Posted By DPK I have received an occupational report back for one of our employees suggesting some symptoms from using a vibrating hand tool. The Doctor has asked our company not to subject the employee too vibrating tools over 2.5 meters per second squared as a 8 hour time weighted average. I've looked at the hand book for the tool and it gives of (weighted acceleration of 3.40 meters squared). My question is how do i work out the weighted measurement of the vibration being received by the employee over 8 hours? The person concerned may go days with out using the tool and then may use it for several days back to back for up to 4 hours a day. DPK

Posted By mark limon IOSH run a 2 day risk assessors course, "Hand-Arm Vibration Risk Assessment and Management" next one at the end of october, Mark

Posted By phil beresford DPK You have mail

Posted By holmezy DPK, All good advice from the folks above. Some other things to bear in mind. Who's doctor was it? Yours or the employees and what are his competencies? If it was the employee's, then get a second opinion. Don't use the manufacturers quoted vibration levels as part of your assessment. Invariably they are not representative, (due to the method of measurement) of how the tool is being used in the real world. If the only info you have is manufacturers figures then double them, (some guidance advises a factor of 3). Try "OPERC" who have a huge database of tool vibration readings that are more realistic. Its actual trigger time that you should be concernec with. If an employee is at work for 8hrs and he works with a vubrating tool all day, his actual exposure / trigger time is likely to be betweeen 4-6 hours. All sorts of things effect the vibration levels, ie sharpness of the bit, grip, maintenance, right tool for the job etc. Anti vibration gloves do little to protect the wearer as the frequencies they negate are not the frequencies that cause harm. Having said that, they do keep hands warm and hence aid circulation. Get as much guidance as you can. As said before, the IOSH vibration course is very good. Lots of free stuff on the HSE website also. Does the employee smoke? Encourage him to stop as part of your managment plan. The employee may be eligible for the Industrial Injury Disablement Scheme, so get him some info from the nearest job centre. Its a massively difficult problem to get control of due to lots of variables. Also diagnosis is very much subject to the answers that the employee gives. Do all you can to manage the problem, then sit back and wait for the employee to claim! ( sorry...a bit cynical) Lastly, you need to report it!! So you may get a follow up visit. Just going through a similar problem at one of our sites, only we've got 3 employees with HAVS!! Holmezy pedi (gree not cure) for me later.

Posted By Kieran J Duignan DPK....when you're finished screaming :-) Great that you responded constructively to positive proposals from Holmezy and others. An alternative, cost-effective alternative to waiting for a claim is to start one of the several approaches to applying relevant psychology. This basically means remembering that the employee at risk, his manager and colleagues have minds and emotions as well as body parts. There are lots of enterprising ways of taking the challenge of an acute risk as an opportunity to introduce coaching and teamworking approaches to risk mangement. Think about it: it's by applying psychology effectively that most athletes in every sport manage injury and as they recover achieve high performance after it.