Understand vibration levels
You must assess the risk faced by employees that use vibration tools and equipment. This includes vehicles or heavy plant. To be able to do this you need to calculate the amount of vibration that your employees are exposed to. You should establish the vibration level for the duration that employees are exposed while using:
- tools
- vehicles
- equipment
To establish the amount of time employees are exposed to vibration you should observe and measure the time they use the equipment. You can measure it over a short period of time, and use this figure to estimate the exposure time for the full work day.
Gather data on vibration levels
Manufacturers need to provide details of how much vibration a tool or piece of equipment produces, either on tools themselves or in handbooks.
Vibration levels are useful when choosing tools that produce less vibration. However, there are other factors when using equipment that will influence risks, such as:
- how long it is used for
- how tightly it is gripped
- how awkward it is to use
- how cold and wet conditions are during use
You can find examples of levels for a range of typical tools in use on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) site.
Calculate vibration levels
When levels and exposure times have been established, each employee's daily exposure needs to be calculated.
You can do this for both hand arm vibration (HAV) and whole body vibration (WBV) on the HSE website.
Based on the results you may need to take action to reduce exposure if your employees are exposed to levels above those stated in legislation.
Exposure action values
If your employee is likely to be exposed to levels above the exposure action values (EAV) you need to bring them down to the lowest level reasonably practicable.
EAV for HAV is 2.5m/s² A (8). This can be expressed as an exposure points value of 100 points.
EAV for WBV is 0.5m/s² A (8).
Legislation requires you to:
- introduce some control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk of exposure
- provide health surveillance for those employees that will continue to be exposed above the action levels
Exposure limit values
Your employees can't be exposed to levels higher than the exposure limit values (ELV).
ELV for HAV is 5.0m/s² A (8). This can be expressed as an exposure points value of 400 points.
ELV for WBV is 1.15m/s² A(8).
Legislation requires you to:
- take immediate action to reduce levels to under the limit
- provide information, instruction and training on health risks and the actions that you have taken