HAND-ARM VIBRATION TAKE THE RIGHT ACTION
Workplace vibration is a big problem. According to the latest figures from the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO), hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) was the ninth most common disease type searched for on the
organisation’s database in 2021. vibration white
finger (VWF), which is caused by HAVS, was even higher, at fourth.
Together, these searches accounted for 1,759 people, all exploring how to pursue a claim against their employer. That’s just one source of information, over a single 12-month period. When you add these to all of the recent instances when the HSE has imposed fines on organisations for vibration-related breaches in health and safety, it’s clear that employers and employees alike are suffering.
HSE guidance on preventing HAVS essentially boils down to two forms of action: reduce any vibration that affects a worker, or eliminate it entirely. In practical terms, this means either using lower-vibration tools, or switching to automation. Which is great, provided you can afford the necessary investment to achieve this – and you can wait until such changes are made, but in some cases, the technology may simply not exist to make it possible. Equally, it isn’t always possible to achieve perfection. Even lower-vibration tools still carry a risk that needs to be managed, as we all know different jobs, users, consumables, materials, all effect the vibration levels being emitted.
Ironically, one thing that the HSE explicitly advises against using is something which costs far less to implement, and which can have an immediate, beneficial impact. Namely, continuous vibration monitoring and measurement that informs actions that result in reduced vibration exposure to as low as is reasonably practicable (ALARP).
The HSE’s reasoning for this advice is that continual monitoring “can distract you from your duties to eliminate or reduce vibration risks.” Therefore, it should only be used on a short-term basis, to provide enough data to complete a risk assessment.
Unfortunately, I’ve spoken to enough organisations over the years to know that risk assessments can only ever provide a snapshot of a given moment; furthermore, they won’t always protect a company from liability should their worker contract HAVS
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www.tomorrowshs.com
The latest data confirms that workplace vibration diseases continue to be prevalent across many industries. Russ Langthorne, Managing Director of HAVSPRO, explains how monitoring can help ease the pain – in both the short and long term.
or VWF. That’s because exposure to vibration is a constant variable – from person to person, from day to day, from tool to tool.
What HAVSPRO advocates is continual, real-time measuring and monitoring of vibration magnitude and exposure, where the monitoring device is linked to the specific user and attached to the specific tool they are using. Thus, both employer and employee will receive immediate notifications when nearing their exposure action value (EAV) or exposure limit value (ELV).
I believe that ability to see what’s happening, as it happens, is far from a distraction. As the only truly proactive method of risk management, it means appropriate action can be taken immediately, for example, to train the operator in better use of the tool, to rotate the shift, or check the tool for any damage.
And, paradoxically, the more data a company gathers, the more likely it is that longer-term investment can be justified – because continual monitoring can identify patterns of inefficiency and unproductive working methods that can be improved with actions such as, switching to different tools, automation, new working methods, or renewed user training.
Even the HSE sees the value of monitoring in understanding ‘likely exposure’, but they seem to think a limited period of monitoring will provide all the answers. In reality, vibration magnitude and the risk from over-exposure is a constantly changing beast and can only truly be managed with continuous measuring and monitoring – especially now this is possible without huge amounts of man-hours or intrusive technology.
Real-time monitoring provides the best and most cost-effective means, not only of gathering valuable data on the impact of vibration exposure on a business (both in terms of efficiencies and liability to litigation), but also protecting the workforce, day in day out.
www.havspro.com
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