Tutorial on carving stone

Health and safety

http://www.hse.gov.uk/stonemasonry/

http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm

Introduction

Please Please Please, read the WHOLE SECTION, it is for your own safety, the protection of your art and the future of your own family and business

Maybe, it will be quite agonizing to read, even to look at, but I don’t care about this. I only care about you guys who are like me, stone and sculpture lovers, who work very hard to make it, in the Art World.

This section is for you to be used and abused. Over the years, working in the Construction Industry, I have learnt a great deal about Health & Safety, my mission is to transmit this information to help everyone who wants to carry on carving, loving his/her family and who wants to live long and healthily.

Every year, many artists sustain injuries because of their art and passion. The worse is when workshops and bigger companies have an institutionalized lack of Health & Safety awareness, and the practice goes on from generation to generation of suffering artists and artisans. Also, a lot of carvers have never gone through a H&S course because they have learn the trade alone, without having gone through a structured artistic and craft education provided by schools and colleges. Some people have never been showed the way to work safely. Nobody can blame the artist for that. But then, as nobody can ignore the law, no artist can afford to ignore certain H&S rules. Not what is written in a book, but what he H&S common sense should drive you to do. If the artist doesn’t have the correct habits when carving, then something is not right. But you might not even be aware of it because nobody has been able to reach you in your life, in your workshop, in your daily artistic practice. This has to change, to be revolutionized by this section. And please again, do yourself a favour: avoid any thought like: ‘it costs too much, I don’t have the time, you are crazy man!’ Well, I am just here to help, hoping someone will understand that some changes have to occur to make life easier, longer, safer and happier, Because YOU are worth it!!!

This is the purpose of this section of the tutorial which shows how to become H&S focused and ready to embark onto a journey of safe artistic practice.  Enjoy the ride.

Stones

Most stones contain silica, which can result in a disease called silicosis. The silica or asbestos content varies from virtually none at all for some lime stones and up 80% for granites. Sandstone, slate, soapstone and granite contain large amounts of free silica. Serpentine, soapstone and greenstones contain asbestos which is not better. Even marble and limestone stones contain certain amount of silica. Therefore, it is better to know about the seriousness of the danger prior to choosing a particular stone. Basically, I avoid all the most dangerous stones to work with. In this case, I remove completely the most hazardous substances and dusts, I still have to deal with marble, limestone and alabaster dust, but the protective gear is much lighter as well as less expensive to get.

Noise

Machineries create noise, dust and vibrations. All of these inconvenient have to be known and protections need to be worn otherwise, the consequences on you health could be irreversible. For the noise, ear plugs are not very effective, I prefer my ear defenders. Don’t buy the cheapest, their sound proofing is not very good, upgrade to a more efficient ear defender set. Check the specifications first. 

Dust

A good mask is supposed to protect your lungs against the finest dust, a whole range of masks is available. The data sheets should mention what the mask is used for. Goggles are also an important piece of kit to have to protect yourself from stone chippings and the dust. If you wear prescription glasses with your goggles, the mask, will build up with mist, good goggles need to have an anti-mist coating but sadly it is not a panacea.

Vibrations

See http://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/index.htm

Pneumatic and electric tools can create a high level of vibrations, and that needs to be controlled. The Vibration White Fingers (VWF) syndrome is caused by the loss of blood circulation in the fingers and the effects can be irreversible. The first signs appear when you feel some numbness or tickling in the fingers after you have worked over a long period of time without any proper PPE. That is the wake up call to stop working this way. Anti-vibration gloves exist, and I have tried some which were impossible to work with. I have found some padded gloves which were very good. When I work with my Cuturi hammer, I use these gloves and I try not to grasp firmly the tools so that most of the vibrations are not transmitted to my body. The recent regulations (UK regulations) indicate that we should not work for more that 20-30 minutes at a time or per day… Well, we can’t really work then!!! A fine balance has to be found to get a fair compromise between health and art.

I tend to avoid working with the Cuturi as much as I can, I don’t like it very much, but I can’t avoid it all the time.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) indicated the latest directives in the UK, and can be found with the link: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/misc112.pdf.

Miscellaneous

You need a good set of gloves to protect your hands. I use different types, depending of the type of work:

• thick gloves when lifting stones, hammering and using the angle grinder.

• thin gloves when using the riflers.

• padded gloves with vibrating tools.

The project

When designing your project, never forget about the stability of the installed sculptures. If the base of the piece is proportionally narrow to its height, you will have to broaden it by using a mean of connecting the sculpture to the ground via a concrete foundation and stainless steel rods, a base made of a wide stone with rods or simply consider to include a wide bottom part to allow the sculpture to be stable on its own and secured.

As Public or private clients will live or interact (maybe try to climb on it) with the sculpture, this point has to be well looked at. An accident could mean a prosecution directed at the artist means YOU. I suppose you don’t want to open the door to any gold digger i.e. claim companies. Also, if you get a commission from a Public body, that issue will be raised straight away. So the design MUST take account of this factor which is as essential as the durability of the actual sculpture.

Mechanical/Manual handling

See http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg383.pdf and http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm

Use as many mechanical means as possible to handle the sculptures and the blocks.

I have a few lifting machines every sculptor should have as well: 

• A 100kg trolley for small stones

• A 500kg lifting table to shift around small and medium size stones

• A 1t folding engine hoist and an aluminium gantry lifting 1500kg

• A forklift if you are rich enough, it is in my Wish List

All these very useful ‘helpers’ give me the flexibility to move my stones around without hand-lifting too much.

Don’t forget to watch your fingers and your feet when selecting or moving your stones, it’s so easy to squash a finger when the stone falls or slips.

Manual lifting guidance

It is worth taking some extra care and taking your time, so please consider doing the following before manually lifting:

• Prepare the area where the stone will go next, avoid any trip hazard at any cost

• Wear your gloves & steel toe cap boots

• Assess the weight and its distribution

• If it is heavier than 25-30kg, use other means for lifting i.e. a folding crane, a friend could help for example, don’t lift it on your own. A back is for life!

• Grip it firmly and slowly lift

• Keep your stone as close as possible to your body, usually, you won’t have the choice anyway

• Get use to know how your feet are positioned so that you won’t trip over another stone or get your foot twisted if the position is uncomfortable after the stone is lifted

• Lift using your legs, not your back 

• Never turn or twist your back while lifting, but lift only vertically, most accidents happen at this stage.

Mechanical lifting guidance

I wanted to build my own wooden “A-frame” to lift cheaply, for just one lift. Once it was constructed I had a near miss when it collapsed under its own weight, it was not even loaded with a stone. I have since dismantled it and I have bought an aluminium gantry instead. There are many reasons why people working with heavy materials must buy the correct lifting:

• -what is the cost of a broken leg, a slipped disc, or even a permanent disability? Too much to risk, to my opinion.

• -in the long run, short fixes don’t work and put strain on the individual and maybe later on the business and the family, or even the artistic carrier. If all manual handling and heavy lifting are considered to represent a single but highly important task, the lifting gear machineries should be considered to be as essential as buying angle grinders, files and other carving tools.

Every carver, beginner or experienced should think: ’I really should buy that expensive lifting table or the gantry, because it will safeguard MY career/hobby for a very long time’.

Health and safety at work in the Construction Industry and what we can learn from it

In the Construction Industry, there is a culture of Health & Safety awareness because it costs lives, hours of work and money to everyone, not only to workers but also to families and the General Public when a falling object hits a pedestrian.

Let me talking to you about near misses and accidents. This pyramid of danger happens to everyone doing anything potentially harmful activity.

The more unsafe we are, the more likely a serious incident will happen to us. To prevent the unsafe behaviours to become a serious injury, an incident or even a death, the artist has to look for the unsafe behaviour at first. Once you enter the danger zone, the chain of events tends to escalate and the seriousness becomes inevitable. In the workshop, don’t underestimate the little incidents, the trips, slips and falls which occur too often. Recognizing each unsafe behaviour, must become an opportunity to find a solution to stop right now, preventing any incident to happen to you and to others.

Now, let’s be practical about it.

If we look at a virtual workshop where we can find the potential hazards:

• tools left in the way

• stones 

• stone chippings all over the floor

• dust everywhere

• machineries and lifting gear not stored correctly

• sculptures in the middle, close to stones

• food and drinks in a corner

In the Construction Industry, the biggest hazards are called: Slips, Trips & Falls

They have to be your worst nightmares and enemies because they cause a lot of harm, and they can be easily prevented.

1. Access and egress in and around the workshop should be easy, without anything standing in your way. So clean you floor space every day, at least to ease your movements. I always have my broom at hand to clear my way every 2-3hours of carving, often even less time. I don’t want to slip because of a marble chipping I hadn’t seen.

2. Segregate your materials, your machines and your finished sculptures to minimize the risk of injury or even breaking the precious sculpture hidden behind that lump of marble. Divide your space according to the following clearly defined zones in the workshop:

a.    for un-carved stones (place them accordingly i.e. by size, colour or type of stone),

b.    for finished sculptures (protect your pieces with space and a protective material so they won’t get damaged if flying chippings hit them),

c.    for carving in progress (with enough room to move around your pieces and to get your lifting gear to lift them safely),

d.    for tools (they can be sorted by mechanical/hand tools...),

e.    for clay models,

f.     for stone chippings (put them in a wheel barrow while carving, so that you won’t have to move them again, until the load has to be disposed of).

g.    for chemicals (away from the sun or any source of heat)

3. To prevent time wasted looking for THE TOOL you really need but can’t find, it is good practice to have tools chests, shelves (screwed to the wall so that they can’t collapse under the weight) and areas where boulders and stones can be left without having to move the content of the whole workshop because a stone is far behind everything else. Don’t forget that you might get a back injury if not sufficient space has been allocated between your stones, preventing your gantry or lifting gear to have access to them safely.

4. Food and drink mustn’t be taken in a dusty environment, because a lot of fine dust particles are still in the air long after cutting, carving or grinding. Wash your hands and arms thoroughly before eating or drinking as contamination is not good for you.

5.  A closed space should be reserved for clean cloths once you leave your workshop, minimizing the risk of bringing a lot of dust in your car and your house. Personally, I put my clean clothes in a drawer, included my tee-shirts and trainers. I get changed once I have arrived and here we go, I can work with my dirty cloths which are cleaned each week-end, so that the dust doesn’t accumulate too much in the fabric of my cloths. It is a lot nicer to wear as well. These are good routines to adopt, and they are practical too.   

6. Plan your space in and outside your workshop so that it will minimize the amount of lifting and moving about of your stones and sculptures. The more you move something heavy, the more it can hurt you soon or later. Also, time is so precious that planning your space correctly will save you a lot of hustles and minimize time wasted.

7. Buy yourself a Safety Kit with plasters, bandages and antiseptic wipes, some eye wash liquid and anything else which can stop bleeding, just in case you get hurt

8. Buy all the safety gear i.e. gloves, goggles and ear masks and dust masks you need. Check these items regularly as they are the only way to prevent a cut, a bruise or permanent deafness

9. You must be fit to work. Don’t work if you are wet, too cold, sick or too tired, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, in these conditions, working can become the perfect recipe for disaster. You will be less alert, you will work very slowly and inefficiently as well. While lifting, you can get a muscle strain, and a cold, you can cut yourself if grinding...you name it.

10. Lifting: Plan your lifting operation before doing it. Before setting up a sculpture for an exhibition, I tend to plan it weeks or even months before the sculpture is made, so that I know what kind of lifting gear I will need, exactly how to do it and then, I can identify the potential risks associated with the whole operation. As risks have to be eliminated or at least, minimized. Planning ahead gives me the power to be in charge of the operation, avoiding any guesses or hazardous moves. If I am lucky, a forklift is at hand. As it is my sculpture, I have to know exactly how to get that 900kg sculpture from my workshop to its final destination. Here are the following stages a heavy lifting operation will consist of:

a.    Laying the sculpture on its side in my workshop

b.    Placing it in the van

c.    Getting it out of the van

d.    Getting it at the final destination

e.    Raising it

f.     Placing it on its base, if needed

Each operation has to be carefully planned, and I can’t stress this point enough as incidents can happen much more frequently that when you are in your own premises, because you are outside the controlled environment of your workshop.

I have resolved the difficulty of moving a sculpture which characteristics are: 850kg, 50cmx50cmx2m following these steps and measures, it is only a guidance of course:

a.   Preparing and laying the sculpture on its side

1. Wrap the sculpture with bed sheets which will keep the sculpture away from scratches and discolouring because of the friction with the coloured slings.

2. Use 2No. slings around the sculpture for the lifting. The collar must be tight and placed so that they won’t slip. They should be placed exactly opposite to each other as you need to lift the sculpture straight.

3. Lift carefully the sculpture so that you can get carpets underneath or a soft material, the corners of the bottom of the sculpture could be damaged when tilting the piece. 

4. Lay carpets underneath the base of the piece and also at the place where the sculpture will be, so that the sculpture won’t be damaged by the floor

5. Lower the sculpture onto the carpeted floor

6. You need to change the orientation of the slings to make the sculpture tilting on its own once you lift it. The slings should be closer to each other instead of being at opposite sides

7. If you have other slings, use them to prepare the lifting of the sculpture flat onto the pallet. Wrap them around the sculpture as well

8. Now lift your sculpture keeping in mind that the lift has to be only vertical. In a succession of lift and forward movements, the sculpture will tilt until a point when you just have to let go very slowly, to get the sculpture laying flat onto the carpeted floor of the workshop

b.  Placing the sculpture on the van and driving the van

1. As the sculpture is too long for any of my pallets, I had to place the sculpture on 2No. pallets so the sculpture had to be lifted with a forklift from the workshop floor to the van. I have prepared the pallets on the van floor covered with carpets and straps ready for the sculpture to be tied down to the pallets, preventing the sculpture from rolling, during the transport.

2. Using the already placed slings, the forklift has allowed to carefully take the sculpture to load it onto the van. Please make sure that the slings are tight, at equal length otherwise, one side of the sculpture can be at high level while the other one might still be on the floor. It is a bad idea and damages can occur at that point. The best way to prevent it, is the have the correct slings lengths at hand, depending on the kind of jobs you do. Watch out for thin edges while lowering the load, they are also at risk of breaking or scratching. Also deciding which side the sculpture can rest is vital, as the piece needs to be stable enough and the edges could potentially break or being severely damaged during transport.

3. Once the sculpture is in place, cover it with carpets or bed sheets, or a thick material. They will act as cushions and will protect your beloved sculpture from breaking, scratching or rolling. You can now tighten the sculpture to the pallets using slings, I use 4-5No. placed along the sculpture so that if one becomes loose, the other ones will take the load.

4. Here we go, we can drive the van now. Be aware of the reactions of the vehicle as it will be 850kg heavier, so it will be sluggish and won’t corner as well as when it is empty. Also, check your load regularly, especially after a few miles. A strap could loosen and will become totally inefficient. The breaking will be very affected by the extra weight. Allow a longer safety distance when driving and also be aware of other vehicles. I suppose a lot of artists have never had any training how to drive a heavy vehicle but it is important to adapt the driving style to the new situation.

5. After arriving at your destination, make sure that the means provided to unload your sculpture are adequate to the job. It is best to get it organized weeks before the operation, so that the correct means can be provided without having nasty surprises, the day you come with the sculpture to be installed.

Lifting operation check list

a.    If a forklift is available, I always check before organising the lift, the maximum load lifted (SWL, Safe Working Load) and the height the machine can lift the load at,

b.    What is the route to the exact location of the sculpture, and can the forklift be up to the job without compromising the safety of people and the piece.

c.    Can the machine lift without hitting a low ceiling

d.    Who will drive the machine? Only a competent and trained person can do so.

e.    Can the forks reach the sculpture within the van

f.     Who will manage the whole lifting operation: I always insist to do it. It is my piece and I know from experience how to hold it, how to flip it or to make sure that it goes according to plan. I plan my lifts a long time before so that I don’t improvise and leave to the odds, the result of the operation. Keep control of the lifting operation, forklifts drivers don’t usually know how to handle a very heavy object which is not loaded on a pallet.

c.  Unloading the van and moving the sculpture close to its final destination

1. Prepare your next moves carefully. During the whole operation, keep the access and egress free from materials and people and stay very alert as these moments are very critical. In a public or private place a lot can go wrong very easily. 

2. Do a quick recognition of the settings where the sculpture will go to, just to get familiarized with the area and checking that the operation will work as you have planned it.

3. Lift the sculpture with the forklift by the slings and make sure that the driver won’t hit a pole, a lamp post or a door, my load was 2m wide, big enough to get damaged.

4. Prepare the final destination of the sculpture with carpets to lay the sculpture on.

5. Lower the piece to the ground

d. Raising the sculpture and place it to its final place (it is the same operation as ‘placing and laying the sculpture’ but in reverse order)

1. Using the other slings, lift the sculpture to vertical position

2. Change the position of the slings so that they are exactly opposite to each other

3. Lift vertically, take the carpets off

4. Lower the load and centre the sculpture where it should be exactly.

5. Note: if the sculpture is fixed to its base by a rod, lower gently your load to get the rod to fit in the sculpture, turn the piece while lowering the load and it will do fine.

e. Dos and don’ts

1. Never get your hand or finger caught underneath the sculpture, it could slip and crush your most precious tools, so don’t put your hand underneath to align the hole with the rod. You won’t have the time to get your hands out of the way, you might not even see it happen, because you are too focused on that hole and rod to align

2. If the lift is not perfectly vertical, the rod will bend under the strain and you might never get the sculpture set up with the rod. If it doesn’t look right, reposition the slings in a better way. A few inches might make all the difference between a nice sculpture set in a nice location and a sculpture back in the van, because you have to change a bent rod.

3. Check the slings visually and manually so that they are always tight to the sculpture and won’t slip. The position of the slings must allow for the weight of the piece and the strength of the material.

4. The Safe working Load (SWL) rating of the slings must exceed the weight to lift. A 1ton sculpture should be lifted by a 1.5-2ton sling. If there are 2No. slings, the weight might not be 50%-50%, so it is important to buy bigger slings, just to be safe. Also, if the sling is passed through the eye, the rating is much lower that the initial rating. A 1ton sling will only lift 600kg if the sling goes through the eye. There is a label on the sling which must clearly stipulate how much you can lift and in which conditions of use. Check for damage to the sling, and if the clothing is damaged, get rid of that useless lifting equipment, a safe lifting operation depends on that item too.

5. If no forklift or any other machine is available, plan your lifts even harder for the following reasons:

• Manual handling will be impossible to avoid

• Lifting and shifting operations will be riskier, slower and unpredictable

• A gantry or a small crane are difficult to move about, they will be severely affected by the terrain and the access conditions

• More people might be involved with the operation, meaning you will be far less in control of the operation and it will leave the door open to a lot of ‘unplanned actions=potential risky activities‘

6. Estimate enough time for these operations. Usually, you won’t be the only artist to put your piece up. Also, learn from other artists and learn how they plan their lifting and moving operations. Don’t get involved if the actions look unsafe to your trained eyes, because you could get caught in the middle of a risky operation, badly planned by someone who has done very little preparation. Be professional and safe at the same time.

Use as many mechanical means as possible to handle the sculptures and the blocks.

I have a few lifting machines every sculptor should have as well:

• A 100kg trolley for small stones

• A 500kg lifting table to shift around small and medium size stones

• A 1t folding engine hoist and an aluminium gantry lifting 1500kg

• A forklift if you are rich enough, it is in my Wish List       

All these very useful ‘helpers’ give me the flexibility to move my stones around without hand-lifting too much.

Don’t forget to watch your fingers and your feet when selecting or moving your stones, it’s so easy to squash a finger when the stone falls or slips.

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