More health protection for RWE Power

In the Rhenish lignite mining area, complex pipeline systems criss-cross the opencast mines, providing drainage and immission control. Due to the progress of opencast mining, it is necessary to lay new drainage pipes at regular intervals and also to dismantle pipelines in targeted areas that are either recultivated or tipped over.

In some areas, steel flange pipes are dismantled, which were used for drainage for more than 10 years and were buried in the soil. These pipes are often difficult to dismantle due to years of exposure to the elements and the resulting corrosion of the bolted connections. During dismantling, the steel flanges are first exposed and cleaned. Then a working area is created in which the persons in charge of dismantling can move relatively freely. Forced postures are minimised in advance by the "stop before start" safety tool used in opencast mining. In order to ensure safe dismantling, taking health and safety into account, the nuts of the bolted connections are first loosened using the LDA-28 ST high-torque cordless torque wrench in straight form from GEDORE Torque Solutions or, for other space conditions, the LAW-28 ST angled high-torque cordless torque wrench, also from GEDORE Torque Solutions, and later removed using an air-operated impact wrench.

This procedure optimises the vibration load in the hand-arm-shoulder area to the prescribed minimum values (<2.5m/s²). By substituting hand tools in this operation, RWE was able to achieve a positive side effect by reducing daytime noise exposure. At around 70 dB(A) sound pressure level, the overall exposure at the workplace is positively influenced.