazards of occupational health whilst still being efficient and effective. Hopefully, we can also apply this design and modify to suit other standard tasks to keep reducing the risk of occupational health hazards on our future projects.”
