A hand-held Ingersoll Rand sand rammer packing concrete lintel moulds generated 28m/s^2 with a maximum trigger time of only 15 minutes/day before reaching the ramming tool vibration control Exposure Limit Value, seriously limiting production. We designed a mass / sprung balance system that reduced the vibration to 11.5m/s^2, extending the “safe” trigger time to 90 minutes/day. Combined with substantial ergonomic improvements, operator HAVS risk was virtually eliminated and there were large productivity gains. As the whole project was completed within days (no site visit) via information (data, video) forwarded by email, the total cost was a few £hundred, making it self-financing over a few days.
