Code Of Practice

Camfaud is a member of the Construction Plant-hire Association and an active member of its Concrete Pumping Interest Group. In 1997, this group published the “Concrete Pump Operator’s Safety Guide” to replace the old “Manual and Safety Code of Practice for Concrete Pumping”.

Since then the Concrete Pumping Interest Group have worked to develop a British Standard for concrete pumping. In April of 2007, this standard was published as BS 8476:2007 “Code of Practice for the safe use of concrete pumps”.

The standard covers: terms and definitions, selection of personnel, training and certification, management of the concrete pumping operation, selection of concrete pumps, travelling to and from the site, arrival on site and setting up the machine, during the pour, work with delivery lines, pumping special concretes, cleaning out the machine and delivery lines, leaving the site (lorry-mounted concrete pumps), personal protective equipment, concrete pump examination and testing and pump maintenance. It also contains annexes covering: recommended signals, inspection of delivery lines, pipeline wall thickness pressure – maintenance card, as well as a bibliography.

This is an extremely useful document and is the recommended reference for all those involved in pumping concrete on a regular basis. BS 8476:2007 may be purchased from the British Standards Institute shop.