As geotechnical and environmental engineers, the team at Tetra Tech Coffey spend a lot of time ‘breaking new ground’. As part of the site investigation work we do for clients, our teams are often faced with hard ground conditions where no excavator access is available or possible.
We believe that the task at hand should never compromise the safety and wellbeing of our people or clients.
“After an employee sustaining a strained shoulder injury in 2020, the Tetra Tech Coffey NZ Geotechnical Engineering and Environmental teams came together, committed to finding a better way to break hard ground”, says Zoë Crook, HSEQ Advisor Tetra Tech Coffey New Zealand.
A workgroup was established and tasked with researching the options on handheld mechanical tools which ensure the safety of the user. After extensive research and field testing, our teams identified a solution which doesn’t require a generator or power cables, and omits very low on vibration and noise.
By combining the expertise of those doing the work on the frontlines along with experts in health and safety, the Tetra Tech Coffey team developed an approach that allowed the work to get done with safety at the forefront.