Hand Arm Vibration Testing is normally conducted on people with exposure to vibration at work for more than fifteen minutes a day, with a hammer and more than an hour a day, for an action or rotary tool. When a risk assessment is conducted, it is to help decide on what needs to be done to safeguard the health and safety of persons that are exposed to any vibrating mechanism at work.
Common Industries Requiring Hand Arm Vibration Testing
Industries where people work frequently with vibrating accessories and equipment, or handle vibrating materials are widespread, but the common ones include;
Every employer is duty-bound in conjunction with their HSE officers to always take actions to control and combat the likelihood of HAVS by ensuring the following;
Common Industries Requiring Hand Arm Vibration Testing
Industries where people work frequently with vibrating accessories and equipment, or handle vibrating materials are widespread, but the common ones include;
- Railways and road maintenance and building
- Construction
- Foundries
- Heavy Engineering
- Forestry
- Public Utilities
- Mines and Quarries
- Estate Management
- Ship Building and Repairs, Dockyards
- Manufacturers of concrete products
- Motor vehicle repairs and manufacturing plants
- Where there are employee complaints of numbness from operating vibrating tools
- Where employees have to hold material pieces on pedestal grinders
- Where hand-held power tools are routinely used.
- Exposure to vibration from heavy machine output or processes
Every employer is duty-bound in conjunction with their HSE officers to always take actions to control and combat the likelihood of HAVS by ensuring the following;
- Regular checking of vibration levels
- Use of vibration damping devices on all tools
- Deploy or install only tools with the lowest vibratory emissions
- All employees should have warm clothing on always, when outdoors
- Ensure compliance with vibration exposure limits
- Necessary training and information should be afforded all workers on health risks and the steps taken to mitigate them.
- Hand Arm Vibration Testing is necessary because HAVS is only preventable, but the damage is irreversible.
- HAVS puts about 2 million people at risk, and it is disabling and serious
- Painful finger scenarios can result from HAVS, and it affects ability to do fine work.
- The cost of inaction is unquantifiable, and stakeholders must take note
- HAVS can be avoided in simple and low-cost manner
- Elimination of vibration exposure is the basis for all regulatory efforts
- To have workers work effectively without HAVS is the determined goal and to eliminate the possibility of new cases.
- Alternative work tools and control of exposure to hand-arm vibration is the preferred and efficient way of combating HAVS. Here, the services of any Desoutter Tool Supplier and Britool tool supplier will be recommended.
- Early damage symptoms can be detected by deploying Health Surveillance to all at-risk workstations and enforcing Hand Arm Vibration testing where needed.