Ten reasons to manage vibration

Vibration is one of the most common,but harmful,
workplace hazards. It can lead to permanent disabilities
and damage to nerves, muscles and joints and other
long-term consequences for health and well-being,
unless it is avoided by continual monitoring,
measurement and control explains Svantek

According to the HSE, two million
people in the UK are at risk from
the harmful effects of exposure
to vibration in the workplace, yet despite
this, vibration is often underestimated
and ignored.

There are two main types of vibration –
hand-arm vibration (HAV) and wholebody
vibration (WBV). Hand Arm
Vibration is transmitted from work
processes into workers’ hands and arms
during the use of hand-held vibrating
power tools such as saws, angle-grinders,
hammer drills, torque wrenches and
breakers. HAV can also arise during the
use of hand-guided equipment, such as
planers and sanders, or by holding
materials being processed by machines.

Industries where exposure to HAV is
particularly high include construction,
motor, foundries, fabrication and heavy
engineering.

Whole-body vibration is transmitted
through the seat of work vehicles or the
feet of employees who drive or operate
heavy mobile machines such as tractors,
lorries and fork-lift trucks, and is common
in industries such as forestry, quarrying
and construction. WBV comes from
machines or vehicles producing elevated
vibration levels that shake the entire
body.

Legislation
The Control of Vibration at Work
Regulations 2005, which
implement the European
Physical Agents (Vibration)
Directive 2002/44/EC in the
UK, seek to protect
workers from the harmful
effects of vibration by
placing a duty of care
on employers to
minimise the risks to
their health, reducing
exposure to vibration to as
low a level as possible.

The Regulations specify daily exposure
levels at which employers are required to
take action to control risks, known as
Exposure Action Values (EAVs). They also
set out Exposure Limit Values (ELVs), at
which point the employer must prevent
further daily exposure.

All new machinery built in or imported
into Europe has to comply with the
Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, which
contains more precise requirements
concerning vibration than its previous
version. Suppliers must provide
information on the vibration emission
value of their equipment.

Consequences of not managing
vibration
If an organisation ignores the risk of
vibration and does not take steps to
monitor and measure it, it lays itself open
to many serious adverse effects. These
include potential industrial or
compensation claims, prosecutions, heavy
fines and costs. For example, in April this
year, Land Rover had to pay out £80,000
for not keeping vibration levels in
check at its Solihull
plant. Companies
may also experience
adverse publicity, a
loss of productivity and
profit.

Failing to manage
HAV exposure puts
employees are at risk of
a large range of
unfavourable consequences,
including ill health, pain,
distress, limiting of tasks and
the inability to do fine
work or everyday
tasks properly. They
may also suffer a
reduced ability to work
outdoors in cold or damp
conditions, lowered grip
strength affecting their
ability to work safely,
potential musculoskeletal, neurological,
and vascular effects on the hand or arm
such as carpal tunnel syndrome, sleep
disturbance and a risk of permanent
damage with sustained usage of vibrating
tools.

How to manage and monitor
vibration
Vibration is the movement of particles
that occurs at a frequency below the range
of human hearing. It has distinct
characteristics in different directions,
making it essential to measure on each of
its three axes independently and
preferably simultaneously.

Before vibration can be monitored and
measured to keep employee exposure
within the limits, an initial risk assessment
of the vibratory equipment should be
done. The employer should consult their
employees and check the machinery they
are using or driving. Once these tasks
have been completed, controls,
information, training, and perhaps new
work methods, can be put in place.

Vibration meters can then be used to
measure the amount of vibration from
power tools and over the whole body.

These meters alert the user to stop using
the tools or equipment when they are
approaching maximum exposure levels.

Factors to take into account when
measuring vibration include the length of
time the vibrating tool is used (trigger
time), the identification of operations that
make up an exposure pattern, the
measurement of vibration for each
operation and the typical exposure time
for each operation.