RESEARCHED ESSAY BY MARY CAMERON BSC LFOH CERTOH
DISCUSS THE ROLE AND RELEVANT IMPORTANCE OF MEASURED VIBRATION LEVELS AND MANUFACTURERS’ DATA IN THE ASSESSMENT OF EXPOSURE AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROGRAMME TO REDUCE EXPOSURE TO HAND ARM VIBRATION A RESEARCHED ESSAY BY MARY CAMERON BSC LFOH CERTOH REVISION DATED: APRIL 2020
Employers are required to protect their employees against the risk to their health and safety arising from exposure to vibration at work. Estimating this risk and preventing unacceptable exposure to hand arm vibration (HAV) is crucial to avoid adverse health effects. The employer must choose the most suitable method for assessing HAV exposure based on their particular circumstances while understanding the benefits and limitations of that method. The most important action an employer can take is to focus on HAV exposure control and the principle of ALARP (reducing exposure to as low a level as is reasonably practicable as per the Control of Vibration at Work (CVW) Regulations 2005). The work process should be designed so as to avoid HAV exposure from the outset. If the process was not designed as such initially, this may result in a subsequent restructuring of the work process or carefully managing exposure which cannot be reasonably reduced any further through controls. Understanding the risk and assessing
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exposure may require (some or all as follows, depending on the circumstance) observing specific working practices, the use of personal dosimeters, applying Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advice, referring to relevant information on the probable vibration magnitude (e.g. tool manufacturer’s data), and, if necessary, measuring the magnitude of vibration to which the employees may be exposed (e.g. on-site monitoring of actual tool usage). Measured vibration levels play a role in the HAV risk assessment by allowing the employer to understand the magnitude of which their employees are exposed to vibration under the actual condition of tool use. On-tool measurements can usually give more accurate data based on tool use within a particular process. As opposed to the manufacturer’s tool vibration data which is derived based on specific circumstances of application under laboratory conditions. But as with any assessment method, there are limitations. On-tool measurements rely on the operator to demonstrate
Measured vibration levels play a role in the HAV risk assessment by allowing the employer to understand the magnitude of which their employees are exposed to vibration under the actual condition of tool use.
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