The HSE website has a lot of imformation on this subject. Regards

A few options to consider, that haven't been given any discussion in the original post. How far over the 2hrs 20mins does the work take to complete? A few minutes or a few hours? Subcontract some of the work How essential is it, that the work is completed in the 2hrs 20minutes i.e. re-consider work scheduling/prioritisation of the required work e.g. is it essential all lawns are cut on every occasion? Provide a mower with a lower vibration signature.

If you cannot replace the tool with a lesser vibration equivalent and cant rotate, work needs to be done on the same day etc.... You can let him continue on with exposure past the EAV so long as he dosnt reaach the ELV and you have suitable controls in place such as training in the health effects, sign and sypmtoms and health surveilance. As stated above the guidance is very clear on what you need in place if you exceed the EAV

Might be an obvious point and excuse me if you have aready got the information...is the time that you are quoting actual trigger time or shift/task time? Might be worth investing in some havi meters or similar to get a true picture of the actual vibration exposure or to give the operator an indication of exposure..

From HSE Gloves marketed as ‘anti-vibration’, which aim to isolate the wearer’s hands from the effects of vibration, are available commercially. There are several different types, but many are only suitable for certain tasks, they are not particularly effective at reducing the frequency-weighted vibration associated with risk of HAVS and they can increase the vibration at some frequencies. It is not usually possible to assess the vibration reduction provided in use by anti-vibration gloves, so you should not generally rely on them to provide protection from vibration. However, gloves and other warm clothing can be useful to protect vibration-exposed workers from cold, helping to maintain circulation.

russ It might be feasible to reduce the amount of grass mowing/exposure to vibration by one or both of two ways. If some of the areas involved are of suitable size and effectively enclosed, how about finding people who would like to graze sheep on them? This was something which a water authority (my temporary employer before I went into OS&H) did very successfully in the mid-1970s for the grassed areas at some of its water and sewage works. The sheep kept the grass nicely cropped through eating it, while the authority reaped some income through the grazing agreements with the farmers who owned the sheep as well as saving the cost of regular grass mowing by humans. Furthermore, the sheep acted as four-legged recycling machines and kept the grass nicely fertilised with their droppings! Sadly a few highly agile adventurous sheep expired through falling into open tanks of sewage but, thankfully, this didn't breach the then brand new Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 as it only covered humans and not animals! The other method is to change from having grassed areas kept kempt by regular mowing (rather boring, some might say) to ones sown with wild flowers and grasses and left generally unmown (unkempt in the view of those who prefer mown grass). This method, effectively expounded on TV for example by broadcaster & gardener Sarah Raven, ticks lots of environmental 'boxes' through providing good habitats and food sources for wildlife, including bees and butterflies whose numbers are declining in the UK. Various local authorities have changed to or are considering wild grass areas where appropriate, partly to cope with significant reductions in their budget allocations. Even if these methods are not appropriate or feasible for your organisation, hopefully mention of them here might prove to be of use to other forum users involved with extensive grass mowing work.