Many types of machinery, equipment and power-driven tools generate intense vibration. This vibration can then be transmitted to the workers who operate them. There are two types of vibration: whole body vibration and hand-arm vibration - both can cause ill health.
Action Plan for Health and Safety Reps
A strategy to prevent work related injury and illness must be aimed at modifying the workplace - controlling the hazard at source - rather than modifying, screening or excluding workers from the workplace.
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Talk to your members to find out if they are having a problem. This could be done by checking whether members asking the members to fill out the "Vibration Survey", which can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.
The completed survey can be analysed in many different ways. The simplest procedure is to count up the total number of answers beside each condition, and express this as a proportion (e.g. a percentage) or the total number of people returning. For example say there were 40 people responding, and 30 said they suffered from indigestion; then 30 out of 40, or 75%, is the proportion suffering from indigestion. By common consent, this is a high proportion, and would indicate a problem in the workplace.
There are other ways to find out whether vibration is a problem, for example by doing a Mapping exercise - you can get more information by going to the Tool Kit section of this site.
- If you identify vibration as a problem, then approach your employer to negotiate changes to the workplace. The following preferred order of hazard controls should be implemented:
- Substitution of high vibration tools with better designed low vibration tools (eg non pneumatic power tools, use of cushioning or spring grips or rubber shock absorbers to reduce kick-back);
- Improvement of suspension of cabs and seats in vehicles, and provision of ergonomically designed seats to give proper postural support and comfort;
- Installation of engineering controls on vibrating machinery (eg mounting machine on a heavy base, using insulating mountings, sinking machine into a pit);
- Proper and regular maintenance of all vehicles, machinery and tools;
- Introduction of administrative procedures (job rotation and regular rest breaks).
Further, the following should be implemented:
- Regular environmental monitoring to check effectiveness of control methods.
- Acceptance of internationally recognised standards as maximum exposure limits:
- HAV - amplitude of one M/S2 over a four hour period;
- Very low frequency vibration - amplitude of 0.25 M/S2 over an eight hour period;
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WBV - amplitude of 0.63M/S2 over an eight hour period.
- As part of broader consultations with your employer, check what is being done to ensure that both the Manual Handling and the Plant parts of the OHS Regulations are being complied with.
Legal Standards
There are no specific regulations or Codes covering vibration to which workers could be exposed, unlike in the UK, where Control of Vibration at Work Regulations were introduced in 2005.
However, as a hazard, vibration is covered both under the OHS Act and under Part 3.1 (Manual Handling) of the
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2007. In addition, some of the equipment causing the problem may be covered under Part 3.5 (Plant) of the regulations. Compliance Codes have not yet been produced for the regulations, but the old Codes of Practice on Manual Handling and Plant can provide some useful advice (access from this page - now used only for 'state of knowledge').
To comply with the requirements of the Manual Handling Part of the Regulations, the employer must ensure that any task undertaken, or to be undertaken, by an employee involving hazardous manual handling is identified, and the associated risks controlled at the source if possible. If the manual handling involves exposure to sustained vibration, then it is defined as being "hazardous".
More information on the regulations.
Remember also that employers have a duty under the Victorian
Occupational Health and Safety Act (2004) to provide and maintain for employees, as far as reasonably practicable, a working environment that is safe and without risks to health. This includes ensuring that the use, transport and handling of plant is safe and without risks to health, providing a safe system of work, information, training, supervision, and where appropriate personal protective equipment.
Further, there is an Australian Standard on this topic: AS2670- 2001
Evaluation of human exposure to whole-body vibration.
What kinds of tools and equipment can cause ill-health from vibration?
There are hundreds of different types of power tools and equipment which can cause ill-health from vibration. Some of the more common ones are:
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What are the health effects of exposure to vibration?
WHOLE BODY VIBRATION (WBV) caused by poorly designed or poorly maintained vehicles, platforms or machinery results in:
- Lower back pain (damage to vertebrae and discs, ligaments loosened from shaking)
- Motion sickness
- Bone damage
- Varicose veins/heart conditions (variation in blood pressure from vibration);
- Stomach and digestive conditions.
HAND-ARM VIBRATION (HAV) long term exposure from using hand held tools such as pneumatic tools (eg concrete breakers), chainsaws, grinders etc, causes a range of diseases, including:
- White finger (also known as "dead finger" ) - damage to hands causing whiteness and pain in the fingers
- Carpel tunnel syndrome (and other symptoms similar to occupational overuse syndrome)
- Sensory nerve damage
- Muscle and joint damage in the hands and arms
These diseases can have very serious consequences for people. The effects can be permanently disabling even after a few years of uncontrolled exposure.
Measurement
Damage to the body from exposure to vibration depends on:
- Length of exposure time;
- Frequency (rate at which the surface or tool vibrates, measured in
- vibrations per second or Hertz-Hz);
- Amplitude (the size of the vibration). Amplitude can measure acceleration, speed or distance covered.
See Also:
- The UK's Health and Safety Executive has a webpage covering both hand-arm and whole body vibration. The page has resources including guidance for employers and an online "vibration exposure calculator" which will help workers work out their overall daily exposure to vibration. For those interested, there is free a hand-arm vibration e-Bulletin. Also, a useful free pocket card Hand-arm vibration - Advice for employees with notes on good practice. It is available in English and twenty other languages
- From Comcare, Preventing Vibration Injuries