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Posted By P Hocking
I need some ball park figures for exposure limits (i.e. time) for pneumatic picks, (jack hammers).
Handle vibration @ 2 bar = 1.9m/s2.
@4 bar 3.25m/s2 and
@6 bar 11.9 m/s2.
Obviously by keeping the air pressure down it affects the vibration levels and therefore my thinking is that it may increase the allowed exposure time but I don't know to what
Any ideas anyone.
Paul
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Posted By George Wedgwood
Paul, this is such a serious issue that I presume you have read all the available guidance on the matter from the HSE. You have a clear duty to ensure that harm is not caused and to keep the vibration below the Action level of 2.8 m/s2. Even then there is still discussion on the effectiveness of this level (the EU level is 2.5)
Have a look back at old copies of THSP magazine and look at the article in December 2000 on HAV - I think is it very good.
What good employers are doing is phasing out high risk equipment that can exceed a daily dose of 2.8 m/s2 within 30 minutes. Stephen Clark (HM Inspector of H&S) is a good point of contact for information on this should you need to take it further.
Regards, George
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Posted By P Hocking
Thanks George for the response.
I have indeed read the literature from the HSE but not limited myself to that. My understanding is that the action level is 2.8m/s2 for an exposure over an 8 hour period and there is a limit level of 5m/s2 over an 8 hour period. Whilst I would like to phase out the tools that are probably the most damaging we actually need them to carry out our function. That said we share the work around, use the correct gloves and the equipment employed is the latest with vibration absorbtion at the handles. The actual trigger time based on individuals exposure (after work sharing) is considerably less than perhaps we thought.
My original Q should have included 'what policy do others have when using jack hammers'
REgards
Paul
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Posted By Zyggy Turek
Paul,
During my time in the gas industry we initiated a number of strategies to educate the employees about VWF.
This included (as you already point out) wearing gloves for maintaining warmth (gloves purporting to be "anti-vibration" should be treated with extreme caution); smoking cessation - as this exacerbates the condition; pushing home the message that the correct blade should be fitted to suit the road surface - NOT just a tarmac cutter for everything and a rigorous maintenance regime.
However, I am aware that despite all these initiatives, which also included medical surveillance, there have been a number of civil cases leading to £100k+ payouts as the "date of knowledge" is deemed to be in the late 70's.
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