SOM020
Guidelines to control the risks from hand-arm vibration (HAVS)
What is hand-arm vibration?
Hand-arm vibration is vibration transmitted from work processes into workers’ hands and arms. It can be caused by operating hand-held power tools such as road breakers, and hand-guided equipment, such as power drills, or by holding materials being processed by machines, such as pedestal grinders.
When is it hazardous?
Regular and frequent exposure to hand-arm vibration can lead to permanent health effects. This is most likely when contact with a vibrating tool or work process is a regular part of a person’s job. Occasional exposure is unlikely to cause ill health.
What health effects can it cause?
Hand-arm vibration can cause a range of conditions collectively known as hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), as well as specific diseases such as carpel tunnel syndrome.
What are the early symptoms?
Identifying signs and symptoms at an early stage is important. It will allow you as an employer, to take action to prevent the health effects from becoming serious for your employee. The symptoms include any combinations of:
- Tingling and numbness in the fingers;
- Not being able to feel things properly;
- Loss of strength in the hands;
- The fingers going white (blanching) and becoming red and painful on recovery (particularly in the cold and wet, and probably only in the tips at first).
For some people, symptoms may appear after only a few months exposure, but for others they may take a few years. They are likely to get worse with continued exposure to vibration and may become permanent.
What effects do these symptoms have?
The effect on people include:
- Pain, distress and sleep disturbance;
- Inability to do fine work (e.g. assembling small components) or everyday tasks (e.g. fastening buttons);
- Reduced ability to work in cold or damp conditions (i.e. most outdoor work) which would trigger painful finger blanching attacks;
- Reduced grip strength which might affect the ability to do work safely.
These effects can severely limit the jobs an affected person is able to do, as well as many family and social activities.
What kinds of tools and equipment can cause ill health from vibration?
There are hundreds of different types of hand-held power tools and equipment which can cause ill health from vibration. Some of the more common ones are:
●chainsaws● concrete breakers● cut-off saws (for stone etc)
●hammer drills● hand-held grinders● impact wrenches
●jigsaws● pedestal grinders● polishers
●power hammers● power chisels● powered lawn mowers
● powered sanders● strimmers● brush cutters
●needle scalers● scabblers
What do the regulations require employers to do?
The control of Vibration regulations require you to:
- Assess the vibration risk to your employees;
- Decide if they are likely to be exposed above the daily exposure action value (EAV) and if they are:
- Introduce a programme of controls to eliminate risk, or reduce exposure to as low a level as is reasonably practicable;
- Provide health surveillance (regular health checks) to those employees who continue to be regularly exposed above the action value or otherwise continue to be at risk;
- Decide if they are likely to be exposed above the daily exposure limit value (ELV) and if they are:
- Take immediate action to reduce their exposure below the limit value;
- Provide information and training to employees on health risks and the actions you are taking to control those risks;
- Consult your trade union safety representative or employee representative on your proposals to control risk and to provide health surveillance;
- Keep record of your risk assessment and control actions;
- Keep health records for employees under surveillance;
- Review and update your risk assessment regularly.
Exposure Action Value (EAV) and Exposure Limit Value (ELV)
What is the exposure action value?
The exposure action value (EAV) is a daily amount of vibration exposure above which employers are required to take action to control exposure. The greater the exposure level, the greater the risk and more action employers will need to take to reduce the risk. For hand-arm vibration the EAV is a daily exposure of m/s2A(8).
What is the exposure limit value?
The exposure limit value (ELV) is the maximum amount of vibration an employee may be exposed to on any single day. For hand-arm vibration the ELV is a daily exposure of 5 m/s2A(8). It represents a high risk above which employees should not be exposed.
How should I use this information?
Group your work activities according to whether they are high medium or low risk. Plan your action to control the risks for employees at greatest risk first. Your rough groupings could be based on the following:
High risk (above ELV)
Employees who regularly operate:
- Hammer action tools for more than about one hour per day; or
- Some rotary and other action tools for more than about two hours per day.
Employees in this group are likely to be above the exposure limit value set out in the Regulations. The limit value could be exceeded in a much shorter time in some cases, especially where the tools are not the most suitable for the job.
Medium risk (above the EAV)
Employees who regularly operate:
- Hammer action tools for more than about 15 minutes per day; or
- Some rotary and other action tools for more than about one hour per day.
Employees in this group are likely to be exposed above the exposure action value set out in the Regulations.
Is there a need to measure the exposure to vibration?
The rough groupings described above should be enough for you to do a basic risk assessment which will enable you to decide whether exposures are likely to exceed the exposure action value and exposure limit value and allow you to plan and prioritise your control actions effectively.
If you think you may be subject to vibrations transmitted from work processes, contact your safety advisor.
Information
The information given in these guidelines and other information pertaining to Hand-arm vibrations can be found at:
1
, School Senior Safety Advisor, C15 Material Science Centre,Ext.63596