Do they use hand held tools or other machinery which creates vibration? If so you are probably aware that there are limits to the amount of vibration that they can tolerate, as excessive vibration can lead to permanent damage, for example “white finger”.
Employers are required to carry out an assessment of the vibration. This involves checking the vibration value quoted by the manufacturer and then determining the levels they are exposed to during the day. To do this you will need to find out how long the tool or machine is actually operating. This is often vastly over estimated, leading to a false assessment.
Park City can now help you in obtaining a realistic assessment, by the use of monitors which are attached to the tool or machine and record the “trigger time”. For example, a client recently estimated the time as 3 hours a day, but by using the monitors over an 18 day period we were able to establish the average daily exposure time of 1 hour. The result was that no further action was needed regarding vibration. The assessment based on 3 hours exposure would have meant restricting the time the employee could carry out the work.
The HSE are increasingly questioning companies about vibration when they visit, so why not get ahead, and contact Park City to arrange a visit for us to find out your actual levels.
