Last week NRMCA participated in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) B30.27 Subcommittee meeting in Incline Village, NV, to discuss potential revisions to the 2014 B30.27 standard covering safety while working around concrete pumps. In early 2014, ASME finalized and published a new concrete pumping safety standard aimed at increasing safety at job sites and reassigning responsibility/liability for different concrete pumping operations. The standard however, went into effect in March 2015. Of concern to the ready mixed concrete industry are four provisions that place inconsistent, new responsibilities on concrete mixer truck drivers. These objections to the new standard were addressed at the subcommittee meeting.

The specific provisions in question, B30.27-3.1.3.4.2(a) through (d), relate to air and foreign material entering a concrete pump’s hopper, emergency stop control and the rate of concrete being delivered into the hopper. Unfortunately, the revision schedule for the B30.27 standard is every five years. Any potential changes will not be made until 2019 at the earliest. However, NRMCA has officially joined the B30.27 Subcommittee and has committed to attending all meetings. NRMCA is committed to establishing and continuing a working relationship with ASME to help advance safety around concrete pumps. The next meetings are tentatively scheduled for late January 2016 and April 2016.

Click here to obtain a copy of the standard. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org.