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The changes follow the issuing of a directive by the European Parliament, which seeks to bring regulations on exposure to vibration in line Europe-wide.
The Directive Describes Hand Arm Vibration (HAV) as: ‘The Mechanical vibration that, when transmitted to the human hand-arm system, entail risks to the health and safety of workers, in particular vascular, bone or joint, neurological or muscular disorders.’
Currently there are no specific health and safety regulations in the UK that directly address the risks posed by vibration, but general legislation on health and safety has covered the area up until now.
Two areas of vibration are being addressed by the new legislation, with whole body vibration, in addition to HAV also being looked at during the consultation process that has just closed. For this issue we will focus on HAV which can result when hand held machines transmit vibration to the hands, and it is long term exposure to this which can ultimately lead to a variety of painful and disabling diseases.
Official statistics suggest that five million people in the UK are exposed to HAV, and that two million of those experience levels that put them at risk of developing a disease. The HSC says that there are around 3,000 new claims for Industrial Injury Disability Benefit each year due to Vibration White finger. £212,000 was recently awarded to one railway employee who suffered as a result of vibration.
Although this seems to paint a bad picture, the problem can be addressed with careful management of exposure times and levels and it is this that the new rules are likely to address.
Hand Arm Vibration was first noticed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as hand held machines started to be introduced. In fact pneumatic tools came into use as long ago as 1839 in France.
In 1862 the affects of hand held power tools on users had become recognised as ‘white finger’ or more formally as Raynauds’ Disease after the Doctor who first identified the syndrome.
Over the course of the following century incidents of the problem became familiar in various industries, and several parts of the world. In the 1950’s research showed that vibration was affecting nerves, bones, joints, and muscles of workers. By 1970 the Forestry Commission had introduced anti-vibration chainsaws for its workers.
Naturally the growing awareness of the affects of HAV has led to concern amongst both employers and workers. With health concerns and legal implications resulting in a huge demand for advice and information, up until now, the HSE has responded to this with guidance in the form of leaflets and information. Not surprisingly a need for a more structured form of regulation was needed and the European Directive, or to be precise ‘The European Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive, was issued in 2002 as a way of ensuring a more unified approach to Vibration Regulation amongst the member states.
The consultation process which will result in the full regulations being introduced next year.
HAV exposure can affect workers who are using hand held power tools or hand fed power tools, such as road breakers, as well as if they are holding material that is being worked using machines that cause vibration, for example pedestal grinders. This means that the workers most exposed to HAV are likely to be metal workers, maintenance fitters, carpenters and joiners, electricians, motor mechanics, plumbers and builders. From this the list of industries that will need to pay closest attention to any new regulations: construction/demolition, mining, quarrying, forestry, shipbuilding/repair, motor vehicle manufacture and repair, foundries, public utilities, railways and aircraft manufacture.
However it would be wrong to see any new rules as just and extra burden on employers. In fact it is likely that the right limits and management could result in savings in terms of less lost work time due to sickness and early retirement and to the employer less profits lost due to absentees and less paid out in compensation. In addition to identified cases of diseases caused by HAV there are a further 243,000 people suffering from work related musculo-skeletal disorders in the hand arm or shoulder, that could be a result of HAV, though there is no direct evidence of a link. The new regulations as well as having the possibility of lessening the chance of workers suffering in this way will also lead to a healthier, more productive, workforce.
Awards paid out to sufferers of HAV induced diseases include £200,000 paid out to a tree surgeon working for a local authority as well as compensation given to 140,000 coal miners that combined added up to a large sum.
The new legislation is likely to result in stricter exposure limits than the HSE currently recommends, which it calculates may cause finger blanching in about 10% of the vibration exposed population after about eight years.
Although the final regulations will not be clear until they are introduced next year there is enough information in the consultation papers to get a fairly good overview of what the outcome will be. The Directive says that the daily limit that anyone can be exposed to HAV should be 5m/s2 and that the limit at which action needs to be taken to reduce the risk should be 2.5m/s2, both figures based on an average eight hour time period. What this means is that if exposure exceeds 2.5m/s2 employers will either have to reduce it by the introduction of lower vibration equipment, or by lessening the amount of times spent using the equipment.
Most companies already take action on HAV based on the current guidance from the HSE, which gives an action level of 2.8m/s2 over an average of eight hours. So at first sight this may not seems like much of a change, however the way by which vibration is calculated is different under the European scheme. The HSE limit was calculated based on a measurement based on the movement of the equipment on the dominant axis, however the new measurement is worked out based on the movement in all three directions. In real terms this means that the old measurement of 2.8 m/s2 would actually be equal 4m/s2 in the new system. During the development of the directive the UK managed to negotiate so that exposure could be averaged out over a week.
For employers this will mean carrying out assessments of exposure that will be available to safety representatives and workers representatives. In most instances the assessments are likely to be simple paper exercises with out needing to carry out measurements. Reviews would be carried out every two to three years with ongoing monitoring to make sure levels hadn’t changed. It does seem probable that some companies will find it necessary to hire consultants to assist with the process.
So the future for employers whose staff use equipment that cause vibration is clear; eventually the most cost effective way of complying with the new regulations is likely to be the purchase of lower-vibration equipment. The alternative is downtime that is likely to be more costly in the long run as the directive says: ‘The level of exposure to vibration can be more effectively reduced by incorporating preventative measures into the design of work stations and places of work and by selecting working equipment, procedures and methods so as to give the priority to reducing the risks at source.’
The regulations will be finalised in December of this year, guidance will be issued in January 2005 and they will finally come into force by July 2005. But that isn’t the end of it, a transitional period will delay the introduction of limit values until 2010, but only for equipment in use before 2007, for work activities where older equipment may be in use. The period runs up to 2014 for agriculture and forestry.
The effects on business, both suppliers and consumers of power equipment, of the new regulations will in the long run be positive. For the suppliers and manufacturers it is likely to lead to increased trade, for companies buying equipment it will result in clearer indications of the vibration levels the equipment offers. Increased demand for low vibration equipment may well also lead to a drop in prices.
For more information on the new legislation visit: www.hse.gov.uk/vibration
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Airstream Communications