Our Commitment to Safety 24/7
Safety 24/7 is an integral part of a Rampart employee’s personal commitment to his or her own safety, as well as to the safety of friends, family, and co-workers. This commitment creates a culture of safety on our jobsites, in our manufacturing facilities, offices, and in our private lives.
Frontline Safety puts into action the principles of Safety 24/7. It provides strategic initiatives to empower technicians, craftsmen, and mechanics to create and maintain a safe working environment. It also holds all levels of personnel accountable for their safety and the safety of others.
Every project employs the same Frontline Safety strategies:
- High level management and field technician involvement
- A project specific safety committee
- Continuous task hazard analysis
- Safety observation processes
- Regularly scheduled jobsite safety audits
- Continuous improvement planning and execution
Compared to traditional demolition and concrete removal methods for infrastructure repair and rehabilitation projects, hydrodemolition is much more capital intensive. Machines do the work of several workers, and mechanized, robotic units reduce labor and minimize soft tissue injuries compared to chipping hammers.
Rampart Hydro Services has the capacity to rapidly design machines that remove concrete where humans would otherwise have difficulty. For example, on vertical and/or high surfaces where workers must hold and control heavy equipment, like jackhammers. Work in these conditions can be very dangerous for people to perform safely. In addition, the hydrodemolition process is dustless and cleans remaining reinforcing steel so that sandblasting is not required
While hydrodemolition involves water, with proper control, it is not particularly messy, especially when Dry Hydrodemolition® methods are used. During Dry Hydrodemolition, the wastewater is vacuumed immediately after it demolishes the concrete. Dry Hydrodemolition® adds an additional layer of safety to bridge deck concrete removal because it keeps the water from running into live traffic lanes.
Because it is wet, hydrodemolition has an enormous health-related benefit: it eliminates dust and the potential for silicosis and other respiratory illnesses to workers. OSHA began enforcement of the new Respirable Crystalline Silica construction standard (OSHA 1926.1153) on September 23, 2017. The primary Engineering and Work Practice Control method specified by OSHA is the use of water to suppress the silica containing dust particles. Hydrodemolition already accomplishes this with no additional equipment needed.