Posted By Hilary Charlton You can buy anti-vibration gloves from Arco, I only know the South East telephone number but this is 01689 875411. These are specific for vibration tasks so should suit the job. Hilary

Posted By Paul I don't pretend to be an expert in the field of HAVS but I do work for a company that designs and manufactures pneumatic impact tools and rotary grinders. Believe me, gloves have very little effect on reducing the effects of HAVS for any tool or equipment producing a 'significant' amount of vibration over the recommended average of 2.8m/s2. (ask any of our test engineers). Your best bet is to follow the basics of safety management. First and foremost, assess the risks. You will need to use specialist equipment but it's essential that you carry out 'in use' assessments of the vibration level - or get a competent safety professional to do it for you. From there you can reduce the exposure period if necessary as required. Lower vibration tools or job rotation may be your best bet but I wouldn't rely on PPE. As for the tractors - whole body vibration is a different dish again! Health surveillance/ assessments may be an idea if you haven't already done so. Paul.

Posted By Peter J Harvey DIP2,OSH MIOSH Agree with Paul on this, gloves will make very little difference if any in reducing vibration levels. We started with a risk assessment (always a good first step)know what tools you have and which manufacturers, get an idea of age and ensure that they are maintained correctly, also try and get an idea from the users how long they really use them for. Then you can gather vibration levels from the manufacturers, this will point you towards the higher risk tools where you can start your work. A toolbox talk to the users would be worthwhile, try to ensure some job rotation and make sure that they wear normal gloves to keep their hands warm. Then look at measuring vibration levels and follow the HSE guidance.

Posted By Sean Fraser There is excellent guidance available from Step Change in Safety, primarily for the Oil & Gas industry but I believe it would be equally useful for whatever industry you work in. Try the following link: http://step.steel-sci.or...main_publications_fs.htm This give practical guidance and examples on dealing with this subject. There is also a CD with a down-loadable HAVS Tracker system but I you would need to contact Step Change direct (see their web site at http://step.steel-sci.org/ ) for more information. You don't actually need the CD though as paper examples are shown in the booklet and you could create your own version as appropriate. If you have problems with the link above, go on the main web site, select "Publications" and then "Index" and you'll find it listed alphabetically under "Hand arm vibration Syndrome" Hope that is useful to you.