Hand Arm Vibration Assessment

The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 aim to protect workers from damage to health due to vibration affecting hand/ arm and whole body.

Hand arm vibration occurs when vibration is transmitted into the worker’s hands and arms.  Exposure occurs with use of hand-held power tools and working with mechanized equipment.

Whole body vibration occurs when vibration is transmitted to the whole body from a vehicle or sitting on a machine.

Exposure is measured as a combination of the degree of vibration experienced, measured as acceleration m/sec2, and the length of time using vibrating equipment.  Different tools have different acceleration values.

Criteria

Health surveillance should be provided for vibration-exposed employees who are:

• likely to be regularly exposed above the action value of 2.5 m/sec2
• likely to be exposed occasionally above the action value and where the risk assessment identifies that the frequency and severity of exposure may pose a risk to health
• have a diagnosis of HAVS (even when exposed below the action value).

The purpose of health surveillance is to prevent workers from developing the disabling health problems associated with HAVs by recognising the warning signs early.

Surveillance Tiers

The HSE recommend a tiered approach for delivering health surveillance, this includes:

Tier 1: an initial questionnaire for worker starting a job that involves exposure to vibration, this will give you a baseline and identify if there are any underlying health issues that may be a cause for concern when working with vibration, if so, move to Tier 3.

Tier 2: an annual questionnaire for vibration-exposed employees, if any concerns are identified then move to Tier3

Tier 3: a formal HAVs health assessment by a qualified occupational health professional who holds a certificate for the approved training course in HAV from the Faculty of Occupational Medicine.

Tier 4: formal diagnosis by a qualified occupational health doctor.

We have doctors and nurses trained to assess employees with possible HAVS.