Breathe Easier: Remove Danger from Gas Emissions with Battery-Powered Solutions

No one who is killed or injured by carbon monoxide on a jobsite sees it coming. Literally, no one. Carbon monoxide cannot be seen or smelled or tasted.

Sneaky carbon monoxide (CO) displaces oxygen in the blood and hides in the symptoms of other illnesses. CO poisoning can be disguised as the onset of flu, COVID-19 or food poisoning. According to OSHA.gov information, time and level of exposure are critical. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit for CO is 50 parts per million (PPM), prohibiting worker exposure to more than 50 parts of CO gas per million parts of air averaged during an 8-hour period.

After 1 – 2 hours of exposure at 400 PPM, the body may feel waves of nausea, weakness and vomiting (see chart). Crushing chest pain and tightness may point mistakenly to a heart attack. Confusion and dizziness slow reactions and cloud judgment of how best to flee. Because the body can no longer carry a full supply of oxygen to the body’s tissues and vital organs, the nervous system, brain, heart and lungs are deprived.

CO, often called “the silent killer,” hits fast. At 800 PPM, healthy adults will feel the effects in 45 minutes, with unconsciousness and death in less than 2 hours. The risk also can add up over a long period; breathing low levels of carbon monoxide can cause severe heart problems and brain damage.

Ironically, healthy skilled trades workers with a strong work ethic – the top performers on a crew – may not realize their exposure at first. Symptoms can vary widely from person to person. CO poisoning may occur sooner in those most susceptible: young children, the elderly, people with lung or heart disease, people at high altitudes or those who already have elevated CO blood levels, such as smokers.

In a work culture that values endurance, a CO gas headache may be viewed as a mere nuisance to “shake off.” Those who have the most stamina and the gut instinct to keep working may breathe in carbon monoxide the longest. By the time the strongest humans feel the effects, they may be already compromised.

Urgent Safety Needs

Workers in the trades are the day-in and day-out backbone of national infrastructure, a company’s most important asset, and a resource to be protected. However, overall fatalities in the private construction industry increased 5 percent to 1,061 in 2019 – the largest total since 2007.

To reverse this trend, safety on sites needs to be improved across the boards. This need will increase as construction trades continue adding nearly 800,000 jobs from 2014 to 2024. 6 Skilled trade workers will be in demand; keeping experienced workers safely on the job longer will help fill positions. Less experienced workers joining the trades will need extra safety support.

While guidance from OSHA has emphasized prevention, deaths from CO continue.

According to federal mortality data, from 2010 to 2015, a total of 2,244 deaths in the U.S. resulted from unintentional CO poisoning, 393 in 2015 alone. Of course, death rates don’t reflect those hospitalized, treated at emergency rooms or those unreported or misdiagnosed.

A 2013 study specific to work-related CO poisoning from the indoor use of fuel-powered equipment found that workplace exposure to carbon monoxide killed 727 workers in the U.S. between 1992 and 2008. The study called CO the leading cause of acute fatalities from an inhaled substance among U.S. workers.

Realistically, the work settings for enclosed areas and confined spaces can’t be eliminated. They’re common locations including tunnels, crawl spaces, basements, cramped retail spaces and plastic sheeting “shells” constructed on a worksite. It important to note that should an enclosed or confined space contain concentrated flammable or explosive gases or dust, it may be considered a hazardous location, meaning only light equipment that has been found suitable for use in that environment can be used.

To properly trained construction workers, a confined space meets a very specific definition. It means a space that:

• Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work;
• Has limited or restricted means for entry and exit; and
• Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

However, there are an infinite number of enclosed work areas throughout the construction industry that don’t meet the definition of a confined space, but are enclosed, poorly ventilated and would be deadly with a high enough concentration of CO emissions.

What can bring improved safety? The answer: Change how work is done in confined spaces.

Past generations of construction workers labored without the latest safety choices, but today’s crews have a new mindset and expectations. They realize traditional risks, including inhaling gas fumes, are no longer acceptable on a jobsite.

In one example, Koetter Construction, tried MX FUEL™ battery-powered Cut-Off Saws in the field for several months. Koetter is one of the largest full-service, design-build general contractors and commercial developers in Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville, Kentucky. As a result of the field trial, Koetter crews realized the benefits of eliminating gas-powered equipment and its maintenance. “You don’t know what you don’t know,” Hardscape Manager Nick Moses said. “We accepted the problems but now we realize we don’t have to.”

It’s time to use new and safer ways of working that redefine light equipment. Battery-powered light equipment harnesses high-performing power, eliminates gas emissions in confined spaces, and offers user-driven solutions that supply safety, productivity and ease of use.

Choice for Today

Everyone agrees – workers need to return home from job sites just as healthy as when they came to work that day.

Battery-powered solutions are ready now to protect workers in enclosed areas and confined spaces by removing gas from the equation.

Saving precious time, battery-powered light equipment eliminates the need to haul 5-gallon gas cans to worksites and maintain gas engines. The push-button start lets workers begin a job without priming a cold gas engine or fighting a pull-cord. And, with no emissions, crews don’t have to stop and prep a work area first to provide ventilation, adding productivity. A bonus: Fuel and maintenance costs are gone.

Three Game Changing Options for Work in Confined Spaces or Enclosed Areas

MX FUEL™ 14” Cut-Off Saw: The MX FUEL™ 14” Cut-Off Saw delivers 14” gas performance with zero gas emissions for a safer workplace, making it ideal for crews that need to work in enclosed or confined spaces. It can cut 14 feet when fully plunged into concrete or make 145 cuts in #5 rebar on one MX FUEL REDLITHIIUM FORGE™ XC8.0 Battery Pack.

MX FUEL™ 70kg Rammer: The MX FUEL™ 70kg Rammer is the most productive and easiest to use, with zero emissions, ensuring a safe workspace indoors and in trenches. It features AUTOSTOP™ technology, which enhances safety by automatically shutting off the rammer if it tips over. Hitting harder and traveling the fastest, users are provided maximum productivity and maintained compaction performance. The centralized User Interface offers greater control with simple start/stop and speed adjustments. It provides 25 minutes of continuous runtime or over a 1/4 mile of compaction.

MX FUEL ™ Vibratory Screed: The MX FUEL™ Vibratory Screed. With no gas headaches and zero emissions, this is the right machine for a safer workspace both indoors and outdoors. It delivers the power to pull 16 ft bar and offers up to 2 hours of runtime per charge.

Other benefits with battery powered equipment include improved jobsite safety, reducing excessive vibration, enhanced dust control, and improved ergonomic features. Eliminating gas engines also leads to reduced vibration and less physical strain on workers’ bodies.

Support for Health & Safety Professionals

Safety experts at most organizations, many with decades of experience, know what it’s like to write an incident report. Typing the name of an injured or deceased worker makes the outcome very real, and no safety director wants those outcomes. Lasting peace of mind comes from being able to say, “We provide the right equipment for the job and remove every hazard possible.”

Safety directors know it’s not acceptable to build strong structures at the cost of weakened human bodies. Effects on internal organs, especially lungs, continue to be in the spotlight as COVID-19 persists and construction workers are classified as essential workers. Occupational respiratory risks were known before COVID-19: Construction trade workers are about twice as likely to develop health complications due to respiratory cancer or non-malignant respiratory diseases. Higher mortality rates among construction trade workers may be attributed to their exposure to contaminants, including CO.

About Milwaukee Tool

Milwaukee Tool, founded in 1924, is a global leader in delivering innovative solutions to the professional construction trades that increase productivity and safety. Milwaukee® is known for their world-leading M12™, M18™, and MX FUEL™ cordless systems, the ground-breaking performance of their cordless innovations, safety solutions, battery-powered outdoor power equipment, jobsite lighting and clean-up, time-saving accessories, and innovative hand tool and PACKOUT™ Modular Storage products. The company is dedicated to delivering a steady stream of advanced, trade-specific solutions.

Milwaukee Tool is a Brookfield, Wisconsin-based subsidiary of Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd. (TTI) (HKEx stock code: 669, ADR symbol: TTNDY). For more information on the full line of Milwaukee® products, please call 1-800-SAWDUST or visit www.milwaukeetool.com.