Hand-Arm Vibration affects thousands of UK workers each
year, causing short-term and long-term medical afflictions.

Here,David Wilson, HSEQ manager at HSS Hire, discusses
how adequate training combined with a proactive
maintenance programme can help to reduce or even
prevent such problems in the workplace

Hand-arm vibration occurs when the
vibration effects from work processes
such as operating hand-held power
tools spreads into workers’ hands and arms.

The constant exposure to such repetitive
vibration has an adverse effect on the body,
especially the limbs, and frequent exposure
to hand-arm vibration can have detrimental
effects on workers health, causing a range of
conditions, collectively known as Hand-Arm
Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).

HAVS can lead to a number of conditions
including carpal tunnel syndrome, or it may
manifest itself in loss of strength in the
hands, inability to grip, numbness in the
fingers, particularly in the tips, and overall
reduced grip. HAVS sufferers can also be
forced to endure painful joints and
permanent damage to bones in the hands
and arms. There are up to 5 million workers
using hand-held or hand-guided power tools
in the UK, with an estimated fifth of them
exceeding the HSE’s guidelines for HAV
exposure and a third of those living with
advanced ‘white finger’ symptoms.

Some industries, particularly those using
heavy duty equipment, endure a much
greater risk of HAV over exposure than
others, with construction, maintenance,
manufacturing, engineering, rail, mining,
and estate management being among those
most affected.

However, it is possible to minimise and
reduce the occurrence of HAVS and illnesses
relating to vibration through a dual
approach of adequate training and the strict
maintenance of tools and equipment.

Firstly, operators should ensure that they
only carry out work that they’re adequately
experienced to do, only using equipment
that they are trained to use. It is a legal
requirement of the employer to ensure
employees are up-to-date with the training
in order to minimise any potential risks to
health including HAVS. That includes
knowing how to use the equipment properly
so that the task in hand is completed as
efficiently and as effectively as possible to
reduce the time a worker is exposed to HAV
risks. It also means being trained in the
theory behind the subject to reduce the
overall exposure – knowing how to assess the
risk of HAV; how to identify alternative
equipment or work processes; how to hold
the equipment properly and for the
recommended safe amount of time –
perhaps using a rotation based work system
– as well as how to calculate and adhere to
the legal Exposure Action Values (EAV) and
Exposure Limit Values (ELV) for each item.

On-the-job training and experience will
be invaluable, but it should be supplemented
with formal training and industryrecognised
accreditation.While educating
workers on the correct application of
equipment that causes vibration is up to the
trainers, their advice soon becomes
somewhat redundant if the auxiliary items
are left to deteriorate – by auxiliary items I
mean the items used in conjunction with the
tool itself, drill bits, blades and chisels for
example.

Most of the current published data on
HAV levels is gained when using tools at
optimum condition. Users may be adhering
to the published EAVs and ELVs for an item
of equipment but what happens when the
tools get blunt? Well, quite simply, a tool
appendage loses its shop-bought condition
after the very first use. Blunt and eroded tools
are prone to increasing significantly the
amount of vibration absorbed by the user as
they produce more friction and impair
efficiency as the task takes longer to complete.

So as well as risk assessments and training,
it is vital in tackling HAV issues that users
start with good tools that are sharp and that
they maintain them so they stay that way.

This way, you know that the theoretical EAVs
and ELVs that you are working to will be as
accurate as possible to the actual working
conditions.

If a formal, professional tool maintenance
programme isn’t possible within your
company, invest in a well-respected
maintenance channel partner who will resharpen
tools to the correct angles. One of
the benefits of hiring equipment is that all
auxiliary items, as well as the powered item
itself, are checked and maintained after each
use, so the new user receives ‘shop fresh’
equipment each time.

When it comes to HAV, it’s an issue that’s
never going to go away but it
is an issue that can be
managed and controlled and
the risk reduced. To do this,
the importance of
combining both the correct
training and the proper
maintenance of tools and
equipment cannot be
stressed enough – this dual
approach will not only
help ensure the protection
of your workforce but
should also help achieve
optimal productivity.