Temporary Noise, Dust and Fume Solutions Installed at Amazon’s Warehouse

Project Overview

Amazon is an international e-commerce company offering online retail, computing services, consumer electronics, digital content as well as other local services such as daily deals and groceries. Due to Amazon’s global scope and reach, it is also considered one of the most valuable brands worldwide. Amazon has 40 warehouses across the UK, dispatching packages to tens of millions of customers across Europe as well as in the UK.

Mannings Construction came to RVT seeking health hazard solutions while working on a project at an Amazon warehouse which needed to undergo structural upgrade work. The project consisted of repurposing part of the warehouse and increasing the floor slab thickness to enable increased load bearing. Mannings Construction had a duty to protect the workers in the live warehouses while the work took place, so they came to RVT for advice on the most effective solutions to ensure safe levels of fume, dust and noise.

Challenge

There were many different hazardous factors associated with this project that needed to be managed. The warehouse was going to be live throughout the structural upgrade project, so workers needed to be kept safe at all times. With diesel machinery, and cutting and drilling machinery in use for the work carried out, it was essential to protect not only the construction workers, but also the Amazon warehouse operatives, from dust, fumes and noise pollution.

Some sections of the warehouse being refurbished were in an enclosed space, creating an essential need for the extraction of airborne hazards. Also, any fume or dust could set off smoke sensors, forcing the complete evacuation of the live site at significant cost to the Amazon. Another concern was for the fumes and smell created by the plant machinery that was planned to go in and out the building for the concrete pours, and therefore additional measures were necessary to manage the diesel fumes.

Solution

RVT provided a solution where the structural upgrade work could go ahead, but with health hazard equipment in place to keep everyone safe. A 7.5 metre Soundex Enclosure was erected to control noise during floor saw activity, combined with a Dustex Dustmaster kit, to capture any airborne dust, especially in the areas with enclosed space. Soundex Multi-Purpose Enclosures were also used for floor cutting, and Soundex performance curtains were used for an additional layer of noise protection.

A Ravex Exhaust Fume Extraction kit captured fumes from the plant machinery exhaust outlet and extracted airborne hazards outside into the atmosphere, which was 100-150 metres away, using ducting. RVT’s fans are powerful enough to extract hazards over long distances, making our specialist solutions perfect for this project. Ravex HD90, M60 & M30 Diesel Filter Kits were alsoused to remove 95% of particulate from the diesel
engine on the plant machinery used.